MINORS & PROSTITUTION: COUNSELING                                                  S.B. 587 (S-1):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                      REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 587 (Substitute S-1 as reported by the Committee of the Whole) (Senate-passed version)

Sponsor:  Senator Vincent Gregory

Committee:  Families, Seniors and Human Services

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Foster Care and Adoption Services Act to require a supervising agency that develops a medical passport for a child under its care to indicate in the passport that the child could be a victim of human trafficking; and require a mental health professional assessment of a child alleged to be a victim of human trafficking.

The Act requires a supervising agency to develop a medical passport for each child who comes under its care.  The medical passport must contain all medical information required to be provided to foster parents, basic medical history, a record of all immunizations, and any other information concerning the child's physical or mental health.  Under the bill, this would include information that the child could be a victim of human trafficking.

Currently, if a child under the care of a supervising agency has suffered sexual abuse, serious physical abuse, or mental illness, the supervising agency must have an assessment or psychological evaluation of the child performed by an experienced and licensed mental health professional who is trained in children's psychological assessments. 

The bill would extend this requirement to a child who was alleged to be the victim of human trafficking.  If the assessment or evaluation indicated that the child could have been a victim of human trafficking, the supervising agency would have to provide appropriate counseling services, in addition to any other services.

Currently, the requirement for an assessment or evaluation applies only to a child who is made a State ward on or after March 31, 1998.  The bill would delete this language.

MCL 722.954c                                                                  Legislative Analyst:  Jeff Mann

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill could result in a minimal fiscal impact on the Department of Human Services budget and local units of government.  The counseling services that would be required by the bill primarily would be funded through a 50-50 cost share between the State and counties. Any potential cost increase would be shared by both entities.

Actual costs would be affected by several factors, such as the number of minor victims of human trafficking who were identified as such, and the capacity of the current infrastructure to absorb these new cases.  The estimated number of total victims, including adults, ranges from 100 to 1,800 annually. Foster care services are provided by both the Department and private service providers.  It is undetermined whether the existing infrastructure would be sufficient to provide counseling that was specific to victims of human trafficking.  The Department could be required to develop specific protocols and provide training to public and private foster care providers.

Date Completed:  2-14-14                                                 Fiscal Analyst:  Frances Carley

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.