Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1784
       
       
        
       By Senator Campbell
       
       
       
       
       
       38-01311A-18                                          20181784__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to human trafficking; amending s.
    3         16.617, F.S.; requiring the Statewide Council on Human
    4         Trafficking to recommend specified identifiers or a
    5         screening tool by a specified date to assist emergency
    6         room health care personnel in recognizing victims of
    7         human trafficking; requiring the Department of Health
    8         to post the screening tool and certain information
    9         provided by the council on its website; providing an
   10         effective date.
   11  
   12         WHEREAS, many young children, teenagers, and adults who
   13  come in contact with Florida’s health care system are not
   14  recognized as victims of human trafficking when, in fact, they
   15  are, and
   16         WHEREAS, emergency room personnel are often the first
   17  health care professionals to interact with these victims, who
   18  are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for purposes of
   19  sexual exploitation or forced labor, and
   20         WHEREAS, few clinicians know how to identify victims of
   21  human trafficking amongst their patients; and
   22         WHEREAS, potential indicators of human trafficking
   23  victimization may include visible bruises and scars, frequent
   24  injuries, or inconsistencies in a patient’s description of how
   25  an injury occurred; and
   26         WHEREAS, some hospitals developed their own human
   27  trafficking protocols and the variation in different protocols
   28  creates confusion; and
   29         WHEREAS, access to standardized human trafficking protocols
   30  would enable emergency room personnel to recognize victims of
   31  human trafficking and respond appropriately, and
   32         WHEREAS, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center
   33  serves victims and survivors of human trafficking, is a leader
   34  in the global fight for human trafficking victims, and provides
   35  recommendations for human trafficking assessments in healthcare
   36  settings, NOW, THEREFORE,
   37  
   38  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         Section 1. Present paragraph (e) of subsection (4) of
   41  section 16.617, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph
   42  (f), and a new paragraph (e) is added to that section, to read:
   43         16.617 Statewide Council on Human Trafficking; creation;
   44  membership; duties.—
   45         (4) DUTIES.—The council shall:
   46         (e) By January 1, 2019, the council shall recommend the
   47  indicators of human trafficking identified by the National Human
   48  Trafficking Resource Center for use in a health care setting or
   49  an evidence-based national and standardized screening tool to
   50  assist emergency room health care personnel in recognizing child
   51  and adult victims of human trafficking. The Department of Health
   52  shall post such indicators or screening tool on its website,
   53  along with information on reporting, referral services, and any
   54  other information provided by the council to such personnel.
   55         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.