BILL NUMBER: AB 1730	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Atkins and Eggman

                        JANUARY 28, 2016

   An act to add Section 893.5 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to human trafficking.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1730, as introduced, Atkins. Human trafficking: minors.
   Existing law proscribes the crime of human trafficking, as
defined. A person who causes, induces, or persuades, or attempts to
cause, induce, or persuade, a person who is a minor at the time of
commission of the offense to engage in a commercial sex act, with the
intent to effect or maintain a violation of any of specified sex
offenses, is guilty of human trafficking. Existing law also
proscribes the crime of prostitution.
   Existing law authorizes or requires, as specified, the probation
officer of a county to exercise various duties with respect to a
minor who has been found to be within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court on the ground that he or she has violated a law or
statute, or that he or she has suffered, or there is a substantial
risk that he or she will suffer, abuse or neglect.
   Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community
Corrections to provide statewide leadership, coordination, and
technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and
partnerships in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice
system.
   This bill would authorize the chief probation officer of a county
to create a program to provide services to youth within his or her
jurisdiction that address the need for services relating to the
commercial sexual exploitation of youth. The bill would provide that
funding for these purposes shall be contingent upon an appropriation
in the annual Budget Act. The bill would provide that funds
appropriated for these purposes shall be administered by the Board of
State and Community Corrections.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Worldwide, human trafficking is a $32,000,000,000 per year
industry.
   (b) After drug trafficking and counterfeiting, it is the world's
most profitable criminal activity.
   (c) Although this issue was previously believed to be an
international problem, current statistics show that human trafficking
is increasingly a domestic issue.
   (d) According to estimates by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), human trafficking or the commercial sexual exploitation of
children in the United States currently involves over 100,000
children. The San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and San Diego
metropolitan areas comprise three of the nation's 13 areas of "high
intensity" child exploitation in this country, as defined by the FBI.

   (e) Studies have estimated that anywhere from 50 percent to 80
percent of victims of commercial sexual exploitation are, or
previously were, involved with the child welfare system.
   (f) Law enforcement, probation, education, mental health, and
public health systems, as well as nonprofit organizations, currently
serve these victims, but often lack coordination in providing
services. These systems do not yet consistently recognize these young
people as victims who are subject to the cycle of commercial sexual
exploitation. Although they are learning to identify victims, they do
not yet have adequate service design, nor capacity, to provide
specialized services. Integrated strategies are necessary in order to
help child victims of sexual exploitation in California and to
ascertain the service models and strategies that are effective in the
recovery of the child and the child's future.
   (g) According to the Child Welfare Council, there is a dearth of
specialized placements and services to help youth and their families
when commercial sexual exploitation occurs. Although legislation has
recently been enacted to permit these victims to enter the child
welfare system in order to facilitate placements and the provision of
other essential services to these victims, and other important
implementation efforts are underway, specially attuned services do
not yet exist.
  SEC. 2.  Section 893.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   893.5.  (a) The chief probation officer of a county may create a
program to provide services to youth within his or her jurisdiction
that addresses the need for services relating to the commercial
sexual exploitation of youth.
   (b) Programs that receive funding pursuant to this section may
include, but shall not be limited to, programs licensed by the State
Department of Social Services that do any of the following:
   (1) Assess the youth victim's condition, including a review of the
extent of trauma suffered, physical and mental health, and the
status of age-appropriate developmental factors, such as educational
status.
   (2) Serve exploited youth in a services-rich environment,
including trauma-informed counseling services.
   (3) Research options, make recommendations, and work to find
solutions to provide specialized services and permanent placement
solutions for the youth.
   (4) Provide staff who are trained to work with, and experienced in
working with, child sex trafficking victims.
   (5) Include peer mentors in the design and provision of service
delivery.
   (6) Provide a plan for how to structure a protective setting
secluded from the victim's trafficking environment, which could
include strategies such as a geographically remote location, staff
protective presence, delayed egress, or any combination of strategies
intended to protect the victim.
   (c) Funding for the purposes described in this section shall be
contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. Funds
appropriated for these purposes shall be administered by the Board of
State and Community Corrections.