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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

Placer County Grand Jury • 2014-2015

Placer County Grand Jury Human Trafficking June 26, 2015

Published: June 26, 2015 7 pages

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⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.

⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Findings 11 findings

Long-term placement for child victims of sex trafficking in Placer County is problematic.

An advocate, who has worked with victims for 15 years, uses stringent software to test for boundaries and sexual propensities (Diana Screening) in potential safe houses for victims. This advocate says that the use of this more extensive software could improve the probability of human trafficking victims to find a safe home.

In ten months, and as of the time of this interview, one facility had turned away 79 victims due to lack of beds.

Child victims are usually sent out of their local area for their own safety.

Law enforcement commented that monetary fines on massage parlors are not severe enough to stop the rotation of female victims. When law enforcement questions these females, they frequently have scripted answers (“just visiting from out of town, staying with a friend”, etc.) When law enforcement conducts follow-up investigations on the same businesses within a short period of time, those employees have moved on to new locations. New female employees have the same scripted responses to questions.

Law enforcement has much less control or power to protect adult victims since they are over 18, and unless charged with a crime, they can’t hold them.

Establishment of state-wide tracking systems for victims already identified by law enforcement is necessary. Conclusion Although Placer County does have instances of human trafficking, it is not on the scale of larger areas within California. The Grand Jury would like to commend Placer County Children’s System of Care and its partners in developing the CSEC task force. Although CSEC is a new task force, their research, services, and partnerships with other county services appear promising. Continued training for all County officials working with families is crucial for CSEC to fully realize its potential to identify risky situations, enforce the extensive laws already in place and to best assess and fulfill the needs of the victims.

Some water and fire districts serving a given geographic area have entered into formal written agreements.

In some areas, there are less formal agreements between the fire and water agencies’ respective management teams.

F10

Generally, the fire district does inspection and light maintenance and the water districts do the heavier maintenance and repairs. Staff seemed to think that that arrangement makes sense in that it takes advantage of the skills of each agency’s employees.

F11

The Grand Jury did not find any specific inadequacies in the operation of fire hydrants. _________________________________________________ - 10 - _________________________________________________ Findings and Recommendations -2015 Final Report

Recommendations 3

R1

Health and Human Services continues to seek up to date information and state-of-the-art programs for human trafficking victim assistance.
R2

The CSEC continue “active” coordination of all agencies involved in identifying and tracking human trafficking incidents in Placer County.
R3

The CSEC develop human trafficking awareness programs to educate parents and children, with a special emphasis on foster parents and foster children.

Conclusions 1

CL1

Although Placer County does have instances of human trafficking, it is not on the scale of larger areas within California. The Grand Jury would like to commend Placer County Children’s System of Care and its partners in developing the CSEC task force. Although CSEC is a new task force, their research, services, and partnerships with other county services appear promising. Continued training for all County officials working with families is crucial for CSEC to fully realize its potential to identify risky situations, enforce the extensive laws already in place and to best assess and fulfill the needs of the victims. - 6 - Placer County Grand Jury 2014-2015 Final Report