Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Senator SANDRA B. CUNNINGHAM
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators T.Kean, Weinberg, Turner, Pennacchio, A.R.Bucco, Addiego and Pou
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Child Trafficking Awareness Pilot Program in DOE to train school district staff about warning signs and how to prevent child trafficking.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
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 and students in selected districts with training about the warning signs and risk factors associated with child trafficking and how to prevent 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, staff, and students about child trafficking, including risk factors and warning signs, and ways to identify student victims of child trafficking and help prevent child trafficking in schools. The program shall include information based on research 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; how to report suspected cases of child trafficking to school administrators and law enforcement; and strategies to prevent children from becoming victims of child trafficking.
c. The commissioner shall provide pilot districts with a list of resources from established and reliable sources for training public school teachers, staff, and students, as well as 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 about the warning
signs and risk factors associated with child trafficking and how to prevent
it. The purpose of the pilot program will be to train public school teachers,
staff, and students about child trafficking, including risk factors and warning
signs, and ways to identify student victims of child trafficking and help
prevent child trafficking in schools. The program will include information
based on research 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; how to report suspected cases of child
trafficking to school administrators and law enforcement; and strategies to
prevent children from becoming victims of child trafficking.
Under the bill, the commissioner is required to provide pilot districts with a list of resources from established and reliable sources for training teachers, staff, and students and 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.