The Board of Supervisors today directed the county’s child welfare agency to develop a curriculum to educate foster parents and group home operators on the dangers of child sex trafficking and train them on intervention.
Supervisors Don Knabe and Mark Ridley-Thomas, who recommended the training program, told their colleagues that sex traffickers are using the child welfare system as a recruitment vehicle.
“The county should move as quickly as possible to help safeguard the county’s most vulnerable population from being sexually exploited,” the supervisors’ motion says.
Hundreds of children, some as young as 12 years old, are sold for sex each year in Los Angeles County, according to the supervisors. Children in the welfare system are often targeted and lured into the sex trade through a well- documented grooming process, they said.
Training would be aimed at helping foster caregivers identify victims of sexual exploitation, understand common behaviors and learn best practices for dealing with the needs of victims.
DCFS personnel will hire a consultant to help develop a proposed curriculum. The department expects to roll out a pilot training program to gauge the costs of implementing mandatory training countywide.
A report that includes an estimate of costs and potential funding sources is expected back in 60 to 90 days.
