Dear Governor Brown:

I urge you to sign for AB 1227 (Bonta), as amended on September 7^th, which would require California public schools to offer education and training on human trafficking identification and prevention to avert children from being exploited for labor or sex.

Human Trafficking is a $150 billion global industry – the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world – and California has the highest number of human trafficking incidents reported by the National Human Trafficking Hotline.  We believe that it is necessary for counties to implement comprehensive prevention education and training procedures in order to reduce incidents of human trafficking. By educating students and school employees about the tactics used by traffickers, such as force, fraud, and coercion, our state can greatly reduce the vulnerability of all children in California to human trafficking and improve the overall safety of the community.

Specifically, the Human Trafficking Prevention Education and Training Act will:

• Coordinate the efforts of counties, local agencies, and other stakeholders through agreed-upon protocols;
• Train county leadership, administrators, and educators to identify children that have been, or may be at risk of being, exploited and how to proceed when potential victims are identified; and
• Teach California’s school-age population how to avoid becoming victims of exploitation, and help them understand the problem of human trafficking and learn ways to address the problem through service initiatives.

We thank you for your consideration of this important legislation and urge you to please sign AB 1227.

cc:   The Honorable Rob Bonta

Jennifer Johnson, Deputy Legislative Secretary, Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Donna Campbell, Deputy Legislative Secretary, Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.