Where sex trafficking hits home

Rachel Thomas, shown at a sex trafficking presentation, was among those testifying. Photo/YouTube

As the movement to combat the sexual trafficking of young people grows in California and across the country, Los Angeles County is mobilizing to address the problem where victims are all too frequently found: in foster care and group homes.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week directed two county departments—Children and Family Services, along with Probation—to come back with recommendations on a plan to better train foster parents, group home operators and other caregivers, as well as county staff, to identify and respond to children and teens at risk of exploitation.

“Children in foster care and group homes are specifically targeted by pimps and gang members because the circumstances that caused them to be removed from their homes…often makes them especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation,” according to a motion by Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Don Knabe.

Rachel Thomas, a sex trafficking survivor who now works to educate people about the problem, told supervisors at their Tuesday meeting that it’s essential to teach caregivers and others to recognize the signals.

“The sad reality is that over half of all child exploitation victims are from the child welfare system,” Thomas said. “Most of them are not being kidnapped randomly. They’re being lured. There’s a grooming process, a recognizable honeymoon phase, with recognizable signs.”

Education, she said, “is the best inoculation.”

Philip Browning, director of the county Department of Children and Family Services, agreed.

“We have thousands of foster parents, relative caregivers, group home providers that every day come into contact with individuals who are involved in, or potentially could be involved in, commercial sex trafficking. Without education, I don’t think we would be able to do nearly what is needed,” Browning said.

The board directed the departments to come back with a report within 30 days. Along with the motion by Ridley-Thomas and Knabe, supervisors approved an amendment by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to support state funding for efforts throughout California, including Los Angeles County.

The County Welfare Directors Association of California is pushing for a wide-scale initiative—incorporating training programs and services for child victims—that it hopes will ultimately be funded by the state. The organization estimates that running such a program in California would cost $40.6 million in the first year and $28.5 million annually after that.

Yaroslavsky said it will be essential for Los Angeles County to receive its share of state funds in order to enact effective programs here without cutting into other important services.

Posted 3/27/14