Sexually exploited children: foster care.

Existing law authorizes, under certain conditions, the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of being a victim of those crimes. Existing law prohibits an application for a claim for compensation submitted by a victim of human trafficking from being denied solely because a police report was not made by the victim and requires the board to consider and approve applications for assistance based on human trafficking relying upon evidence other than a police report to establish that a human trafficking crime has occurred. Existing law permits that evidence to include any reliable corroborating information approved by the board, including attestation by a human trafficking caseworker that the individual was a victim of human trafficking. This bill would also authorize, as reliable corroborating information approved by the board, the inclusion of evidence that a county child welfare caseworker who provides child welfare services has attested by affidavit that the individual was a victim of human trafficking. Existing law establishes a system of foster care placement for the welfare of the children in foster care and for the safety and protection of the public. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to authorize, but not require, each county to, among other things, create a specialized foster family placement protocol for commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) to provide these victims with safety, treatment, and appropriate services, and to provide an additional stipend to foster families and other providers who care for CSEC, and additional training for attorneys and juvenile court judges, as specified. The bill would authorize counties to create CSEC courts and would express the intent of the Legislature that counties use the Counties of Los Angeles and Alameda as models for CSEC courts. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to fund those CSEC courts. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to convene, no later than July 1, 2018, a working group to meet no less than quarterly and to include representatives of county child welfare, mental health, and probation agencies or departments, and organizations that provide placement, treatment, and services for CSEC, for the purpose of developing placement options for these victims, as specified. Existing law requires the county child welfare agencies and probation departments to implement policies and procedures that require social workers and probation officers to identify, document, determine appropriate services for, and receive relevant training in those duties with respect to, children receiving child welfare services who are, or are at risk of becoming, victims of commercial sexual exploitation. This bill would require those local entities to determine appropriate services for those children no later than July 1, 2018. The bill would change the term used to describe those children to CSEC. The bill would also require each county, no later than July 1, 2018, to address in its protocols whether it is appropriate and in the best interest of the child or youth for the county to provide an additional stipend and training to foster family provider placement and other placement providers who care for CSEC. By imposing additional duties on local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.