BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2035 (Chesbro) - Sexually exploited and trafficked minors.
Amended: July 1, 2014 Policy Vote: HS 4-0; JUD 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2035 would specifically provide, until January
1, 2017, that a child who is a victim of human trafficking or
sexual exploitation, as specified, is within the jurisdiction of
the juvenile court. This bill would also require training for
administrators of group home facilities, licensed foster
parents, and relative or nonrelative extended family member
caregivers to include instruction on cultural competency and
sensitivity relating to, and best practices for, providing
adequate care to sexually exploited and trafficked minors in
out-of-home care.
Fiscal Impact:
Potentially significant ongoing increase in annual child
welfare services costs (General Fund*) to the extent a
greater number of sexually exploited and human trafficked
minors are placed under the jurisdiction of the juvenile
dependency court due to the explicit and separate
categorical listing for these children.
One-time costs of $10,000 (General Fund) to develop the new
curriculum component to the required training program for
foster care providers. Annual costs of $65,000 to provide
training for this new component to foster caregivers.
Potentially significant cost pressure (General Fund*) to
provide additional services and funding, including
supplemental foster care rates for placement of child
victims of human trafficking that are not covered under the
recently enacted Human Services budget trailer bill (SB 855)
that covers sexually trafficked children, but not children
trafficked for forced labor or services.
*Pursuant to Proposition 30 (November 2012) any legislation
enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of
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increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for
programs or levels of service mandated by realignment (including
child welfare services and foster care) only apply to local
agencies to the extent that the state provides annual funding
for the cost increase.
Background: In a comprehensive report released by the California
Child Welfare Council, Ending the Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration in California
(2013), human trafficking, which includes commercial sexual
exploitation (CSE), is identified as a $32 billion per year
worldwide industry, with current statistics showing that human
trafficking is increasingly a domestic issue. According to
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) estimates, 100,000
children are sold for sex each year within the United States,
and as many as 300,000 children are at risk of becoming victims
of CSE. In addition, the report notes that over the past two
years, California's nine human trafficking task forces
identified 1,277 victims, 72 percent of whom were from the
United States. The report, in part, states:
"Within the United States, California has emerged as a
magnet for commercial sexual exploitation of children
(CSEC). The FBI has determined that three of the nation's
thirteen High Intensity Child Prostitution areas are
located in California: the San Francisco, Los Angeles,
and San Diego metropolitan areas. Child sex trafficking,
child pornography, and child sex tourism are all forms of
CSEC. Frequently, victims are exploited through more than
one form of abuse, and they cycle through the stages of
exploitation many times before they are able to leave
their exploitative relationships. To address this
problem, California must develop a comprehensive and
collaborative response to ensure CSE victims are
identified and receive the services they need to overcome
trauma and live healthy, productive lives.
The children who fall prey to exploiters are frequently
those with prior involvement with the child welfare
system, such as through child abuse report investigations
and placement in foster care. Other victims should have
received child welfare services and protections but never
gained access to the system, and are instead treated like
criminals and funneled into the juvenile justice system."
AB 2035 (Chesbro)
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The juvenile dependency court seeks to connect minor victims of
abuse with services including housing, healthcare, and mental
health support. To address the issues related to commercially
sexually exploited youth as well as youth victims of human
trafficking, this bill specifically authorizes the juvenile
dependency court to exercise jurisdiction over these minors, and
requires that foster parents, group homes, and other caregivers
receive training on sensitivity and best practices related to
providing homes to sexually exploited and trafficked youth.
Proposed Law: This bill would specifically add to the list of
minors that may come within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
dependency court, victims of human trafficking and sexual
exploitation, as specified, until January 1, 2017. This bill
would also require training for administrators of group home
facilities, licensed foster parents, and relative or nonrelative
extended family member caregivers to include instruction on
cultural competency and sensitivity relating to, and best
practices for, providing adequate care to sexually exploited and
trafficked minors in out-of-home care.
Related Legislation: SB 738 (Yee) 2013 was substantially similar
to this bill. This bill is currently pending hearing in the
Assembly Committee on Human Services.
SB 855 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 29/2014,
the Human Services budget trailer bill, among other things,
established a Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC)
Program, to be administered by the DSS which includes statewide
training, the development of local protocols for addressing
victims of exploitation, and specialized services. The bill
authorized the use of the funds by counties electing to
participate in the CSEC Program.
SB 852 (Leno) Chapter 25/2014, the Budget Act of 2014, includes
$5 million General Fund for the CSEC Program in 2014-15, and $14
million General Fund ongoing for this program.
Prior Legislation: SB 114 (Pavley) Chapter 42/2013 extends the
sunset date to January 1, 2017, for the discretionary pilot
project related to commercially sexually exploited minors
established pursuant to SB 1279 (Pavley) and extends the sunset
date for the District Attorney of Los Angeles County to submit a
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report to the Legislature to April 1, 2016.
SB 1279 (Pavley) Chapter 116/2010 authorized, until January 1,
2014, a discretionary pilot project in Los Angeles County to
encourage the development of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary
model reflecting the best practices for the response of law
enforcement and the criminal and juvenile justice systems to
identify, assess, and address the needs of commercially sexually
exploited children who have been arrested or detained by local
law enforcement for prostitution crimes.
AB 799 (Swanson) Chapter 51/2011 extended the sunset date
authorizing the Alameda County District Attorney to create a
pilot project, contingent upon local funding, for the purposes
of developing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary model to
address the needs and effective treatment of commercially
sexually exploited minors.
Staff Comments: By specifically adding to the list of minors
that may come within the jurisdiction of the juvenile dependency
court both victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking,
this bill could result in an increase in child welfare services
costs. While these children may be authorized under existing
provisions of law, to the extent a greater number of sexually
exploited and human trafficked minors are placed under the
jurisdiction of the court due to the explicit and separate
categorical listing provided in this bill could result in an
increase in annual child welfare services costs, potentially
requiring a subvention of funds from the state as provided under
Proposition 30 (2012).
Prior to Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-12, the state and counties
contributed to the non-federal share of various social service
programs. AB 118 (Committee on Budget) Chapter 40/2011 and ABX1
16 Chapter 13/2011 realigned state funding to the counties
through the 2011 Local Revenue Fund (LRF) for various programs,
including foster care and child welfare services. As a result,
beginning in FY 2011-12 and for each fiscal year thereafter,
non-federal funding and expenditures for these activities
including foster care and child welfare services are funded
through the LRF.
Proposition 30, passed by the voters in November 2012, among
other provisions, eliminated any potential mandate funding
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liability for any new program or higher level of service
provided by counties related to the realigned programs. Although
the provisions of this bill are a mandate on local agencies, any
increased costs would not appear to be subject to reimbursement
by the state. Rather, Proposition 30 specifies that for
legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an
overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local
agency for realigned programs, which would include child welfare
services and foster care, the provisions shall apply to local
agencies only to the extent that the state provides annual
funding for the cost increase.
As noted above, the recently enacted Human Services budget
trailer bill (SB 855) established a CSEC Program, which would
provide funding for statewide training, the development of local
protocols for addressing victims of exploitation, and
specialized services to counties electing to participate. One of
the authorized services enumerated in the bill includes
providing supplemental foster care rates for placement of child
victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Staff notes that
while the CSEC Program would serve sexually trafficked minors,
the program would not encompass other trafficked minors such as
child victims of forced labor or services. As a result, the
provisions of this bill could create General Fund cost pressure
to provide comparable services and supports to labor trafficked
minors as those provided to sexually trafficked minors covered
under the new CSEC Program.