Bill > H7141

This bill aims to enhance protections and services for sexually exploited children and combat human trafficking by requiring the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to develop and use screening and assessment tools to determine appropriate services and placements for these children, including criteria for safe houses and safe foster homes, which are specialized residential facilities that will be certified by the department. It mandates collaboration between DCF, the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), and community-based care lead agencies to coordinate local responses to human trafficking, establishes a Statewide Council on Human Trafficking to advise on policies and services, and allocates funds for these initiatives, including the creation of new positions. The bill also requires specialized training for child protective investigators, case managers, and juvenile probation staff who work with sexually exploited children, and mandates that residential treatment centers and hospitals provide specialized care for these children. Additionally, it establishes a requirement for an annual study on commercial sexual exploitation of children to assess its prevalence, identify service needs, and evaluate the effectiveness of various interventions, and creates a results-oriented accountability program to monitor and measure the performance of child welfare entities.