36th National Child Welfare, Juvenile, and Family Law Conference NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNSEL FOR CHILDREN August 26th, 2013
Washington State Model Protocol for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Justice Bobbe J. Bridge (ret.)
Washington State Profile Population and Demographics Washington state has 39 counties, with the highest population density residing in the western counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish. 3
Population Characteristics Population Demographics Washington State U.S. Total Population 6,897,012 313,914,040 Caucasian/White 71.6% 63.0% African American/Black 3.9% 13.0% Hispanic/Latino 11.7% 16.9% Asian 7.7% 5.1% Native American/Indian 1.8% 1.2% Other 3.3% 0.8% Source: United States Census Bureau, 2012 4
5 Washington Politics
Washington Industry & Agriculture Industry Microsoft Boeing Starbucks Amazon.com Expedia Costco Weyerhaeuser Paccar Agriculture Apples Wheat Wine Peaches Potatoes Hops 6
Large US cities where it rains or snows over 130 days per year Rochester and Buffalo NY Portland Oregon 164 Cleveland OH 155 Pittsburg PA 151 Seattle WA 149 Columbus OH 139 Cincinnati OH 137 Miami FL 135 167 days 7
Efforts to Address CSEC in WA 2003: First state in the nation to prohibit trafficking in persons: HB 1175 2008: A report from the City of Seattle identifies 238 youth who have been commercially sexually exploited during the past year 2008 2013: new safe harbor laws enacted 8
Project Respect The purpose of Project Respect is to create and implement a statewide protocol to identify, engage and better serve commercially sexually exploited youth in Washington State. 9
Project Respect Time Line Funding from the state Children s Justice Task Force and additional private and foundation funding Final revised model protocol issued : March 2013 Provided two trainings to five regional CSEC Task Forces: Protocol implementation (4 hours) and CSEC basic and intensive trainings (16 hours) Statewide CSEC Coordinating Committee meets this Fall Creating a statewide data collection plan 10
11 Statewide CSEC Task Forces
How a Statewide Protocol was Created Held a decision maker s summit in September 2012 Vetted the protocol elements Incorporated feedback Held a stakeholder s meeting for King County in October 2012 Incorporated input from survivors Over 200 people participated in the creation of the protocol 12
13 The Revised Protocol
Access the Protocol Google: Washington State Model Protocol for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children 14
Project Respect - Mission The mission of the CSEC model protocol is to foster collaboration and coordination among agencies to improve the capacity to identify CSEC and provide safety and services for them and their families/caregivers, as appropriate, as they work to end their exploitation, and to hold their exploiters accountable. Those involved in this effort will use best practices and will rely on data and evidence to drive system improvements. 15
Core Values for the Model Protocol 1. We view sexually exploited youth as victims of crime, and do not view or treat them as criminals. 2. Our response fosters regional coordination and relationship building within andacross across systems; this is an intentional process for different systems to interact, network, and form a regional alliance. 3. We meet youth wherethey arewithaccessible accessible services based on their individual needs. 4. Individually and collectively our first, foremost and sustaining objective is victim safety. 5. All children deserve a safe, warm, nurturing environment, independent of their behavior. 16
The Model Protocol Is a template it does not have all the answers and does not address best practice services this comes with the CSEC trainings and an accompanying set of guidelines developed by YouthCare Mottos: Don t let the perfect be the enemy of the good Together we re a genius Building while flying 17
Key elements of the model protocol Three tiers of response/coordination Multidisciplinary M i li team Task Force Statewide Coordinating Committee 18
Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT s) Responsible for immediate response and ongoing problem solving on specific CSEC cases as they arise. These teams are small and capable of quick ik response. 19
Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT s) Members will likely include; police/deputy sheriff community based advocate Child Protective Services others if needed (service providers, prosecutors, df defense attorneys, etc.) 20
Multidisciplinary Team Duties Meet within 24 hours of the identification of a CSEC and work together to make sure: the child's immediate needs are met, that the child is assessed for safety and placed accordingly, and that needed services are identified and offered. 21
Purpose of the Task Forces A CSEC Task Force is intended to support and encourage a collaborative effort among local law enforcement, courts, prosecutors, diverse victim service providers, and other key stakeholders who together provide comprehensive services in order to discover and respond effectively to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth. 22
Key Task Force Duties In addition to overall collaboration and coordination duties, it: Adapts and implements the model protocol at the local level Collects and reviews data that helps to monitor the extent to which CSEC exists in the region Evaluates the effectiveness of the protocol implementation Sets goals and achieves them Addresses collaboration/coordination issues as they arise and 23
Task Force MOU It is a public statement of commitment and a guide for accountability. It should clearly define roles, responsibilities and responses to CSEC that are within the agency or organization s normal capacity. MOU insures continuity of the Task Force not just person or personality based. 24
Statewide Coordinating Committee A group of statewide decision makers will convene annually to address the issue of children who are commercially sexually exploited, to examine the practices of local and regional entities involved in addressing sexually exploited children and to make recommendation on statewide laws and practices (from SSB 5308). 25
Data Collection The Washington State Center for Court Research is leading an effort to work with stakeholders and pilot sites to develop and implement a data collection plan involving law enforcement, courts, CPS and service providers 26
Best Practices for the Model Protocol Training Screening Local protocols to identify and locate youth who have runway multiple times in one year Soft site as reception center Include families and care givers in service planning when appropriate 27
Key Elements of an Effective Protocol Common vision and values Relationship of trust and respect Leadership Community C i support Political support 28
Key Elements cont d. Collaboration and coordination Structure to address implementation issues Commitment to sustain Good data Don t let the perfect be the enemy of 29 the good!
30 Questions?