STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE CHAPARRO
District 33 (Hudson)
Assemblyman NICHOLAS CHIARAVALLOTI
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen DiMaso and Mosquera
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Child Trafficking Awareness Pilot Program in DOE to train school district staff to identify student victims.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing the Child Trafficking Awareness Pilot Program in the Department of Education and supplementing chapter 6 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Education shall develop and administer a three-year Child Trafficking Awareness Pilot Program to provide school district staff in selected districts with training on how to identify and respond to child trafficking. The commissioner shall select two districts in each of the southern, central, and northern regions of the State to participate in the program and shall seek a cross section of school districts from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State.
b. The purpose of the pilot program shall be to train public school teachers and staff on ways to identify student victims of child trafficking and help prevent child trafficking in schools. The program shall include information that promotes a greater understanding of: risk factors that make children more susceptible to becoming a victim of child trafficking; recruitment methods of traffickers; behavioral indicators that a student may be a victim of possible child trafficking; and how to report suspected cases of child trafficking to school administrators and law enforcement.
c. The commissioner shall provide pilot districts with sample school policies and protocols for identifying a suspected victim of child trafficking and responding to a disclosure from a student that he is a victim of child trafficking.
d. At the conclusion of the pilot program, the commissioner shall submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). The report shall contain information on the implementation of the pilot program and shall include the commissioner's recommendation on the feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis.
2. This act shall take effect in the first full school year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Commissioner of Education to develop and administer a three-year Child Trafficking Awareness Pilot Program to provide school district staff in selected districts with training on how to identify and respond to child trafficking. The purpose of the pilot program will be to train public school teachers and staff on ways to identify student victims of child trafficking and help prevent child trafficking in schools. The program will include information that promotes a greater understanding of: risk factors that make children more susceptible to becoming a victim of child trafficking; recruitment methods of traffickers; the behavioral indicators that a student may be a victim of child trafficking; and how to report suspected cases of child trafficking to school administrators and law enforcement.
Under the bill, the commissioner is required to provide pilot districts with sample school policies and protocols for identifying a suspected victim of child trafficking and responding to a disclosure from a suspected victim. At the program’s conclusion, the commissioner is required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on the implementation of the pilot program and the commissioner's recommendation on the feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis.