The post Renewal Forum and Paul Hastings Report Finds Child Protective Services Limited in Its Ability to Aid Child Victims of Sexual Exploitation appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Although CPS workers are the best qualified to navigate the process of interacting with traumatized children, the report reveals that in 24 states CPS agencies are legally excluded from assisting children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The report provides a state-by-state review and analysis of CPS mandates and relevant authorizing legislation. It found that mandates for CPS agencies and statutory definitions of abuse are often written in a way that restricts the reach of CPS services only to children being abused by a parent or guardian, with the appalling consequence that CPS is not authorized to help children who have suffered abuse at the hands of a trafficker.
“The sex trafficking of children in the United States is more prevalent than most realize, and the failure of Child Protective Services Agencies to intervene is very troubling,” said Steven Wagner, President of the Renewal Forum. “Lawmakers can remove the obstacles that stand in the way of helping these exploited children by changing a few key aspects of the Child Protective Services mandate and related statutory provisions so as to include victims of sex trafficking. We urge them to act quickly to empower state child welfare agencies to come to the aid of child victims emerging from the trauma of trafficking,” he added
“Paul Hastings was pleased to be able to contribute to the development of this impactful report through the undertaking of important legal research,” said Rebecca Eggleston, an associate at Paul Hastings. “It is a tragedy that the commercial sexual exploitation of children is such a prevalent problem in the U.S., but this report helps to highlight that there is a real opportunity to help the children who are being victimized. We hope the information in this report will spur changes that will allow these children to qualify for the protective services they desperately need to help them escape and recover from their abuse.”
In an effort to help the roughly 250,000 children victimized annually by commercial sexual exploitation, the Renewal Forum and Paul Hastings worked together to prepare a comprehensive state-by-state analysis that evaluates the ability of each state’s CPS system to serve victims of child trafficking. The data included all fifty U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with each state assigned a letter grade by the Renewal Forum based on the strength of its individual processes and the ability of CPS to respond to child victims of trafficking.
Paul Hastings lawyers, on a pro bono basis, researched the mission/mandate of each state’s CPS agency and the relevant authorizing legislation, and the Renewal Forum reviewed and analyzed that data to determine whether juvenile victims of commercial sexual exploitation fall within the population served by CPS. Based on the results of this research and analysis, the Renewal Forum assigned each state a letter grade.
Key conclusions of the report include:
- Twenty-four states received a failing grade with respect to the ability of their CPS agency to respond to trafficked children, and six more received a “D,” while only nine states received a grade of “A,” four received a “B” and nine received a “C.”
- Because CPS agencies are constrained by current legislation, every year nearly a thousand commercially sexually exploited children who are actually discovered end up in the hands of law enforcement, rather than being placed with CPS.
- The alternative to a CPS response often involves the child being declared to be a “child in need of supervision” (CHINS) by a judge; the CHINS process brings the child within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and may treat the child as a criminal rather than a victim, sometimes even resulting in the child being sent to juvenile detention.
- In 24 states reviewed, only a child’s parent or guardian may initiate the CHINS process, preventing others who are in a position to help the child – teachers, social workers, friends or neighbors – from starting the process of obtaining services for the child.
Among other recommendations, the report urges states to:
- Change CPS mandates to include the provision of services for victims of sex trafficking;
- Amend certain statutory definitions to include trafficking in the definition of abuse and include those who perpetrate or allow trafficking among the individuals responsible for the welfare of a child, such that children abused or subjected to abuse by a trafficker could receive services; and
- Align their criminal trafficking statutes with the current federal statute, which does not require a showing of force, fraud or coercion to find that a minor has been trafficked, and enact a safe harbor provision that protects child victims of sex trafficking by making them immune from prosecution for prostitution.
The entire report can be viewed here.
Paul Hastings LLP is a leading global law firm with offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. We provide innovative legal solutions to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit www.paulhastings.com for more information.
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]]>The post Misc. State Policy Resources appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Data Collection Policies
Mass Data Collection Recommendation
Funding Stream Possibilities Report
Federal Guidelines
ACYF human_trafficking_guidance
Federal Human Trafficking Strategic Plan
Examples of Good Goals and Philosophies
Minnesota Assumptions and Philosophies
Flowcharts
National Immigration Justice Center Foreign Victim flowchart
Wisconsin step by step response
MOU Examples
DRAFT_CSEC_Multi-Agency_MOU_Boillerplate
Training Recommendation Examples
Washington training for first responders
*All of these documents are free available around the web, but the Renewal Forum has collected them here in one place for convenience, if you are the owner of the content and wish for us to remove it, please contact info@renewalforum.org identifying which documents you wish to have removed and it will be promptly removed.
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]]>The post State Policy Responses appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>State Policies
Michigan Human Trafficking Protocol
Tennessee Human Trafficking Services Coordination and Services Delivery Plan
Wisconsin Human Trafficking Protocol and Resource Manual
City Responses
*All of these documents are free available around the web, but the Renewal Forum has collected them here in one place for convenience, if you are the owner of the content and wish for us to remove it, please contact info@renewalforum.org identifying which documents you wish to have removed and it will be promptly removed.
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]]>The post Assessments appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Academic Papers on how to create and perform assessments
Vera Institute of Justice assessment
Youth victims of DMST in Clark County- Salisbury & Dabney 2011
State and Federal Assessments
Florida Human Trafficking Child Indicators
Mass Screening for Minor and Adults
Michigan Indicators of Sex Trafficking
Assessments created by Organizations and Universities
Loyola Building_Child_Welfare_Response_to_Child_Trafficking
Polaris Comprehensive Trafficking Assessment
Uni of Mass Lowell Pathways in and out of CSEC questionnaire
Vera Institute of Justice Adult and Child assessment
Referral Forms to Help Direct Victims to Services
Connecticut HT Practice Guideline November 2012
Assessments directed for use by health care professionals
Health Issues for Trafficking Victims Indiana
Human_Trafficking_Nursing_Assessment_Tool
Mass. Health Human-Trafficking-Guidebook
Assessments for Social Workers to diagnose their own services
Ohio Self Assessment for Trauma Informed Services
*All of these documents are free available around the web, but the Renewal Forum has collected them here in one place for convenience, if you are the owner of the content and wish for us to remove it, please contact info@renewalforum.org identifying which documents you wish to have removed and it will be promptly removed.
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]]>The post Legal analysis of Backpage v. State appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>This memo was originally prepared by Hannah Kim in summer of 2013 when these cases were first appearing and the Renewal Forum was consulting with states as to whether there could be a law holding Backpage and similar corporations that profit off the sexual exploitation of others that held up to constitutional muster. The Renewal Forum ultimately determined that it would be almost impossible to write a state law that was not preempted by the Communications Decency Act’s (CDA) immunity. The memo dissects the reasoning of the court cases so far and explains this conclusion.
Internet Provider Liability Memorandum
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]]>The post A dollar of prevention is worth $34 in prosecution. appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>The problem of sex trafficking has gained recognition among lawmakers in recent years. States have introduced laws mostly consisting of harsher punishments for offenders and affirmative defenses or safe harbor laws for victims. More can be done as new laws focus on the criminalization of the abuser, but fail to recognize that a victim still suffers the effects of the abuse, regardless if their abuser was brought to justice or not.[1] Victim rehabilitation and prison for offenders place a heavy financial burden on the government and the taxpayer.
To avoid this heavy financial burden and proactively stop the problem, states and non-profits are beginning to introduce prevention programs. The purpose of these programs is to educate those most vulnerable to sex trafficking how to recognize the signs of being coerced into trafficking and avoid becoming involved in dangerous situations. One such program is the Runaway Intervention Project in Ramsey County, Minnesota. This program requires girls who have not yet been sexually abused to take a course on empowerment.[2] The populations of girls most vulnerable to trafficking are runaways and homeless girls, which also creates the need to implement housing solutions in prevention programs.[3] A good prevention program includes both an education aspect and a housing aspect, both costly measures, but long term very beneficial.
High costs are unavoidable for both preventative and reactionary measures, but preventative measures make long term impacts. With high incarceration costs and states spending between 5-10% over their budget on the correction system[4] the federal government has recently begun bi-partisan talks for a Justice Reinvention Initiative.[5] Reinvention initiative programs take the money invested in the incarceration costs of repeat offenders and instead invest that money into programs for repeat offenders and preventative measures. The idea of justice reinvention can be transferred to the specific problem of trafficking with the goal of spending less on incarceration costs and using that money to invest in government sponsored prevention programs for trafficking victims. Reinvention programs take money out of incarceration and put it toward prevention, making prevention even more cost effective.
Current bills and funding are mostly directed toward reactionary measures, making sure offenders are prosecuted and victims find recovery. For example, SB 192, recently passed in Hawaii, has been praised for increasing the penalty for soliciting a minor and extending the statute of limitations for coerced prostitution.[6] Although steps such as this are necessary, without prevention programs they can only lead to higher incarceration rates and costs associated with incarceration. If prevention programs are put into place, the number of trafficking victims would lessen, therefore there would be fewer violations, fewer trials, and fewer incarcerations as a result of human trafficking and less government money spent in these areas.
Recently, a Minnesota research group conducted a cost benefit analysis on the costs of human trafficking prevention programs versus prosecution and incarceration. The results showed that preventative measures were the more cost effective solution by a remarkable $34 saved per $1 spent in a prevention program.[7] The quantitative research was very cautious by only analyzing financial burdens that came as a direct result of the trafficking, and where research was minimal, always taking the conservative estimate. These numbers showed that despite the high cost of prevention, taxpayers would still save $5,120 per individual in the first year alone.[8] These estimates do not include social benefits that survivors will be able to contribute to society, which would make the economic benefits even higher. The social benefits include women being able to continue in the workforce and not be on public assistance or be unable to contribute to society as a result of the harms suffered by a trafficker. This research concludes that prevention programs are the best option to handle human trafficking and should be initiated more.
In addition to short term financial benefits, prevention programs should also decrease incarceration and court costs over a longer period of time. At the beginning, both prevention and criminal prosecution programs will need to be in place. However, as time progresses, the prevention programs allow for fewer children to become victims and therefore fewer cases being prosecuted and hence, lower incarceration rates. If the prevention programs remain strong, over time the hopes would be to eliminate the problem completely, reaffirming the importance of implementing prevention programs nationwide.
The results of the study were very careful not to consider any benefits provided by NGOs. However, state sponsored prevention programs in conjunction with NGOs that offer shelter and education to at-risk youth, will create an even larger differential between the amounts spent on prevention centers versus the amount spent on responsive measures. Although there are not nearly enough resources offered to trafficking victims, there are shelters set up across the United States offering resources.[9] These organizations would help relieve some of the burden from government and would create a bigger financial relief than what has already been calculated.
Being a victim of trafficking also leaves certain physical and emotional scars that have a negative impact on an individual’s production within society. This also includes life impacting diseases and traumas that negatively affect a person’s ability to contribute to society. Emotional wounds can also cause problems that lead a person to not be able to be productive later in life.[10] The lack of productivity in the survivors adds to the costs of reactionary measures toward trafficking and each individual with these problems as a result of being trafficked become a heavier burden on society. Completely preventing physical and emotional health issues creates more productive citizens and supports the importance of prevention programs.
Economic research supports that prevention programs will be the most financially beneficial strategy for combating human trafficking and should be the leading way to deal with human trafficking across the nation. Additionally, prevention is the most moral approach to the problem as well. Financially, it is expensive to both take care of victims’ pre trauma and post trauma, but there is a moral victory knowing that someone never had to suffer as a result of being a victim of human trafficking. Prevention programs are important for the health and safety of vulnerable children. Additionally, they will save the government money and lower incarceration rates. These programs should be the focus of new legislation to minimize human trafficking as opposed to harsher criminal sentencing.
[1] This year, Wyoming passes law criminalizing human trafficking: Trevor Brown, New Wyoming Laws Start Monday, Wyomingnews.com, June 29, 2013, https://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2013/06/30/news/20local_06-30-13.txt.
Hawaii increases penalties of trafficking: Hawaii Gov. Abercrombie Signs Human Trafficking Bills, Hawaii Reporter, July 2nd, 2013, last accessed July 16, 2013, https://www.hawaiireporter.com/hawaii-gov-abercrombie-signs-human-trafficking-bills/123.
[2] Runaway Intervention Project, Ramsey County, last accessed July 16, 2013, https://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/Attorney/RunawayInterventionProject.htm
[3] Males are also victims of trafficking and should not be ignored. And Boys Too, Ecpat-USA, May 30, 2013, www.ecpatusa.org
[4] Christian Henrichson and Ruth Delaney, The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers, Vera Institute of Justice, February 29, 2012, https://www.vera.org/pubs/price-prisons-what-incarceration-costs-taxpayers
[5] Justice Reinvention Initiative, Bureau of Justice Assistance U.S. Department of Justice, last accessed: July 16, 2013, https://www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=92
[6] Hawaii Gov. Abercrombie Signs Human Trafficking Bills, Hawaii Reporter, July 2nd, 2013, last accessed July 16, 2013, https://www.hawaiireporter.com/hawaii-gov-abercrombie-signs-human-trafficking-bills/123.
[7] Lauren Martin, Early Intervention to Avoid Sex Trading and Trafficking of Minnesota’s Female Youth: A Benefit-Cost Analysis, an executive summary, Minnesota Indian Woman’s Resource Center 8 (2012).
[8] Id.
[9] Shelter Beds for Human Trafficking Survivors in the United States, the Polaris Project, last accessed July 17, 2013, https://www.durr.polarisproject.org/2012/10/29/severe-shelter-beds-shortage-for-survivors-of-human-trafficking
[10] Lauren Martin, Early Intervention to Avoid Sex Trading and Trafficking of Minnesota’s Female Youth: A Benefit-Cost Analysis, Full Report, Minnesota Indian Woman’s Resource Center 3-4 (2012).
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]]>About us:
The Renewal Forum is a dignity based organization that exists to respond to key issues facing society by renewing society and restoring dignity. Currently, it is focused to prevent and help end the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). It does this through a systems analysis of society and improves societal response in a holistic manner. It asks what societal response is and then directs what the response should be.
Title: Communication and Media Intern
- Help direct the Renewal Forum’s social media, press releases, and other communications
- Oversee the release of reports, including determining design direction and other strategies
- Any other duties or responsibilities as needed.
Title: Research Fellow/Student Intern
- Monitor reports related to human trafficking and CSEC
- Analyze reports and perform further duties
- Write qualitative and quantitative research for the Renewal Forum
- Write and publish Renewal Forum materials
- Advance the cause of dignity through generating content for the durr
- Review and edit publications relevant to the Renewal Forum’s work
- Any other duties or responsibilities as needed.
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]]>The post The Necessity of Safe Harbor Legislation and Its Implementation appeared first on Renewal Forum.
]]>Since the law’s passing in 2008, 11 states have followed suit and passed similar Safe Harbor laws. While some states have passed some measures that fall in line with some of the Safe Harbor provisions, there are still a total of 38 states that have yet to pass true “Safe Harbor” laws. That means in 38 states children can be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted as criminals when they are being sold for sex. The government recognizes the fact that children do not have the mental capacity to consent to a sexual act, but at the same time is holding them responsible for a criminal act. On top of their lack of the ability to consent, these children are immersed in an environment of constant duress, suffering from physical and sexual abuse from their trafficker or pimp. When these children are committing these acts they are doing so in a very confused and damaged mental state created by their trafficker or pimp.
With increasing awareness of the sex trafficking of children it has been acknowledged that these children are not criminals but victims, but both the laws and enforcement of child sex trafficking have not yet been modernized thus these children are not always treated as the victims they are. It is imperative that Safe Harbor laws are passed and implemented in the 38 states that have not already done so.
Even though there are 12 states that have Safe Harbor laws, few of them have yet to properly enforce their laws. Minnesota, one of the states to pass such a law, has been the first to make substantial efforts to enforce the legislation. “Safe Harbor laws go into effect August 1, 2014 and will shift the paradigm for at risk and sexually exploited youth, viewing them as crime victims rather than criminals,” said Linda Riddle, the program manager of Safe Harbor at Life House, a grantee agency in Duluth [2]. Since the law’s passing, Minnesota has allocated 2.8 million dollars for the provisions of the Safe Harbor laws which include training for law enforcement when dealing with child trafficking victims as well as housing for rehabilitative services for child victims [1]. While this is a substantial amount of resources diverted to these necessary programs, the estimated amount of money required to fully implement the Safe Harbor laws is 13.5 million dollars [1]. “The 2.8 million the Legislature allocated last session is about 21% of what we need to fully fund Safe Harbor,” stated Vednita Carter, executive director of Breaking Free [2]. Even Minnesota which has been pushing Safe Harbor into implementation can be doing more to increase and improve its efforts.
While New York was the model for the law itself, Minnesota will be the model for the law’s enforcement. Hopefully other states will follow Minnesota’s example and realize how essential Safe Harbor laws are for our children.
Sources
[2] https://www.breakingfree.net/files/breakingfree/files/Safe%20Harbor%20Press%20Release.pdf
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