Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act

Unfortunately, youth in the child welfare system are particularly at-risk for human trafficking. In fact, in reports from cities throughout the United States indicate that over 60% of child trafficking victims are current or former foster youth. Additionally, a recent article in the Miami Herald highlights that foster youth are specifically targeted by pimps and forced into commercial sexual exploitation. 

The first points of contact for a child victim of trafficking are law enforcement officials and state child welfare agencies. Yet few child welfare professionals have been adequately trained to prevent or respond to child victims of trafficking. Fewer still have incorporated policies, protocols, and case management techniques to serve this population appropriately.

For more information, visit:

Building the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Handbook 
Ending the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children California

Fortunately, Reps. Karen Bass and Tom Marino – two of the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth – re-introduced the “Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act” (H.R. 1732) in 2013. The bill will would help to ensure that child welfare agencies have the tools to understand the unique needs of child victims of human trafficking and the resources to appropriately serve them.