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89–541 2016

PREVENTING AND ADDRESSING SEX 

TRAFFICKING OF YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Serial No. 113–HR09 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Ways and Means 

( 


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COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

DAVE CAMP, Michigan, Chairman 

SAM JOHNSON, Texas 

KEVIN BRADY, Texas 

PAUL RYAN, Wisconsin 

DEVIN NUNES, California 

PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio 

DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington 

CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, JR., Louisiana 

PETER J. ROSKAM, Illinois 

JIM GERLACH, Pennsylvania 

TOM PRICE, Georgia 

VERN BUCHANAN, Florida 

ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska 

AARON SCHOCK, Illinois 

LYNN JENKINS, Kansas 

ERIK PAULSEN, Minnesota 

KENNY MARCHANT, Texas 

DIANE BLACK, Tennessee 

TOM REED, New York 

TODD YOUNG, Indiana 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

JIM RENACCI, Ohio 

SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan 

CHARLES B. RANGEL, New York 

JIM MCDERMOTT, Washington 

JOHN LEWIS, Georgia 

RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts 

XAVIER BECERRA, California 

LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas 

MIKE THOMPSON, California 

JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

RON KIND, Wisconsin 

BILL PASCRELL, JR., New Jersey 

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York 

ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania 

DANNY DAVIS, Illinois 

LINDA SA ́ NCHEZ, California 

JENNIFER M. SAFAVIAN, Staff Director and General Counsel 

JANICE MAYS, Minority Chief Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES 

DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington, Chairman 

TODD YOUNG, Indiana 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

JIM RENACCI, Ohio 

TOM REED, New York 

CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, JR., Louisiana 

LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas 

JOHN LEWIS, Georgia 

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York 

DANNY DAVIS, Illinois 


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C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Advisory of October 23, 2013 announcing the hearing ......................................... 2 

WITNESSES 

PANEL 1: 

The Honorable Erik Paulsen, U.S. Representative from the State of Minnesota, Testimony ................................................................................................ 6 

The Honorable Louise Slaughter, U.S. Representative from the State of New 

York, Testimony ................................................................................................... 9 

The Honorable Ted Poe, U.S. Representative from the State of Texas, Testimony ...................................................................................................................... 16 

The Honorable Karen Bass, U.S. Representative from the State of California, 

Testimony ............................................................................................................. 19 

The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch, U.S. Senator from the State of Utah, Testimony ...................................................................................................................... 26 

PANEL 2: 

Withelma ‘‘T’’ Ortiz Walker Pettigrew, Board Member, Human Rights Project 

for Girls, Testimony ............................................................................................. 30 

John Ryan, CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Testimony ...................................................................................................................... 38 

The Honorable Bobbe J. Bridge, President, CEO and Founder, Center for 

Children and Youth Justice, Testimony ............................................................. 50 

Melinda Giovengo, Ph.D., Executive Director, YouthCare, Testimony ............... 61 

Ashley Harris, Child Welfare Policy Associate, Texans Care For Children, 

Testimony ............................................................................................................. 69 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

Foster Family Based Treatment Association ........................................................ 91 


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PREVENTING AND ADDRESSING SEX 

TRAFFICKING OF YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES, 

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:35 p.m., in room 

1100, Longworth House Office Building, the Honorable Dave 

Reichert [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

[The advisory of the hearing follows:] 


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HEARING ADVISORY 

Chairman Reichert Announces Hearing on Preventing and Addressing Sex Trafficking of 

Youth in Foster Care 

1100 Longworth House Office Building at 2:00 PM 

Washington, October 16, 2013 

Congressman Dave Reichert (R–WA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Human 

Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on ways to improve the child welfare system to prevent sex trafficking of youth in America’s foster care system. The hearing will 

take place at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, October 23, 2013, in Room 1100 of the 

Longworth House Office Building. 

In view of the limited time available to hear from witnesses, oral testimony at 

this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include experts 

working to reduce the vulnerabilities of youth in foster care as well as representatives of organizations who serve victims of sex trafficking. However, any individual 

or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of 

the hearing. 

BACKGROUND: 

Since the early 1960s, the Federal Government has reimbursed States for part of 

the cost of providing foster care to children from needy families. In FY 2012, the 

Federal Government provided States $4.2 billion to support monthly payments to 

foster parents, case management, staff training, and data collection. The goal of this 

funding is to ensure foster parents can support children from needy families when 

the child cannot safely remain at home. 

While foster care often protects children from further abuse and neglect, children 

who stay in foster care for extended periods—especially those who leave foster care 

at age 18 without being placed in a permanent home—have troubling outcomes. For 

example, research shows that children who spend an extended duration in foster 

care are less likely to graduate from high school, attend college, be employed, or 

have enough income to support a family than other youth. They are also more likely 

to become teen parents, collect welfare, become homeless, be arrested, or use drugs. 

In some cases, certain child welfare policies may unintentionally undermine the 

well-being of children placed in foster care. As the Subcommittee reviewed in a 

hearing in May 2013, some foster care rules have made it difficult for foster youth 

to participate in sports, sleep over at a friend’s house, obtain a driver’s license, get 

a part-time job, or engage in other age-appropriate activities. Although these policies are often well intentioned, they may inadvertently increase a young person’s 

isolation and separation from family, friends, and the surrounding community, making them more vulnerable to victimization. 

One of the most devastating examples of this vulnerability is when children in 

foster care become victims of sex trafficking. Reports suggest a majority of children 

involved in sex trafficking are either currently in foster care or have been involved 

with the child welfare system in the past. In 2010, officials in Los Angeles reported 

that 59 percent of juveniles arrested for prostitution were in the foster care system. 

Of children reported missing to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who are also likely sex trafficking victims, 60 percent were in foster care or 

group homes when they ran away. Research cited by the U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services shows the majority of sex trafficked youth experienced sexual 

abuse growing up, and victims of sexual abuse are 28 times more likely to be involved in prostitution than children who have not suffered such abuse. Even though 

a history of prior sexual abuse places many children in foster care at far greater 


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risk of sex trafficking, the child welfare system today does not make systematic efforts to identify and help those at high risk of being trafficked. 

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Reichert stated, ‘‘Even though foster 

care is meant to protect children who have been abused, research shows 

that most victims of child sex trafficking come straight from the foster care 

system. This is totally unacceptable. During my law enforcement career, I 

saw first-hand the terrible tragedies of young women involved in the sex 

trade. We can’t continue to allow kids in foster care to become victims of 

this terrible crime. We owe it to them to ensure our nation’s foster care system does all it can to protect them from predators so they can live safe, 

happy, and successful lives. For too many kids in foster care, we are not 

living up to that promise.’’ 

FOCUS OF THE HEARING: 

This hearing will review how the child welfare system currently works to prevent 

the sex trafficking of youth in foster care, how the needs of sex trafficking victims 

are addressed, and how Federal laws and policies might be improved to better ensure the safety and well-being of youth at risk of abuse and neglect. 

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS: 

Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee 

website and complete the informational forms. From the Committee homepage, 

http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select ‘‘Hearings.’’ Select the hearing for which you 

would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, ‘‘Please click here to submit a 

statement or letter for the record.’’ Once you have followed the online instructions, 

submit all requested information. Attach your submission as a Word document, in 

compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by November 6, 2013. 

Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol 

Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings. For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225–1721 or (202) 

225–3625. 

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS: 

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing 

record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, 

but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission 

provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for 

the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written 

comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will 

be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee. 

1. All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word format and MUST 

NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments. Witnesses and submitters are advised 

that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. 

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. 

Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material 

not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use 

by the Committee. 

3. All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose 

behalf the witness appears. A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the 

name, company, address, telephone, and fax numbers of each witness. 

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. 

If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202–225–1721 or 202–226– 

3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). 

Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above. 


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Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available online at http:// 

www.waysandmeans.house.gov/. 

f 

Chairman REICHERT. Welcome to today’s hearing. 

We will start with my opening statement. And the staff has prepared, sort of, some of what I have experienced in my life. They 

have about two pages of my experience as a sheriff and a detective 

working with people on the street. I think they were trying to put 

me in a box to shorten up my statement, so I am going to read 

from that, because if I don’t read from it, I will probably get off into 

all kinds of different examples and stories and it could take us a 

while. 

I think most people know that before being elected to Congress 

I spent 32 years working in law enforcement in King County. And 

I became a sheriff in 1997 and left in January of 2005 to come to 

Congress. I saw firsthand the tragedies that children face when 

they are not cared for by loving parents. 

It was in the sheriff’s office where I first witnessed the horrors 

of child sex trafficking, and it convinced me that we needed to do 

more to protect our youth at risk of abuse. And in late summer in 

1982, I began a 20-year journey that would focus my attention on 

this issue like nothing else ever could. 

On August 12th of 1982, I was called to investigate the death of 

a young woman whose body was found in the Green River just 

south of Seattle in suburban Kent, Washington. Of course, I didn’t 

know then that that was the beginning of 20 years. I thought that 

I was investigating one murder. Three days later, I received a call 

about two more bodies being found in the river. And as I was investigating that crime scene, I found a third body on the banks of the 

river. 

Finding these victims began our 2-decade hunt for a man who 

became known as the Green River Killer, who, once caught, confessed to killing more than 70 young women who had been involved 

in the sex trade. Of the 48 known victims of the Green River Killer, 

at least 17 were minors—children who had been abused or neglected, who had run away from home, who had been victimized 

and ultimately killed. 

Ridgway pled guilty to 49 murders and, like he said, probably 

killed 70 to 80. The sad part about this story is the families who 

will never see their daughters again, lives lost, of course. People 

recognize that. But the community didn’t see these children, driving from home to work, from work to home. They were invisible. 

So this issue is not just an abstract problem from a faraway place 

for me; it is personal. 

As chairman, I focused on how we can improve the child welfare 

system and help children in foster care lead successful lives. One 

of the most devastating examples of the vulnerability of kids in foster care is when they become victims of sex trafficking. In 2010, officials in Los Angeles reported that 59 percent of juveniles arrested 

for prostitution were in foster care. Of children reported missing to 

the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who were 


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also likely sex trafficking victims, 60 percent were in foster care or 

group homes when they ran away. 

Research cited by the U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services shows the majority of sex trafficked youth experience sexual abuse growing up. Victims of sexual abuse are 28 times more 

likely to be involved in prostitution than children who have not suffered such abuse. 

I think everybody in this room recognizes, and I hope that people 

across America recognize, we cannot allow this to continue. We owe 

it to these children to ensure our Nation’s foster care system does 

all it can to protect them so that they can live safe and happy and 

successful lives. For too many kids in foster care, we are not living 

up to that promise. 

That is why the topic of today’s hearing is so critical to me and 

why I know it is important to each of our witnesses today. And I 

look forward to hearing from each of the witnesses in both panels. 

And now I yield to Mr. Doggett for his opening statement. 

Mr. DOGGETT. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. 

We are aware that nearly 150 years ago our Nation banned all 

forms of slavery through the passage of the 13th Amendment, but 

the protection of that promise has eluded too many children who 

are enslaved, effectively, by really cruel masters. While there is not 

any one piece of legislation that will stop sex trafficking of children, we can’t allow complacency to stop us from doing everything 

in our power to put a stop to this. 

Our first task in this subcommittee, given our jurisdiction, is to 

ensure the child welfare system doesn’t become a pipeline to prostitution. The abuse and neglect that children suffer before coming 

into foster care already make them prime targets for those who 

prey on children. A sense of isolation that often comes when children are removed from their homes makes them even more vulnerable. And when children run away from home, the risk grows further still. 

Without the protection of the foster care system, abused and neglected children would be even more at the mercy of predators and 

sex traffickers. But the system needs to become more cognizant of 

the problem and more forceful in developing strategies to stop it. 

I note one survey that was conducted by the Los Angeles Probation 

Department revealing that a majority of the juveniles arrested on 

prostitution were in the foster care system already, and that ought 

to set off an alarm for us. 

Some policies that generally help foster children, such as better 

connecting them with relatives and helping them lead more normal 

lives, are important. This subcommittee has held hearings on these 

issues, and yesterday we passed bipartisan legislation to better 

promote the adoption of children in foster care. 

I expect that we will hear about the need for increased housing 

options for the victims of trafficking, improved coordination and 

collaboration among all the various agencies and programs that 

come into contact with children, and that we need to ensure that 

children who are trafficked are not treated like criminals but the 

victims that they truly are. 

In Texas, we have a number of champions who have worked on 

this. I look forward to hearing from Ashley Harris, who has come 


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up from Texas with Texans Care for Children and who has worked 

with State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, State Representative 

Senfronia Thompson, and other members of our legislature to deal 

with this problem at the State level. 

I particularly look forward to hearing from all of our colleagues 

on their recommendations for what legislative initiatives we can 

take and how we can work collaboratively on a bipartisan basis to 

address this truly serious problem. 

And I yield back. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you, Mr. Doggett. 

Without objection, each Member will have the opportunity to 

submit a written statement and have it included in the record. 

I want to remind our witnesses, please, to limit their oral testimony to 5 minutes. However, without objection, all the written testimony will be made a part of the permanent record. 

On our first panel this afternoon, we will be hearing from several 

of our own colleagues, as Mr. Doggett said. And it is sometimes unusual in a subcommittee hearing to have the interest of a number 

of Members, so it is really an honor to have the four of you here. 

And we will be hearing from Senator Hatch via a video presentation later on. 

So the first panel today is the Honorable Eric Paulsen of Minnesota, who, by the way, was acting chairman of this subcommittee 

last year; Honorable Louise Slaughter of New York; Honorable Ted 

Poe of Texas; the Honorable Karen Bass of California; and, as I 

mentioned, Senator Hatch of Utah will present later. 

Mr. Paulsen, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. ERIK PAULSEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA 

Mr. PAULSEN. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking 

Member Doggett. I want to thank you for holding this hearing 

today and bringing light to an issue that is all too often ignored. 

It is very easy and comfortable to think that sex trafficking happens only outside the United States, but the truth is that the exploitation of our children happens every day all across the country 

and even in our own backyards. 

I recently visited Breaking Free, which is a Minnesota organization run by a survivor of trafficking whose mission is to educate 

and provide services to women and girls who have been the victims 

of abuse and commercial sexual exploitation. And while there, I 

had the opportunity to meet with victims and to hear their stories. 

Breaking Free has beds that are exclusively used for child trafficking victims. And I was shocked to learn, Mr. Chairman, that 

these beds are full almost every night and they are looking for additional capacity. 

The Department of Justice reports that, between 2008 and 2010, 

83 percent of sex trafficking victims found within the United States 

were U.S. citizens, and the average age of a girl’s entry into prostitution or sex trafficking is 12 to 14 years old. That is the seventh 

grade. 

Sadly, the foster care system is rife with opportunities for predators to exploit these young girls. Recently, the Chicago Tribune reported how group facilities are a breeding ground for the recruitVerDate Sep 11 2014 10:49 Jul 01, 2016 Jkt 089541 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 I:\WAYS\OUT\89541.XXX 89541

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ment of children into sex trafficking, saying, quote, ‘‘Because many 

girls in foster care feel starved for a sense of family, experts say 

it is not uncommon for pimps to target group homes and groom 

girls for prostitution by giving them attention and gifts. They often 

let the girls think they are dating, and they even used one foster 

child to recruit others.’’ 

Youth who have been involved in the foster care system are also 

more likely to become runaways or to become homeless at an early 

age. Minneapolis Police Sergeant Grant Snyder, who works fulltime fighting youth prostitution and trafficking, reports that there 

is a very strong connection between runaways and homeless youth 

and sex trafficking victims. He says all of their trafficking victims 

are a part of that population. 

And youth who age out of the foster care system often have little 

or no income support, limited housing options, and are at a higher 

risk to end up out on the streets. Youth that live in residential or 

institutional facilities often become homeless upon discharge. 

Sadly, the consequences for these children are dire. Girls who become victims of sex trafficking may face a range of both physical 

and mental maladies, including reproductive health issues, pain, 

weight loss, depression, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and suicidal 

thoughts. 

When I talk to experts, over and over again they say there is a 

general lack of understanding of the problems, and, therefore, the 

victims aren’t getting the proper services and care they need. 

Earlier this week, I actually met with the Ramsey County Attorney in Minnesota John Choi, and he said, ‘‘Just like domestic violence decades ago, child sex trafficking is not getting the attention 

that it needs. There is not a strong awareness of the youth trafficking problem. People don’t know that it is going on, and, therefore, they don’t know what to look for.’’ He went on to say that, ‘‘in 

order to prevent youths from becoming victims of sex trafficking, 

we need better information as to what is happening, where, and to 

whom. We need to identify trends, and then help fill in the gaps.’’ 

That is why earlier this year I introduced bipartisan legislation, 

along with Representative Slaughter, to help provide reliable data, 

particularly as it relates to children in the child welfare system. It 

takes an important first step by requiring that each State’s foster 

care and adoption assistance plan contains a description of the specific measures taken to provide services to children who are the victims of sex trafficking. 

It also requires children welfare agencies to immediately notify 

the proper authorities when children go missing, either from their 

homes or from childcare institutions. This information will all go 

to the FBI, where we can keep a comprehensive database. 

And this bill will also classify that these victims, that they are 

just that, they are victims, not criminals, which they are sometimes 

labeled today. We need to make sure that the victims are able to 

come forward without the fear of prosecution and given the proper 

care and protection, they are not just thrown in jail. 

This is an issue that people don’t always like to talk about. And 

while we read stories about it going on in foreign countries, the reality is it is happening right in our backyards. But by pooling our 

resources and gathering ideas and intelligence from as many 


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sources as we can, we can start to fight back and save the lives 

of these innocent youth. This legislation is a product of ideas from 

law enforcement and nonprofit organizations that understand the 

problem, and, also, they know very real what the practical ways 

are to combat it. 

I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to testify, and I commend 

the committee for bringing attention to this very important topic. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you, Mr. Paulsen. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Paulsen follows:] 


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Chairman REICHERT. I will just take a moment to point out for 

people who might be watching C–SPAN and those in the audience, 

this is one of those few moments where you see some true bipartisanship, so we have Democrats and Republicans here testifying 

today. 

So it is an honor to have you, Ms. Slaughter. You are recognized 

for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. LOUISE SLAUGHTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW 

YORK 

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I 

am very pleased to be here, delighted to co-sponsor this with Mr. 

Paulsen—and Congressman Poe and I have worked on similar 

issues before—and, certainly, to be here with my colleague, Karen 

Bass. This is a most important issue to all of us, and I thank you 

for holding this hearing and giving me the opportunity to come to 

speak. 

We have all said so many times and we believe with all our 

hearts that the children in this country are our most important resource. All of us who are parents and grandparents know the 

lengths that we would go to to protect our children from harm. And 

we wish that every child had the opportunity to grow up in a family that loved and protected them, but, unfortunately, that is not 

the case. As a result, as we are here today, 400,000 children are 

in the foster care system. 


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And there have been great improvements in recent years in 

terms of reducing the numbers of children in foster care and increasing the number of children who find permanent and loving 

homes. We should acknowledge and be proud of the advancements 

that have been made, particularly the focus on supporting youth as 

they age out of the system. 

But the fact of the matter is that the majority of foster care parents are loving and supportive individuals who open their hearts 

and their homes. Foster care parents can rightfully be described as 

the better angels among us, and they deserve to be recognized for 

the incredible difference they make in the world every day. But far 

too many children in the foster care system don’t have that benefit. 

But even for those incredible champions, protecting young people 

in foster care from the threats of the outside world is a very big 

challenge. And statistics tell us that foster children are exceptionally vulnerable to those who seek to exploit children, as Congressman Paulsen has told us. 

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tells us 

60 percent of runaways who are victims of sex trafficking were at 

one time in the custody of social services or in foster care. In my 

home State of New York, 85 percent of the trafficking victims have 

prior child welfare involvement. To say that I am completely appalled and embarrassed by that number is an understatement. 

While State-specific numbers vary throughout the country, they all 

tell us that much more needs to be done. 

And I am proud to be one of the co-sponsors of H.R. 2744, the 

Child Sex Trafficking Data and Response Act, sponsored by my colleague, Mr. Paulsen. And this bill, to go over it again—and I know 

you have heard it, but we can’t hear it too much, because this is 

such an important bill, and it must be addressed if we are going 

to reduce the incidence of sex trafficking in the United States, 

which is growing at terrible rates. 

First, it identifies and documents children within the welfare 

system who are victims of sex trafficking. Then it trains the child 

protective service workers to identify and provide the services 

needed to victims of sex trafficking; coordinates efforts with State 

law enforcement, juvenile justice, and social services; and reports 

the number of children known or suspected to be the victims of 

trafficking each year. 

Now, all of these approaches are good and necessary, but the 

part of this bill that is of primary importance to me is that the 

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act will be amended to require that child victims of sex trafficking will now be considered 

victims of abuses and neglect, making them eligible to receive services within the child welfare system. The idea that a young person 

rescued from a sex trafficking operation could be considered an offender within the juvenile justice system is shocking to me and to 

you, as well, I am sure. 

These are victims in the strongest sense of the word, the children 

who have been preyed upon by those who would take advantage of 

the situation. That fear and the loneliness that comes from being 

in the foster care system, to use them to their own advantage and 

profit. Those children deserve help and a chance at healing and 

wholeness, not a criminal record. 


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I have worked for many years on issues of domestic violence and 

sexual assault in the military. In 1994, I drafted the original Violence Against Women Act with my good friend, Former Representative Patricia Schroeder, and in recent years fought to pass numerous protections into law that provide our servicemen and -women 

with the resources, support, and the agency to seek justice in cases 

of sexual assault and to successfully prevent cases of sexual assault 

before they occur. 

In the process, I have watched women go from victims to survivors after receiving services that the agencies funded by the legislation on domestic violence have been able to offer. We have 

watched the incidence of domestic violence fall by 67 percent since 

the bill was passed. And I believe we will see the same kind of impact from addressing sex trafficking among our foster youth. 

The same way millions of victims of domestic violence have been 

drawn out of the shadows and been given a chance to stand because of the Violence Against Women Act, I believe that this legislation we are talking about today and other ideas being considered 

before this committee are the path forward for these young people 

who deserve all the assistance that we can provide. 

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Doggett, Members of 

the Committee, for your time and your consideration today. Thank 

you. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you, Ms. Slaughter, for all your 

hard work and concern on this issue and the team that you have 

with you at the witness table. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Slaughter follows:] 


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f 

Chairman REICHERT. Mr. Poe, who I call ‘‘Judge’’ and he calls 

me ‘‘Sheriff,’’ he has done a lot of work in this area, and I am so 

pleased to have the Judge here. 

Judge, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 


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STATEMENT OF THE HON. TED POE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS 

Mr. POE. Thank you, Chairman Reichert, Ranking Member Doggett, for inviting me to testify on this important issue. 

As you have mentioned, in my former life, I spent 22 years at 

the criminal courthouse in Houston and 8 years before that as a 

prosecutor. That is where I first heard about you, Sheriff. And the 

whole country appreciates your relentless work on the Green River 

murders even to this day. 

Child abusers, sex predators are the worst criminals in our society. Too often, the justice system unfortunately ignores the victim 

of this crime. 

When I first came to Congress, Congressman Jim Costa and I 

founded the Victims’ Rights Caucus. The VRC is currently focused 

on combatting human trafficking. This topic is particularly of interest to me because my hometown of Houston, Texas, is unfortunately a hub of this despicable crime of human trafficking. 

Many are not aware that modern-day slavery occurs right here 

in the United States, as Ranking Member Doggett has mentioned. 

The problem is very real, especially among vulnerable youth in the 

child welfare system. 

This is Anna’s story, which was given to me by Shared Hope 

International. After Anna’s family passed away, she was placed in 

foster care at the age of 3. She was shuffled from home to home 

until the age of 12, when she was finally adopted by a family. 

Anna began hanging out at the wrong place, a corner store, and 

her family, of course, did not know that she was there. She met a 

person who she thought she could trust. Little did she know the 

person she met at the corner store was not a friend at all. One day, 

she got into a fight with her parents and she called the one friend 

that she thought she had, who picked her up. She didn’t know that 

this call would change her life forever. 

This individual was actually a sex trafficker. He was violent. He 

beat Anna. He sold her body. The emotional, physical, and sexual 

abuse continued for a long time. He threatened to kill her family 

if she ever called the police. He also told her that if the police ever 

found her they would arrest her. And that is exactly what happened. She was arrested and charged with prostitution. She was 

treated as a criminal. But she was a victim of crime. 

Anna became convinced her family didn’t want her any longer, 

and she felt helpless and scared. This is a typical situation, unfortunately, for girls like this. 

After 4 years of this abuse, she escaped and was reunited with 

her family. And through strength and resilient spirit and with the 

help of her mother, Anna vowed to make a difference one victim 

at a time. Now she runs a ministry for sex trafficking survivors 

and runs an outreach program for at-risk youth. 

Unfortunately, Anna’s story is not that unique in this country. 

The scars from the foster care system stayed with her and made 

her vulnerable to trafficking. Many foster youth have experienced 

neglect, physical, emotional, and even sexual abuse. These factors 

make the children more susceptible to trafficking. 

And the child welfare system has many problems, and one major 

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still some values like self-worth into all of these children. We must 

remember that child sex predators, when they commit these crimes 

against our youth, are trying to steal the soul of the victim when 

they commit sexual assault. 

I will soon introduce the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, 

along with Congresswoman Maloney from New York. The companion bill will be also offered in the Senate by Senators Cornyn 

and Wyden. This bill will create a grant program to help State and 

local governments develop and implement comprehensive victimcentered programs. 

It creates a Domestic Trafficking Victims’ Fund at the Treasury, 

financed through the fines on persons convicted of human trafficking and child exploitation, which can be used to fund support 

programs for victims. Criminals, Sheriff, will literally pay for the 

crime and the system that they have created. Included in this bill 

are a number of other provisions to ensure victims receive justice 

and traffickers and buyers are prosecuted. 

Mr. Chairman, across this country we have 5,000 shelters for 

animals. I have gotten one of my three dalmatians from an animal 

shelter. I love those places. But in the whole country, according to 

Shared Hope International, there are only 226 beds for minor sex 

trafficking victims. We can do a lot better. 

The Justice for Victims Act that I introduced—and I have already introduced the End Sex Trafficking Act. This bill will help 

combat human trafficking by targeting criminals who purchase sexual acts and ensuring they are prosecuted just like the trafficker. 

The bill goes after the so-called anonymous buyer of sex trafficking. 

It targets the demand to stop the sale of our children. The days of 

boys being boys in this country are over when it comes to exploitation of our children, and the long arm of the law needs to go after 

these consumers. 

I commend you for holding this hearing today. And that is just 

the way it is. 

Chairman REICHERT. Now you know why we call him ‘‘Judge.’’ 

Thank you, Mr. Poe. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Poe follows:] 


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Chairman REICHERT. Ms. Bass has been passionate on this 

issue. She and I have had a number of discussions and have attended some events together and speaking out. 

And really appreciate your presence here. You are recognized for 

5 minutes, Ms. Bass. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. KAREN BASS, A REPRESENTATIVE 

IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 

Ms. BASS. Well, thank you. Thank you very much for holding 

this hearing, Chairman Reichert and Ranking Member Doggett, for 

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ship today as well as yesterday on the bill that we passed on a bipartisan basis yesterday on the floor. As the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, I am very appreciative of your 

ongoing commitment to improving outcomes for foster youth and 

families. 

As I have traveled throughout the country as part of the Foster 

Youth Caucus National Listening Tour, it has been devastating to 

hear the children involved in the child welfare system, particularly 

those that experience multiple placements, are especially susceptible to coercion and manipulation by traffickers. 

In Los Angeles, there is a specialized collaborative courthouse. 

This court is designed to serve commercially exploited youth, and 

they report that 80 percent of the girls have been previously involved in the child welfare system. Increasingly, in the Los Angeles 

area and other large cities, gangs are engaging in commercial sexual exploitation, too, selling girls in addition to drugs and guns. 

It is clear we need a comprehensive approach to prevent the victimization of our children. Child welfare and law enforcement must 

work together in a coordinated fashion to meet the needs of young 

survivors and prevent the exploitation of others. 

Unfortunately, the child welfare system as a whole has not truly 

recognized trafficking as a crisis within the foster care population, 

and they haven’t incorporated protocols and systems to address the 

problem. 

I had an experience in Los Angeles where I was talking to a child 

welfare director and I asked him about the problem of sex trafficking in the area around the office. He told me it didn’t exist. The 

day before, I had been with the FBI, and they said that the area 

right around that neighborhood was one of the most—one of the 

most trafficked areas. And so the child welfare agency wasn’t even 

aware of it. 

To address the gaps, I have introduced H.R. 1732, the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act, along with my 

colleague and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster 

Youth, Representative Tom Marino. 

Primarily, the bill would help establish local plans to combat 

trafficking, as well as ensuring national data collection in several 

important ways. The bill requires child welfare agencies to report 

missing, abducted, or trafficked youth to law enforcement within 72 

hours for entry into the National Crime Information Center database. Oftentimes, these children are just viewed as runaways. 

The bill amends the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act 

to ensure that States develop comprehensive multi-agency plans to 

identify and provide services to all victims of trafficking. This 

would be inclusive of foster youth as well as other youth who might 

be commercially exploited. 

In addition to local planning and data collection, the bill directs 

the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report 

to Congress that outlines the prevalence and trends of trafficking 

amongst child welfare youth, both State by State and nationwide; 

develops a proposal to collect annual data from State agencies; and 

proposes an ongoing method of supporting and monitoring efforts 

of local child welfare agencies to prevent trafficking and serve victims. 


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Finally, the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking 

Act directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and publish guidelines to assist child welfare agencies in 

serving youth who are victims of trafficking and preventing the exploitation of youth at risk from becoming victims. Although HHS 

recently released guidance to child welfare agencies on this topic, 

there is room for additional resources and specific tools. As outlined 

in the bill, the guidelines would provide example training materials 

and screening tools, service delivery strategies, protocols for effective cross-system collaboration, best practices related to residential 

placement, recommendations for documentation and data collection. 

Something else that needs to be addressed on a State level are 

girls who have been involved in the system, who have criminal 

records, and have turned their life around, and now they need to 

have those records expunged, because we understand, moving forward, these girls should have never been arrested for soliciting to 

begin with. 

In conclusion, we cannot continue to fail our Nation’s children. 

As Federal legislators, we have a tremendous opportunity to ensure 

that local plans to prevent exploitation are in place as well as collect the necessary national data to inform future Federal strategies. While many of the social services needed to properly serve 

trafficked youth may require a monetary investment, these first 

steps do not require additional Federal funding. 

It has been encouraging to see momentum on this issue throughout the 3 years I have served in Congress, and I look forward to 

continuing working with my colleagues. 

Thank you very much. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you, Ms. Bass, for your testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Bass follows:] 


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Chairman REICHERT. And I know that, as I said earlier, Senator Hatch wanted to be here today to testify. He is the author of 

legislation that also seeks to prevent trafficking of youth in foster 

care. So we asked him to testify. He couldn’t be here, but he provided a video for us. So, next, we will watch Senator Hatch’s testimony. 

But before we begin the video, if our member panel wants to 

leave—I know everyone has a busy schedule. You are free to leave, 

or you can stay and listen to the Senator’s testimony. 

And any of the members on the panel here who have questions, 

we will just—we will meet you on the floor or we will send them 

to your office. Is that all right? 

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Indeed. 

Mr. POE. Yes. 

Chairman REICHERT. Okay. 

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Thank you. 


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Chairman REICHERT. Thank you for being here today. 

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Pleasure. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. ORRIN G. HATCH, A SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF UTAH 

[Video begins.] 

Senator HATCH. Chairman Reichert, Ranking Member Doggett, 

and Members of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, thank 

you for holding this important hearing on preventing and addressing sex trafficking of youth in foster care. I am pleased to have the 

opportunity to tell your committee about legislation that I have introduced in the Senate. 

Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, as you know, there is an 

epidemic of abuse taking place in America today. Recent reports estimate that hundreds of thousands of children and youth are at 

risk for domestic sex trafficking. 

The risk of sex trafficking is compounded every year for up to 

30,000 young people who are, quote, ‘‘emancipated,’’ unquote, from 

foster care. Too many of these emancipated youth turn 18, pack 

their few belongings in a trash bag, and are driven to homeless 

shelters, leaving them vulnerable and exposed to traffickers and 

other predators. 

While in foster care, children and youth are also at increased 

risk for trafficking. In order to combat domestic sex trafficking and 

improve outcomes for children and youth in foster care, systemic 

changes need to be made in the current child welfare system. 

The legislation I have introduced in the Senate, the Improving 

Outcomes for Youth At Risk for Sex Trafficking, otherwise known 

as IO Youth, addresses some of the endemic and widespread conditions in the child welfare and foster care systems that make children and youth particularly vulnerable to being sexually trafficked. 

I would like to describe the highlights of the legislation for the subcommittee. 

Mr. Chairman, I am sure many Americans would be surprised to 

learn that most child welfare agencies will not serve trafficked children and youth who are not in the custody of the biological or foster family or living in a group home. Often, these children, who are 

not legally able to give consent for sex, are arrested for prostitution 

and referred to the juvenile justice system. And in many States, 

the courts and the juvenile justice system are ill-equipped to deal 

with the trauma these children and youth have endured. 

My bill requires States to provide services to youth who may 

have been trafficked or are at the risk of being trafficked. It also 

redirects Social Services Block Grant funds to improve the current 

court system to better identify and address the needs of trafficked 

youth. 

My bill includes a number of provisions to encourage, enhance, 

and support youth in foster care to allow them to participate in 

age-appropriate activities and social events. I hope these provisions 

will promote healthy development, increase opportunities for foster 

children to form meaningful connections, and reduce the risk of 

vulnerability to domestic sex trafficking and other negative outcomes. 


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Another major risk factor for vulnerability to domestic sex trafficking for older youth in the child welfare system is a continued 

reliance on congregate care facilities, sometimes referred to as 

group homes. These facilities are routinely targeted by traffickers 

and are often warehouses for youth who are rarely, if ever, allowed 

to engage in healthy social activities. 

My legislation refocuses Federal priorities on connecting vulnerable youth with caring, permanent families and limits Federal reimbursement for very young children and, after a certain duration, 

for older youth. For those remaining in congregate care, those kind 

of facilities, the bill requires that youth have improved access to 

normal, age-appropriate activities. 

Many youth in foster care report that they might not have gone 

into foster care in the first place had preventative services been 

available to their biological family, which could have kept them 

safely at home. IO Youth responds to the need for preventive services, such as mental health and substance abuse treatment for 

fragile families, by redirecting funds from the Social Services Block 

Grant to address this need as well as to enhance and improve child 

welfare systems. 

Youth in foster care routinely report that they feel uninvolved, 

unaware, and disconnected to any planning around their care or future. They are not informed of their rights while in foster care. 

This can lead to a sense of disenfranchisement and a lack of connection to siblings, relatives, or other caring adults. In many cases, 

this lack of connection contributes to the void so often preyed on 

by traffickers. 

My bill requires that State child welfare agencies provide ongoing family funding for older youth in foster care as well as greater 

participation of youth in planning for their future. We want to find 

those families for them. It also encourages States to find individuals willing to be involved on an ongoing basis with the youth in 

foster care. 

Individuals who work with victims of domestic sex trafficking tell 

us that the single biggest challenge to successful intervention with 

these victims is a lack of accessible and affordable housing. For 

older youth who have been emancipated from foster care, not having a place to sleep is often a reason why they enter the sex trade. 

In order to improve housing options for these at-risk youth, my bill 

redirects funds from the Social Services Block Grant in order to 

provide housing to trafficked and other vulnerable youth. 

Chairman Reichert and Ranking Member Doggett, thanks a lot. 

And thanks again for the opportunity to share highlights of my legislation. I look forward to working with you and other Members of 

the Subcommittee as we move forward to prevent and address domestic sex trafficking. 

[Video ends.] 

[The prepared statement of Senator Hatch follows:] 


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Chairman REICHERT. Well, again, if any Members have questions for Senator Hatch or any of the other colleagues that have 

testified today, you are free to submit them in writing. 

And now we will move on to our second panel, if they would 

please take their seats. 

Well, welcome. Happy to see you all here today. 

On our second panel this afternoon, we will be hearing from— 

and I am going to call her ‘‘T.’’ because she said I could do that, 

and as well as all the other Members. We can call her ‘‘T.’’ She goes 

by T. Ortiz Walker Pettigrew, and she is a board member, Human 

Rights Project for Girls. 

Welcome. 

Mr. John Ryan, CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited 

Children. 

Thank you for being here. 

The Honorable Bobbe J. Bridge, President, CEO, and Founder, 

Center for Children and Youth Justice. 

Thank you, Judge. 

Ms. Melinda Giovengo, Ph.D., Executive Director, YouthCare. 

Thank you. 

And Ms. Ashley Harris, Child Welfare Policy Associate, Texans 

Care for Children. 

Thank you all for being here. 

T., you have 5 minutes or a little more if you want to. 

STATEMENT OF WITHELMA ‘‘T.’’ ORTIZ WALKER PETTIGREW, 

BOARD MEMBER, HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT FOR GIRLS 

Ms. PETTIGREW. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I want to 

say thank you to you, the Members of the Committee, and the 

Human Rights Project for Girls for the invitation to be here today. 

A little bit about myself: My name is Withelma TiOra Ortiz 

Walker Pettigrew, but, yes, you can call me ‘‘T.’’ I am now 24 years 

of age, and I am currently a student here in Washington, D.C., at 

Trinity Washington University. 

Previous to being a student, I was a youth who grew up in foster 

care for pretty much the first 18 years of my life. Throughout that 

time, from the ages of 10 to 17, I was a victim of sexual exploitation and trafficking here, domestically, in the United States 


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throughout the States of California, Nevada, Oregon, and, of 

course, your State, Washington. 

I am here to tell you why I and other youth in foster care are 

rendered more vulnerable to be sexually trafficked. So, first of all, 

we accept and normalize being used as an object for financial gain. 

We also experience various people who control and come in and out 

of our lives. We lack opportunities to gain meaningful relationships 

and positive attachments. And the traffickers, exploiters, and 

pimps—I use this term interchangeably in my testimony, as they 

all mean the same thing—have no fear of punishment due to the 

lack of attention when young people from this population go missing. In addition, the life instability makes it easier for exploiters 

to hide their involvement, which continues to perpetuate the foster 

youth population’s vulnerability. 

So how do we accept and normalize being used as an object for 

financial gain? As we all know, there is money provided to caregivers by the agencies to provide and serve the youth. Often, this 

money is used by caregivers for their personal use or the use of 

their families or biological children. And, currently, from my knowledge, there is no system set up to guarantee that the money is actually being utilized for the child that is within the placement. 

So, oftentimes, what happens is the foster parent will say something the sorts of, you know, ‘‘I don’t really care what you do. It 

is not my worry. As long as, you know, you don’t die, you know, 

I am going to continue to get my paycheck.’’ So this nothing-buta-paycheck ideology really puts the youth in a compromising situation in regards to how they are supposed to feel. 

And so what we began to do as the youth in care is normalize 

and accept that our purpose is of being a financial benefit of others. 

And so, because of this, it makes it harder for a youth and even 

for myself in my story to have seen the difference in bringing in 

finances into the foster home or of bringing money to an exploiter 

and their stable. 

So foster care normalizes that other people are supposed to control our lives and circumstances. Multiple roles, such as public defenders and social workers, come in and fluctuate in and out of 

youths’ lives, most of whom are strangers to them. These are the 

people who dictate what happens in their lives—where they live, 

what school they go to, and what decisions will be made for them 

socially. Foster care creates an ever-changing environment of youth 

having to adapt to strangers making life decisions, and this is conducive to the parallel process of exploiters who seek to keep control 

of a youth’s life. 

We also lack opportunities to gain meaningful relationships and 

positive attachments. How this plays out for others and for myself, 

opportunities to build these skills, such as problem-solving or for 

what it means to reconcile after an argument, are denied, and instead we are just moved to another placement. For myself, as unfortunate as it is to say, due to the over 14-plus placements I have 

endured, the most consistent relationship that I ever had while in 

care was that of my pimp and his family. 

Like me and many other youth in care, we become accustomed 

to being isolated, much like the victims of domestic violence. By 

adapting to multiple moves from home to home, this allows us to 


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easily adapt to when traffickers move us multiple times from hotel 

to hotel, city to city, and/or State to State. 

And these exploiters go without fear of punishment due to the 

lack of attention when young people from this population go missing. No one looks for us. I really want to make this clear: No one 

looks for us. No one keeps us on their radar. The system just 

makes no effort. There are no AMBER alerts, no posters when 

youths from the foster care system go missing. And, oftentimes, 

group homes will avoid reporting youth missing due to interrupting 

payment. 

And, oftentimes, from the system, it is always assumed that we 

have willingly run away. Many times, that is not the case. Many 

times, we are kidnapped or other circumstances. This the exploiters 

use to their advantage. The life instability of foster care makes it 

easier for exploiters to hide their involvement, which continues to 

perpetuate our population’s vulnerability. 

I believe child welfare agencies should be working with local programs which support and provide resources to youth who have 

been sexually exploited to enhance their responses with working 

with these youth to transition into a healthier lifestyle. They also 

can learn ways to identify these youth. For myself in care, there 

was many times that I had many absences and people knew I was 

absent, but those were red flags that should have been paid attention to. 

Child welfare agencies also need to figure out ways to make 

these children visible when they go missing. I am pretty sure that 

there are many people in society that would be willing to help, but 

they are not aware that these children are missing and that somebody cares about what has happened to them. 

You should also be provided trauma-informed counsel and care 

at all times. This means that the agencies should be actively working to gain and maintain these resources to do so. And, in addition, 

I believe cell-phone hotlines or other ways to respond and interact 

with these youth when they reach out should be developed. 

These youth also need to be actively involved in the decisionmaking process of their life and their circumstances. I feel that in 

California they have meetings called TDMs, which is team decision-making meetings. And New York also has something along the 

same processes called family team conferences. These are great examples of youth involvement, as they have the youth and their 

families come together—and this is families both biological and created—come together to make decisions about placement choices 

and things of that sort. 

You should have a constant ally throughout their time in care, 

as it is a great resource that some agencies do work with 

mentorship programs. Oftentimes, the mentoring goes uncontinued 

if the youth is not in placement. So I believe that these youths 

should be provided a constant ally throughout their time in care, 

and this person should be available whether or not the youth is 

currently in placement. This also helps in regards to when the 

youth are on the streets or in the process of being exploited. 

And, lastly, we need to ensure that these conversations are actually followed with Federal actions from the input received here 

today. 


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In addition to all that I have stated here, I also serve on the National Foster Care Youth and Alumni Policy Council, and we have 

also been actively working to provide recommendations to address 

this issue amongst this population. 

So I want to say thank you again, Chairman, Members of the 

Committee, and the Human Rights Projects for Girls, and the audience, for taking the time to receive my contributions. Thank you 

to all who work on behalf of these children. You are all appreciated 

with all you do to end the vulnerability of all children. 

Thank you. 

Chairman REICHERT. Good job. Thank you for your testimony, 

T. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Pettigrew follows:] 


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Chairman REICHERT. And I let her go a little bit long because 

I think we all agree that is special testimony that we all need to 

hear. It doesn’t mean that the other four witnesses don’t have 

something important to say, but—so you will be held to the 5- 

minute rule, Mr. Ryan. 

STATEMENT OF JOHN D. RYAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN 

Mr. RYAN. Duly noted, Mr. Chairman. 

Thank you, T., for sharing your powerful story with us. It is very 

compelling. 


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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for 

inviting me to speak about this problem of sex trafficking of our 

youth in foster care in the United States. 

As you know, the National Center is a private nonprofit in operation since 1984. We were designated by Congress to serve as the 

Nation’s clearinghouse on missing and exploited children’s issues. 

We have several programs to address child sex trafficking, including our CyberTipline, an online reporting mechanism for suspected child sexual exploitation, including child sex trafficking and 

child pornography; additionally, our Child Sex Trafficking Team, 

made up of dedicated analysts who support law enforcement’s effort 

to arrest and prosecute those who sell our children for sex; and our 

Critical and Runaway Unit. These are specialized case management teams that handle cases of missing children who are also possible sex trafficking victims. 

NCMEC partners with the FBI and the Justice Department in 

the Innocence Lost national initiative. Since 2003, NCMEC has 

served as a clearinghouse for information and provides analytical 

support to the 66 Innocence Lost task forces throughout the country. These task forces operate cross-country. This is a targeted, coordinated, 3-day sweep of child sex trafficking venues. These operations have rescued more than 2,700 children who have been trafficked and arrested more than 1,300 pimps. Several of these prosecutions have resulted in life sentences. This year, the youngest 

child recovered was 13 years of age. 

When they hear the term ‘‘child sex trafficking,’’ most Americans 

think that it only happens in other countries or that foreign children are brought here to be sold in large cities. In fact, we have 

learned that most of the victims of child sex trafficking are American kids who are trafficked in small towns and large urban areas. 

If people are not aware of it, they are not looking for it. 

How prevalent is child sex trafficking? In 2012 alone, one out of 

eight endangered runaways reported to the National Center were 

likely child sex trafficking victims—one out of eight. This number 

has tripled since we started comparing missing children to trafficked children. 

An often overlooked aspect of child sex trafficking is that it is 

also a problem of missing children. Many child sex trafficking victims are missing from their parents, legal guardians, or foster care 

placements. These are the most vulnerable of children. Traffickers 

know this. They actively target runaways and then lure them into 

the sex trade using psychological manipulation, illegal drugs, and 

violence. 

Foster children are easy targets for pimps. These children are 

the most susceptible to the manipulation and false promises that 

traffickers use to secure their trust and dependency. Of the children reported missing to NCMEC in 2012 who were likely child sex 

trafficking victims, 67 percent were in the care of social services or 

foster care when they ran—67 percent. 

Let me give you one example. The National Center received reports of a young girl who was 15. She had been reported missing 

13 times before she was placed in foster care. Law enforcement got 

involved, and the pattern continued of her running away. 


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We found through our reports that this child had several tattoos, 

many of them pronounced. Tattoos are a sign of branding by these 

pimps. They market these products, these young girls, these victims. 

We were able to develop leads through public records databases 

that this girl was being trafficked on an online classified service. 

We sent that information to law enforcement. They set up a sting 

operation, they made a call to arrange a date with this young girl, 

and they were able to rescue her. 

This girl reported that for the last 2 years she had been victimized, on average, five times per night for that 2-year period. 

The most important thing we can do is to change the conversation from a juvenile delinquency issue to child protection issue. 

These children cannot just walk away. They must be rescued and 

treated as victims. 

All child welfare agencies must report missing foster children to 

law enforcement. The National Center, working with law enforcement, when we have this information we can interdict, we can help 

find this child before they are victimized. We have systems that are 

in place in some States, but it must be universal, consistent, and 

mandated. 

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to working 

with this committee and all the proposed legislation that has been 

proffered here today. Thank you. 

Chairman REICHERT. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Ryan. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ryan follows:] 


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f 

Chairman REICHERT. I would like to take just a moment to introduce our next witness, who happens to be from Washington 

State and is an old friend of mine back in our criminal justice days 

together. 

Justice Bridge is from my home State, as I said, and has more 

than 19 years of experience with child welfare and has been recognized as a leading advocate for foster care and juvenile justice reform. 

Justice Bridge founded the Center for Children and Youth Justice in 2006 to reform Washington State’s juvenile justice and child 

welfare systems. And, recently, I think January 2010, you were 


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given the Advocacy Spirit Award, national spirit award, by the— 

and you were a Defender of Rights and the Dignity for Our Youth 

Award in January of 2010. 

So it is good to see you, and I am happy that you were able to 

be here. And I understand it coincides with a conference that will 

be held tomorrow. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. BOBBE J. BRIDGE, PRESIDENT, 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AND FOUNDER, CENTER FOR 

CHILDREN AND YOUTH JUSTICE 

Ms. BRIDGE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman Reichert, 

who I resist calling ‘‘Sheriff’’ as well, and Members of the Subcommittee. 

Thank you for inviting my testimony today. It is an honor to participate in this discussion of the ways in which we can prevent, effectively intervene, and ultimately eradicate the commercial sexual 

exploitation of vulnerable children in our communities, especially 

those in the foster care system. 

I am Bobbe Bridge, founding president and CEO of the Center 

for Children and Youth Justice. The center, informally known as 

CCYJ, is a private nonprofit established in 2006 to advance justice 

for and to enhance the lives of children and youth in the juvenile 

justice and child welfare systems through juvenile justice, child 

welfare, and related systems improvement. 

As Chairman Reichert noted, prior to founding CCYJ, I was a 

trial judge in King County Superior Court for 10 years, during 

which time I presided over hundreds of child abuse and neglect and 

juvenile delinquency cases. Would that I had known the right questions to ask. 

During my 8 years of service as an associate justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, I reviewed these same cases and also 

became involved in system change efforts in child welfare. 

I learned valuable lessons. No one part of the system—no one 

system—can alone address the multiple and complex needs of 

abused and neglected children and youth. Fortunately, Washington 

State has a robust history of collaboration, both cross-discipline 

and cross-system, in child welfare. 

Ms. BRIDGE. This history has led to a number of changes in 

practice in our child welfare system that have resulted in better 

outcomes for our children and youth in foster care. 

But information that is coming to us now regarding the extent 

to which these children, who have been in foster care or are currently in foster care, are becoming victims of sex trafficking, or 

CSEC, as we call it, commercially sexually exploited children, presents a new reality which requires new approaches. 

I would like to focus my brief time on describing a systematic approach that might prove valuable in your response to this reality. 

A lot remains unknown about CSEC, but what we do know is 

that by bringing professionals from the various systems that interact with those who either are or who are at risk of becoming CSEC 

together with survivor and community voices in authentic, collaborative, and coordinated responses, we are more likely to create successful outcomes for these children. 


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The State of Washington is in the process of implementing such 

a collaborative model. Project Respect is the working title for the 

CCYJ-led project, which has resulted in the development of the 

Washington State CSEC Model Protocol. 

The purpose of the project and of the protocol is to implement 

that State-wide coordinated response that is best-practice- and 

data-driven that will identify, engage, and better serve commercially sexually exploited children and youth in Washington State— 

children and youth who are victims, not criminals—and to hold 

their perpetrators accountable. 

With a combination of public and private funding, last year we 

brought together over 200 people—survivors, system professionals, 

advocates, and community members across the State—to discuss 

the context of CSEC in their communities, the responses that were 

currently being used, the gaps in data and services, and to explore 

what the components of a model response protocol should include. 

With the result of this effort, a draft protocol was prepared, vetted to a number of State-wide leaders, and finalized. This year, 

working together with our partner, YouthCare, five sites, some 

multicounty, have been trained on the protocol and on best practices in working with CSEC. 

Also during this year, the Washington State Center for Court Research of the Administrative Office of the Courts is leading an effort to work with stakeholders and those pilot sites to develop a 

data collection plan involving law enforcement, courts, child welfare, and service providers. 

The progress of the protocols and the policy implications of the 

work at the local sites will be being reviewed by the newly created 

Washington State CSEC Coordinating Committee established by 

the legislature in the 2013 legislative session and convened by the 

Washington Attorney General. 

Lessons learned have led us to some promising systemic actions 

that could be undertaken by this subcommittee. 

First, providing guidelines, direction, and resources for the cooperative and consistent collection of data on the prevalence of CSEC, 

their pathways to becoming trafficking victims, and to effective 

practices for prevention and intervention. 

Providing guidance and incentives for collaboration and cooperation at both the State and local levels to develop model protocols 

for improving our response to CSEC. And critical here to success 

is the necessary participation of the State and regional child welfare agency at its highest level. 

Providing direction and incentives to State child welfare agencies 

to focus on children missing from care and to recruit and train specialized foster homes to receive those who are found to be CSEC. 

Safe and stable housing should be made available to those for 

whom independent living is the best option. 

Providing specific resources through the Court Improvement Act 

for judicial training and identification of CSEC and for advocates 

as a resource to the courts when a foster child is identified as 

CSEC. 

Providing training to child welfare workers on the identification 

of CSEC, including the use of special assessment tools and casework practices that reduce running from care. 


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Mandating changes in State child welfare laws so as to include 

a trafficked child in the definition of an abused child. 

I thank you for this opportunity to be a part of finding solutions 

to the sex trafficking of youth in foster care. On behalf of CCYJ, 

I would submit that whatever efforts we undertake to address the 

proliferation of sex trafficking of our former and current foster 

youth should be research-based, collaborative, coordinated, datadriven, and sustainable. 

These efforts should focus on identification and support of the 

victims and must recognize that this is a crime of mobility which 

requires a unified and consistent response, a response that does not 

merely move the incidents from one neighborhood, one county, one 

State, to another. And, hence, the beauty of this Federal leadership 

on these issues. 

Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Bridge follows:] 


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f 

Chairman REICHERT. I would also like to introduce another 

friend from Washington State, Ms. Giovengo, who has over 27 

years of experience developing and implementing reengagement 

programs for out-of-school and homeless youth. She is the executive 

director of YouthCare, which helps homeless youth and operates 

the only program in Washington State providing residential services for sexually exploited youth. 

You are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MELINDA GIOVENGO, PH.D., EXECUTIVE 

DIRECTOR, YOUTHCARE 

Ms. GIOVENGO. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Reichert 

and Members of the Subcommittee. I am grateful for the opportunity to address the subcommittee on this important topic. As 


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said, my name is Melinda Giovengo, and I am the director of 

YouthCare, located in Seattle, Washington. 

Since 1974, YouthCare has been a leader in providing effective 

services to help Seattle’s runaway and homeless youth get off the 

streets and prepared for life. We were founded to help eliminate 

the sexual exploitation of children in our community. Our agency’s 

dynamic programming and collaboration serve as a model for working with runaway, homeless, and sexually exploited youth, both locally and nationwide. 

Runaway homeless youth are at high risk for sexual exploitation. 

Recent studies, as have been cited here today, estimate that there 

is an exorbitant prevalence between these two populations prior to 

these young people entering our services. 

To better serve the clients of YouthCare, we operate the Bridge 

Continuum of Services for Sexually Exploited Youth, consisting of: 

identification and outreach strategies; community-based advocates, 

which I like to call lifelines; emergency shelter programs; long-term 

housing; and, most important, education and employment training, 

which helps offer these young people an opportunity to find a way 

out of exploitation. These services are trauma-informed and are 

often victim—and victim-informed. 

The city of Seattle estimates there are between 700 and 1,000 

homeless youth on our streets every night. The Seattle area also 

has a significant problem with sexual exploitation and the trafficking of children. In 2008, a study in King County conducted by 

Dr. Debra Boyer identified 238 unduplicated minors involved in 

prostitution and determined the prevalence of sexually exploited 

youth in King County to be between 300 and 500 per year. 

The long-term risks for youth in foster care are well-documented, 

but it is only in recent years that the prevalence of sex trafficking 

among youth in foster care has been widely recognized. Many of 

the runaway and homeless youth served at YouthCare are part of 

the foster care system or have aged out, and even more have histories of involvement with child welfare through CPS reports and 

investigations. 

We see youth every day who are being trafficked and exploited 

and who are system-involved for whom the system has failed. It is 

the system’s involvement, combined with their runaway and homeless status, which makes them uniquely vulnerable to pimps and 

traffickers. 

Today, I will highlight five key issues and offer recommendations 

to address each of these. 

Youth in foster care are disproportionately at risk for victimization through sex trafficking due to their prior abuse and lack of social and familial support and frequency of running away. 

YouthCare recommends that the child welfare agencies create a 

strategic plan for how to prevent trafficking among youth in care 

and identify and respond to youth who do become victims of sex 

trafficking. 

Second, the youth in foster care are often victims of sex trafficking before social workers and foster parents or other providers 

are aware. YouthCare recommends that screening, intake, and ongoing service planning should include measures to screen for indicators of trafficking, such as childhood sexual abuse. 


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We further recommend that all child welfare staff and foster parents receive mandatory training on identifying and responding to 

sex trafficking and that specific resources be dedicated to meet the 

needs of victims and foster parents and social work staff. 

And, finally, we recommend that social work and child welfare 

agencies participate in regional task forces or protocol development 

in efforts to respond to sex trafficking, while partnering with our 

runaway and homeless youth programs across this Nation to help 

lay the framework for a cross-country and very deep intervention 

strategy for these young people. 

State-dependent youth who are missing from care cannot legally 

be housed in homeless youth programs receiving Runaway and 

Homeless Youth Act money or HUD funds. We recommend that 

RHY language and HUD language be amended to allow for the provision of services to State-dependent youth if other placements are 

deemed inappropriate. 

The fourth is the scope and prevalence of sex trafficking in youth 

in foster care is not systematically tracked or quantified, and the 

lack of data is a significant barrier to the effective response. It is 

recommended that data strategies should be implemented to accurately quantify how many youth in the foster care system and in 

the runaway and homeless youth systems are being sex-trafficked. 

And, finally, responses to sex trafficking at the State and local 

levels are varied and inconsistent. YouthCare recommends that 

policies be enacted whereby allegations of sex trafficking are automatically screened for investigation by child protective services and 

that the definition of abuse and neglect is expanded to reflect the 

abuse and harm caused by pimps, traffickers, buyers of commercial 

sex, and other custodial perpetrators accessing children through 

the commercial sex trade. 

Youth in foster care are at significant risk for many damaging 

and impactful outcomes, not the least of which is the victimization 

through sex trafficking. Significant resources and strategies should 

be vetted and implemented in order to identify victims and increase the capacity of child welfare agencies to protect youth from 

these harmful and devastating experiences. 

Thirty years ago, YouthCare ran a program helping 36 young 

women off the streets and out of the victimization of prostitution. 

I sit here 30 years later with the same recommendations I would 

have had then. I see and hear from many of these 36 young women 

that I knew. They call, they say, ‘‘Thank you.’’ They have jobs, they 

have college degrees, they have families, they have lives. The 

young people I see now were not even born when they were in my 

care. 

How many thousands of young lives have been lost in those 30 

years? How many more before we recognize that these are not incorrigible, immoral delinquents that need to be dealt with but children who are victims of the most heinous forms of abuse in our 

communities and they need our help, support, care, and, dare I say, 

love to regain their lives? How many more and how long before 

those children become our children? 

I would sincerely like to thank the subcommittee for its interest 

in hearing YouthCare’s recommendations for improving the child 

welfare system’s response to sex trafficking of youth in foster care. 


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In closing, we deeply appreciate the dedication of this subcommittee, and particularly of you, Chairman Reichert, to provide 

leadership and bipartisan commitment to combatting sex trafficking. We look forward to your continued efforts and collaboration 

and are honored to be a resource in any way necessary as you move 

forward on this important issue. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you for your testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Giovengo follows:] 


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Chairman REICHERT. Ms. Harris, you are recognized. 

STATEMENT OF ASHLEY R. HARRIS, CHILD WELFARE POLICY 

ASSOCIATE, TEXANS CARE FOR CHILDREN 

Ms. HARRIS. Good afternoon. My name is Ashley Harris, with 

Texans Care for Children. We are a State-wide, nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated exclusively to improving the 

lives of Texas children through policy change. 

As a former caseworker for Child Protective Services in Texas for 

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hand account of how this horrible crime impacts foster kids and 

those guided to protect them. 

I have to first acknowledge T.’s testimony because I think we can 

all agree who the real experts are, and those are our former foster 

youth and those currently in care. 

So thank you for your testimony. 

With my testimony, I hope to offer recommendations for the committee’s consideration and opportunities for improvements. I have 

included additional items for the committee’s consideration in written testimony; however, because of time, I will specifically highlight 

the role that training, lower caseloads, and case monitoring has on 

the identification and protection of our most vulnerable children: 

those removed from their home due to abuse and neglect and 

placed in foster care. 

Since hearing the recent reports that a majority of likely child 

trafficking victims who are reported missing ran away from either 

foster care or a group home, I have been reflecting on my days as 

a former CPS caseworker and one of my former kids from my caseload. Stephanie was a bright, beautiful, and funny young adult. I 

worked with her for over 3 years and knew her as my ‘‘runner’’ due 

to her monthly habit of running away from every single placement. 

Since birth, Stephanie’s life and sense of self was defined by how 

others used and abused her body. As a teen, she acted as though 

running away from care, sometimes selling herself to others, was 

a way to exert control over her body and her life—a tragic and 

flawed way of thinking that was a direct consequence of all she had 

endured. 

Each time Stephanie returned, I would pick her up. She seemed 

fine, and on we went to the next place. I never stopped to ask the 

questions that would have allowed me to truly understand her experience and the impact of being away from foster care, all alone, 

exploited, and broken, without a person or system to protect and 

support her. 

With a caseload of over 30 teenagers or more at a time, well 

above the recommended caseload of 12 to 15 per caseworker, getting her shelter was more of a priority than ensuring her social and 

emotional wellbeing. Caseworkers are the people charged with protecting some of our most vulnerable children and should be provided a manageable caseload that ensures appropriate supervision, 

that does not leave children at risk for further abuse and neglect, 

and promotes a child’s ability to thrive both in and out of the child 

welfare system. 

I also regret that the training I received as a caseworker had not 

provided me the skills and support needed to understand the impact of trauma on healthy child development and identify behaviors 

and characteristics that increase the likelihood that children in foster care will be victims of exploitation and trafficking. 

For many State child welfare agencies, training on these topics 

is not part of the initial basic skills development provided to newly 

hired caseworkers. Additionally, basic training on human trafficking, reporting laws, and information on appropriate resources 

should be provided to all professionals who are likely to come into 

contact with possible minor victims who may be on runaway. 


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Stephanie’s story represents the experience of many homeless 

teens and those involved in foster care, living on the streets by 

themselves with no one to protect them and, frankly, no one really 

looking. When these children run away from State custody, the system must respond in an expedited manner and make best efforts 

to locate the child and address their safety and wellbeing. As their 

parents, the child welfare system has a responsibility to address 

the needs of foster children and ensure their supervision and security. 

The susceptibility of children in foster care to human trafficking 

must take precedence in the strategic plans of State and local child 

welfare organizations. These children are all of our children. And 

as the Nation continues to look at ways to combat human trafficking, we must do a better job at identifying, protecting, and supporting vulnerable youth like Stephanie to prevent them from becoming another statistic, helping them thrive and become healthy, 

productive, and happy adults. 

Thank you so much. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Harris follows:] 


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f 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you all for your testimony. 

I couldn’t help but sort of think back to the days when I was on 

the street as a police officer, as a homicide detective, and as a detective working the Green River serial murder case. That was really central around young girls and young ladies who were victims 

on the street being taken advantage of. And, sadly, some lives were 

taken by a monster who was prowling the streets. 

And what my memory brought me back to were some of the 

things that you all said, especially, Melinda, your comment about 

30 years ago you had made the same recommendations. I see that 

so clearly. Thinking back, not much has changed—a little bit, some 

has changed, but not nearly enough. We have so much work to do. 

And what I also appreciate about our first panel, too, was that 

they did bring some solutions. They are working on some legislation, I think, that can be helpful. But what I appreciate about this 

panel is, not only have you described the problem for the Members 


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here today from your perspective, but you have also provided input 

as to what you see as solutions, which is really tremendous help 

for us. 

But I am really curious—and, first, my first question will go to 

T. We had a chance, as I said earlier, to meet a little bit before 

the hearing. 

But, first of all, I know that every Member up here really recognizes the courage it takes to come and speak in front of Congress, 

first of all, but to tell your story. I know it is hard because I have 

trouble telling my own story, as you and I witnessed earlier. So 

thank you for being here, and thank you for having the courage to 

come and testify today. 

So you have heard some of the ideas about what we could do to 

prevent kids in foster care from entering into a life of human trafficking. From your point of view, it would be very helpful to us to 

know, what do you think? What can we do as Members of Congress, what can the Federal Government do to help ensure that 

young kids get a good, permanent, loving home and stay off the 

streets and stay out of this world that we know is so destructive? 

Ms. PETTIGREW. Thank you again, Chairman. I think something that is very important to me—first of all, I would like to say 

everything that was spoken at this panel I fully support as a survivor and as someone who has the perspective of living the reality. 

One thing that I think that was really helpful, I know for my 

own story and for many other stories, is that we all escape in different ways, but I think it really comes down to comprehensive, 

trauma-informed, and gender-specific care and services. And that 

means, you know, for both girls, boys, transgender, LGBTQ. I think 

that what is so important is that we really have it where it is comprehensive. And what I mean by that is that it is not just professionals but as, you know, stated here, it is also victim-informed. I 

think that that is the best way that we can really start to find the 

gaps, the holes, in which youth are actually falling through. 

For myself, you know, it started with, you know, the connection 

to a youth advocate who was very much trauma-informed and really actually knew about my story for years previous. And so it really 

takes a conglomerate of different people and officials who come together to really say, we are going to start standing up for these 

youth. 

Does that answer your question, Chairman? 

Chairman REICHERT. Yes, it does, very well. 

Ms. PETTIGREW. Thank you. 

Chairman REICHERT. And I think that we—of course, go ahead. 

You have something else—— 

Ms. PETTIGREW. Oh, I just had another thing that I wanted to 

say, is that, in addition, I think that we need to really look outside 

and think outside the box. Something that I find to be very helpful 

in addition to all of that are, you know, us thinking outside the box 

in the effect of—you know, I know, for myself, I had a juvenile defender who, you know, although I wouldn’t be in placement, still 

maintained contact. I had, you know, cell phone, email, and no 

matter what, she would maintain contact with me. 

Also, I think that we need to go back to the real terminology of 

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ference, we need to understand that labeling is real in all terms. 

So even as, you know, well-intentioned our work is, using the terminology of ‘‘children prostitution’’ or ‘‘child prostitutes’’ becomes 

very offensive, and it really is—it makes it a hard time for young 

people to be able to overcome their victimization. These young people should never be referred to as ‘‘prostitutes’’ or ‘‘prostituted children’’ because they oftentimes aren’t even of legal age to consent 

to sex, so how can they be selling something that they don’t have 

the legal right to have? 

And so, I think, us just taking that into account—you know, even 

as a survivor, I wouldn’t say that I am just a survivor, but I am 

a thriver and an overcomer. And just understanding that those labels are all integrated in the way that we see ourselves and we see 

our futures. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you. 

Ms. PETTIGREW. Thank you. 

Chairman REICHERT. We are going to keep your phone number 

handy so we can give you a call and ask some questions later too. 

Is that all right? 

Ms. PETTIGREW. No problem. 

Chairman REICHERT. Okay. 

Justice Bridge, what do you see as the courts’ role in helping to 

reduce the vulnerability of youth in foster care? How can courts 

work with child welfare agencies to ensure that these kids are kept 

safe from harm? 

Ms. BRIDGE. Well, first, I am going to put T. on speed dial, as 

well. 

But the courts definitely have a role. And we have been—on the 

child welfare side of things, unfortunately we get siloed, so I have 

to say on the one hand child welfare, on the other hand juvenile 

justice. But we know that these frequently are the same populations of kids and they certainly represent the same needs, the 

same trauma as their pathway to either juvenile justice or child 

welfare. 

With that said, the courts have done a much better job of working with the agencies in order to ensure that our work is consistent, that we are governed by best practices, by actual data that 

exists, rather than by anecdote or by, worst of all, the comfort of 

the adults in the systems as opposed to the voices of the young people who are a part of those systems. So all of that, I think, is really 

important. 

And one of the things that I think on this particular issue that 

is so critical for us to work together on is that identification is a 

key. We need to have the best science possible, including specific 

assessments, in order to be able to identify who these children are. 

Many children in the State of Washington are not—on the juvenile justice side, don’t end up in the juvenile justice system by 

being labeled as prostitutes. They come, however, through a variety 

of mostly misdemeanor offenses and the like, drug possession perhaps being the most frequent felony arrest. But there are all kind 

of red flags. There is all kinds of good learning that we can and 

should know, and learning together to identify those kids. 

Because the courts’ role, in that regard, becomes not criminalizing this person who is a victim, this child who is a victim, but 


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can intervene to more positively impact that child’s life and make 

sure that they are referred to resources which can intervene, which 

can interrupt the process towards being even more deeply trafficked. 

And one of the things that T. mentioned that just struck a chord 

with me was what we have learned in developing this State-wide 

CSEC protocol in the State of Washington is that in many, many 

instances—and this is true for foster kids as well as for children 

who are not in the foster care system—in the early days of their 

being trafficked, they are still connected. They are still connected 

primarily to their school. They may not even be connected to their 

families or their home, because they are on the run, but they go 

to school, they kind of—they show up. Maybe they go to one or two 

classes, but they do. 

It is an incredible opportunity for educators or for the court, if 

they end up being directed to the court because of truancy. People 

have to start asking the right questions, and we need to know what 

those right questions are. And in order to ask the right questions, 

we need to be aware of what the warning signs are, like the missing school, like tattoos, like having income that is unexplained, cell 

phones that are maybe two or three of them at the same time— 

all of these kinds of issues. 

We need to be smarter, and we need to get smarter together. 

That is how the courts can work with the social service agencies. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Doggett, you are recognized for your questioning. 

Mr. DOGGETT. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Harris, you talked about the caseload. And I saw several 

heads nodding back and forth amongst all of you as you discussed 

various issues. But just in terms of caseload, are there some national standards on what is appropriate for working here? And how 

does that compare to what we have in Texas? 

Ms. HARRIS. The Child Welfare League of America recommends 

that caseworkers who are working with children in foster care have 

a caseload of 12 to 15 children at a time. And in Texas, you know, 

we are at nearly double that recommendation. 

Mr. DOGGETT. And how do you find that in Washington State? 

With a comparable situation? 

Ms. BRIDGE. The caseloads, I believe, have been reduced over 

the course of the past decade, let’s say, but we are still, I believe, 

on average, 19 or 20. 

And particularly when you are working with vulnerable populations—again, you have to ask before you know, when you have 

particularly vulnerable people on your caseload, and by that I 

mean children who have been on the run from foster care. If you 

have 19 or if you have 10 on your caseload, that is far too many. 

Mr. DOGGETT. I know one aspect of our committee is the flow 

of Federal dollars to help out with child welfare. But I would just 

ask you, since you heard the testimony of our colleagues and we 

have heard yours, if there are specific things within the jurisdiction 

of this committee that you recommend we do, whether it is now or 

in follow-up written testimony, that you provide us your counsel. 

And I think you have done some of that, Ms. Harris, in yours, 

and some of the other witnesses have, as well. But really looking 


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to see, isn’t there a way now, immediately, that we can agree on 

some bipartisan legislation that might help a bit supplement what 

you all are doing at the State level. I know so much of this needs 

to be occurring at the State level. 

Yes? Do you have a thought on that, Ms. Giovengo? 

Ms. GIOVENGO. I do. I just would like to talk a little bit about 

what is already being done in another arena. 

If we look at how we are treating young people who are foreign 

victims of trafficking through our Office of Refugee Resettlement, 

my organization alone just received a $1.5 million grant—amen— 

to be able to serve 20 beds of young people a year. Now, these 

young people then have trauma-informed care, they have an education specialist, they have people working on their legal issues, 

they have really appropriate supervision and care. It is a wonderful 

system to take care of these minors who are here without papers 

or undocumented, have been trafficked across the border. 

On the other side, the RHY program receives $109 million for 

programs across the country. Runaway and homeless youth programs were designed and set up and appropriated originally to 

serve the needs of sexually exploited children in our communities. 

Couldn’t we be helping the 475 programs nationally to become 

the infrastructure to respond a lot easier than to set up yet another 

system, to be honest with you. Couldn’t we work in parallel with 

child welfare to use the resources we have and expand them to at 

least have some equity in how we treat our foreign victims and our 

local victims. 

Mr. DOGGETT. That is very helpful. 

Judge, did you want to add something there? 

Ms. BRIDGE. Yes. I think the exclamation point that I would 

like to make—and I was rushing through my remarks in order to 

make the appropriate timeframe. But what Dr. Giovengo was saying, what it really amounts to is mandating changes in State child 

welfare laws so as to include a trafficked child in the definition of 

an abused child. 

And right now—and I believe that Representative Bass noted 

this, as well—the fact is that if it is a third party who is the perpetrator of abuse, then it doesn’t fall within most State statutes. Federal Government can and should be the leader in this, because our 

State statutes—99 percent of our State statutes mimic what the 

Federal statute provides. 

And these are our kids. How could this not be abuse? And the 

fact is, as someone mentioned—oh, I believe as you mentioned, that 

these are our children in the most fundamental way, because we 

have taken them from their homes, we have made a determination 

that those homes are not safe and not providing for their wellbeing 

and are not the best permanent place for them, and yet we then— 

when they run, we just don’t look. It is shameful. 

Mr. DOGGETT. Doctor, were you going to add a comment there? 

Ms. GIOVENGO. Yeah. And I just think that, again, while we 

know resources are tight—you know, it is just always going to be 

that way—there are administrative things that we could do to 

make the systems work better for these young people. 

As it stands now, a trafficked young person who is in child welfare cannot have access to a transitional living program funded by 


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HUD or by the runaway and homeless youth networks because 

they are under the jurisdiction, even though those jurisdictions 

haven’t worked. So those kinds of things prevent young people from 

actually getting access to the care they need. 

If you are a foster care young person who is aging out of foster 

care, instead of being able to go directly into a transitional living 

program perhaps funded by HUD, which we operate, with traumainformed care, you are not eligible because you can’t be in the same 

bed that is funded by HUD. 

These things make no sense on the ground, for those of us that 

are doing the work. And it seems like we could make some small 

changes that would make huge differences in the lives of our young 

people. 

Mr. DOGGETT. Well, these are very constructive recommendations. To the extent they are not already part of your written testimony, please do feel free to supplement so we can look for a way 

to respond quickly to your recommendations. 

Thank you very much to all of you. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you. 

Mr. Young, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. YOUNG. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member. 

What an excellent panel we have here. T., your testimony was 

inspiring. Your life story is riveting. We really appreciate you personalizing and humanizing this affront right now that all of you 

are doing good work to address. And I appreciate that. 

Judge, I was particularly struck with your systematic approach 

to trying to address sexual trafficking in the State of Washington. 

And I think we need to do more hard analysis of data, and I know 

that you and your team of stakeholders in the State have been 

doing that. You have developed a protocol here. And I would like 

to dive a little bit deeper into that with you with several brief questions, if you will indulge me. 

You were able to learn, as I understand it, about best practices 

or generally accepted practices in other States. How, if at all, did 

that inform development of Washington State’s protocol? And how 

did you divine these best practices from other States? 

Ms. BRIDGE. Well, would that it were divined. That might be 

easier. 

The process for developing the protocol involved, as I said, over 

200 people. What that meant was focused interviews, individual 

interviews, with survivors as well as folks in the communities on 

the ground, but also what we called mini-summits or small summits, which brought together law enforcement, folks from the 

courts, including judges, detention workers, juvenile probation 

counselors, school people, community activists, community advocates, social service providers, and our Department of Social and 

Health Services, our child welfare administrators, all trying to 

come together to, as I said briefly, share their experience on the 

ground but also sharing best practices from the perspectives of 

their various disciplines. 

In addition, before we went out into the field, as it were, we also 

did independent research and were assisted in that by Dr. Debra 

Boyer, who is a nationally known expert on practices relating to 

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oped a set of recommendations that are included in that protocol—— 

Mr. YOUNG. Right. 

Ms. BRIDGE.—about best practices. 

Mr. YOUNG. Well, it sounds likes you did a lot of field work, a 

lot of focus groups, so to speak. And that is oftentimes how this 

sort of information is gathered. 

Perhaps I should follow up with Dr. Boyer or somebody else with 

respect to some of the homework that occurred, in terms of data 

analysis and so forth, going into those meetings. But I do wonder, 

as with so many other areas of public policy, whether there is 

something lacking, in terms of robust information related to this 

population. 

Ms. BRIDGE. Without a doubt. 

Mr. YOUNG. Okay. 

And do you see opportunities for us to improve that nationally, 

or do you think, instead, these should be State-by-State databases, 

so to speak, of information collected from case files, as I know you 

are in the process of doing in Washington State, or other things? 

Maybe you or Ms. Giovengo could speak to that. 

Ms. BRIDGE. I will let Dr. Giovengo do a—but, certainly, the answer is yes. And when I mentioned at the very end about not just 

moving this issue or this population from one neighborhood to the 

next or one county to the next or one State to the next, it is where 

Federal leadership comes in. 

We are trying to figure out what data is being collected. We 

know it is very little. There should be consistent definitions of what 

‘‘sex trafficking’’ means, what ‘‘child sex trafficking’’ means. And 

that leadership needs to come from the Federal Government. And 

when the law enforcement, for example, or the courts are collecting 

data, you know, how are they collecting it so it all means the same 

thing? And that should be in a Federal database. 

Mr. YOUNG. Justice—thank you. 

One final point here. In consulting with Dr. Letourneau, who is 

the director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual 

Abuse at Johns Hopkins University, she indicated that she thinks 

much of the emphasis needs to be placed not just on treatment or 

punishment but also interventions to prevent the occurrence of sexual trafficking. And I think that sounds spot-on. 

To the extent you have thoughts about investments, public investments, we need to be making that will not only save money but 

help protect persons in the longer run, I would be open to that testimony, either written after the fact or if you have an idea right 

now that you can quickly put forward, that would be great. 

Ms. GIOVENGO. Well, just some quick thoughts. 

What we have tried to do in Washington State, or at least in the 

Seattle area, is we have instituted National Safe Place, which is on 

our all of our metro buses around King County. And through a coalition of runaway and homeless youth providers, we respond to any 

young person in a King County library or in our community centers 

that looks in and looks like they need help. 

So metro buses—we have over 3,000 sites right now. The bus 

driver says, ‘‘How you doing?’’ They say, ‘‘Not so good.’’ She says, 

‘‘Do you need help?’’ He calls us. In 45 minutes, we meet that bus 


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in one of the largest counties in the Nation within 45 minutes and 

help recover that young person, who may have set foot out of their 

house just mad because of, you know, broccoli or a curfew and end 

up on a bus with someone looking to put them in the most horrific 

situation they could ever experience. 

So the National Safe Place model is an interesting, easy, low-cost 

way to get your community involved. I think there are lots of early 

interventions with families who end up with shelter programs, to 

do some family reconciliation, not just let the kid go home, but to 

actually try to duct-tape that family together for a long time with 

some small interventions, versus letting them become systematized 

and part of our long-term services. 

We deal mostly with young people that come in during adolescence, but there is a lot, I think, we could do with foster families 

in identifying and training them on the expertise of what it looks 

likes when a child living with you is beginning to get into this or 

beginning to perform, quote/unquote, ‘‘survival sex’’ in our community. 

So I think that there is a lot of training and, actually, not very 

expensive interventions that we could to really create a much 

thicker safety net for our young people. 

Mr. YOUNG. Thank you, Doctor. 

I yield back. 

Chairman REICHERT. Mr. Renacci. 

Mr. RENACCI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you 

for holding this hearing on preventing and addressing sex trafficking of youth in foster care. 

I am very interested, really, in working with the members of the 

previous panel in regards to—and any other Members from both 

sides of the aisle on how Federal laws and policies might be improved to better ensure the safety and wellbeing of youth at risk 

of abuse and neglect. 

You know, in Ohio, on average, 12,000 children are living in foster care each month. Last year, more than 1,500 foster children 

aged out of care when they turned 18. When I hear these statistics, 

I am not only worried whether or not these individuals are prepared for life after foster care, but if the system was able to provide 

for them the sense of family and protection they deserve. Our jobs 

as Representatives is to ensure the foster system protects them and 

prepares them, really, for successes in life. 

T., you are an inspiration, and I thank you for your dedication 

to really helping others in foster youth. 

You mentioned in your testimony at least once, and I read it, 

about red flags that go unnoticed by child welfare agencies. Can 

you tell us some of the—what these red flags are? 

Ms. PETTIGREW. I think some of them are very much mentioned within this panel. 

Particularly, I want to say that specifically from the ages of 10 

to 13 I was still in and out of the education system. So I think that 

definitely I want to go back to, you know, the absences. I think 

that if we take the time to integrate the education system in regards to identifying and in regards to educating them about this 

population, I think that that is very much important. 


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Because I know if you would have asked me at 13, you know, 

what was going on, I would have told you that, you know, this is 

my life because I didn’t know anything separate. But through the 

education of others, just much like the education system, I seek to 

find a new me and a different me. And so I think that definitely 

the education system. 

I definitely think that, yes, the cell phone thing is very important, very crucial. If a young child has, you know, two or three cell 

phones, you have to, like, really take at that in and say, what is 

that? You know, what does that look like? 

Not even that, just the context of the language. Oftentimes, you 

see young people using different language for different things. And 

so there is, you know, certain terminology, like ‘‘green girl,’’ or, you 

know, referring to one another as the ‘‘B’’ word and things like 

that. There are certain identifiers. Or saying, you know, ‘‘Oh, that 

is my wife-in-law.’’ That actually means that is another girl that 

has been victimized by the same exploiter. 

So really identifying not only the terminology being used, really 

the education and incorporating the education system in our hopes 

to make progress in identifying and helping these victims, but also, 

you know, just paying attention to changes of, you know, personality, withdrawing from people, being more isolated, things of that 

sort. So I think it is important. 

Because one thing that I feel is really important for people to understand is that, if you were to ask me at 13, I wouldn’t see nothing wrong because I was trained to perceive my life in this way. 

I didn’t see it as anything wrong because no one educated me to 

say something is wrong. 

Also, we need to understand that young people in the foster care 

system primarily aren’t taught about healthy relationships. So we 

need to understand that that is a red flag. And if they are, you 

know, having relationships that aren’t so healthy or, you know, are 

not clearly visible as far as what the relationship is, those are red 

flags. 

And so, you know, I think the biggest thing that I have to say 

here is that it has taken a long time for me to get to the place that 

I am, to be able to speak the way I do and to use the semantics 

that I do. And if I was 13, you know, I didn’t have the ability to 

speak in this way and I didn’t have the opportunities. But all the 

talents and abilities that I hold, I mean, my story is just a conduit 

of many others. And so my hope is that we can make these changes 

so that other young people can come to the same table and show 

their talents and their abilities. 

Mr. RENACCI. One other follow-up. You mention that the foster 

system hinders youths’ decision-making. 

Ms. PETTIGREW. Yes. 

Mr. RENACCI. You know, what type of decisions should foster 

youth be more in control of? 

Ms. PETTIGREW. I mean, even in regards to a young person 

going to sleep over at a friend’s house, that is not the youth’s decision nor is it the decision of the caregiver. Oftentimes, you have to 

get, you know, approval from the social worker or the judge in the 

case, things like that. 


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I also want to say that, in addition to that, foster youth should 

be more aware of their rights. Because oftentimes there are disruptions in the home due to a foster parent saying you don’t have the 

right to call this person or you can’t call that person, but, actually, 

it goes against maybe their State rights, that only a judge can 

make that decision. 

So, in that regard, I feel that, you know—does that answer your 

question? 

Mr. RENACCI. Yeah. Thank you so much. 

Mr. Ryan, quickly, I know I am running out of time, but you 

mention in your testimony that only Illinois and Florida report 

missing children to your organization. Why aren’t the other States 

doing this? 

Mr. RYAN. Well, we are actually, Congressman, in discussion 

with a number of States, including Ohio, and we are getting great 

feedback. I think there is momentum now that we have proof of 

concept. We know that the reports we get from two States have led 

to the early location and finding of these children before they have 

been exploited. 

So I think that is encouraging. The fear that may, you know, 

have been prevalent with some of the social welfare agencies—this 

is a partnership. We all have a role to play here. 

And T. said it earlier in her comments; many times, nobody is 

even looking for these children. And you mentioned, at the age of 

18 when they age out, that means nobody will ever have looked for 

them, and they are probably forever lost and will continue in whatever, you know, environment they have been in. So unless we can 

get the reports and law enforcement get the reports, the hope of 

stopping the cycle that they are bound in is almost hopeless. 

But States are, you know, listening, but I think at the Federal 

level, if we want a uniform, consistent approach, that is the best 

model. And I know there is some proposed legislation to address 

that. That is what we support. Every child in every State should 

be afforded the same level of protection. 

Mr. RENACCI. Thank you. 

And I want to thank all the witnesses. 

I yield back. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you. 

Before going to Mr. Reed, I ask unanimous consent to insert in 

the record an excellent article about today’s hearing topic, titled, 

‘‘Protect Foster Children from Sex Trafficking.’’ It was written by 

Conna Craig, the president of the Policy Institute for Children, and 

includes a number of specific policy recommendations for us to consider. 

If you haven’t read that article today, you all might want to take 

a look at that USA Today article. 

[The information follows: Article ] 


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f 

Chairman REICHERT. Mr. Reed, you are recognized. 

Mr. REED. Well, thank you, Chairman. 


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And thank you to the panel for the testimony. And it is getting 

kind of lonely up here, but—so we are almost done. 

But I appreciate this topic. Obviously, we are talking about 

something that crosses across party lines, unites us as a nation and 

as people to say that this type of abuse, this type of problem needs 

to be addressed and needs to be something that we stand united 

against. So I appreciate everything you guys are doing. 

T., what I found very fascinating about your testimony—and I 

read your testimony. And I will read you a statement here that you 

provided in your written testimony. It says, ‘‘Lastly, while I was in 

care, my social workers were aware that I was being exploited and 

did nothing about it.’’ 

I would like to know how that happens. What do you mean by 

that? 

Ms. PETTIGREW. So, what I mean by that is, even as an emancipated youth, I would—when trying to get some of the documents 

of my upbringing, of course, when I went back to get some of my, 

what they call, files, it clearly was stated in the documents that, 

you know, she has trauma due to years of exploitation on the 

streets. And it is the fact that they were made aware, but at the 

time in my county there were not resources, there were not ways 

to help these youth. 

I think that even though I am only 24 and we have made—we 

have made so many strides within, you know, these past couple of 

years since I have aged out. And so, I mean, you know, literally, 

we have to—I am sorry. 

Mr. REED. That is okay. You are doing fine. 

Ms. PETTIGREW. Literally, we just have to really pay attention 

and listen and stay focused to, really, the vulnerability of these 

youth. 

Mr. REED. See, because that really concerns me, with the people 

that are in the system, that their sole mission—and I have met so 

many of them, and they are just outstanding people. They are people that have dedicated their lives to—not for the paycheck but for 

the mission. And when I hear something like that, that tells me 

that something in the system is failing. 

And what I would like to do is hear maybe from the other panelists, too, T., is how that happens and how that is not discovered 

in the system. And how does a worker, whose mission and duty is 

to take care of a child in this situation, fails to do anything about 

it even though the record shows that they are aware of it? Can 

anyone explain to me where that—yeah, Ms. Harris. 

Ms. HARRIS. Well, as a former CPS caseworker, I can speak to 

that. 

I will admit that it may not—and I would say more often it is 

not as explicit as T.’s story, in the fact that it was in the case 

record. For me, reflecting on some of the young women that I 

worked with, I am thinking they were victims, and I just did not 

have the skills and the training to be able to identify that. 

But when it is explicitly documented in case record, I think a lot 

of those records, given the high turnover rate that you have with 

CPS caseworkers, that information may not be shared with the 

new caseworker. They may not have that long history of understanding a child’s behaviors and being able to determine this is 


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something that a child does often, and how can we ensure that 

they are not revictimized. And so I think that has a lot to do with 

it. 

And I think, to get at that point, it is additional training and a 

skill set that many caseworkers are not receiving when they are 

new at the job. I have to admit that many new caseworkers, especially in Texas, are young. They are right out of college. They have 

never had experience working with vulnerable children and families, and so they just don’t automatically have the knowledge to be 

able to understand what this problem looks like and then how to 

respond to it appropriately. 

And I think access to resources is another issue. I know in Texas 

there are limited resources specifically for victims of trafficking, 

and those resources are not available in all areas of Texas. And so 

that is a huge part. 

But when it comes to those times when you know a child is being 

victimized, the system has to provide that caseworker the ability 

to respond appropriately and the skill set to actually be able to 

identify that. 

Mr. REED. Yeah. 

Ms. Giovengo, please. 

Ms. GIOVENGO. I just would like to say I think that this happens way more than is acknowledged. And I think it is because no 

one really has jurisdiction over this issue inside of child welfare. 

So in very few States is it the purview of child welfare to be intervene in these particular cases. 

I have been shocked day after day in the young people that come 

into our care at YouthCare with, when we call to report from our 

drop-in center that a young person is being trafficked, child welfare 

says, ‘‘Well, call the police.’’ To me—and this is a 12-, 13-year-old. 

So this is an issue of no one takes ownership over these young 

people; no one adopts them as, you know, their concern or their ongoing concern. And so these multidisciplinary teams that Justice 

Bridge is talking about may resolve some of that, in terms of we 

will all be accountable. But, also, we need to have—I mean, I think 

we need to have policy that says where does the jurisdiction lie. 

And I would say that there is a lot of teeth to the notion that 

T. brings up—and I am always humbled to be with her—about 

teaching young people agency. You know, it is not rocket science, 

you know. Adolescents are not, you know, green monsters from the 

blue lagoon. You know, we know what makes young people feel 

self-confident and can stand up for themselves and maybe even do 

some reporting of their own things. 

And these young people in foster care are not afforded the opportunities to learn to drive, you know. So you take a ride from somebody. You know, there is a vulnerability. Or you are not with your 

friends—you can’t go on an overnight with your girlfriend. So you 

figure out a way to have an overnight. 

You are just not afforded the normal developmental milestones 

and opportunities that you would be in a regular home. And I 

think that that is one of the biggest disservices we do to these 

young people out of fear of liability. And I think that that goes, 

again, with who is responsible for creating this person as a young 


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adult and fostering that kind of growth and development in them. 

And it all makes them vulnerable to the kind of care. 

Mr. REED. Well, I appreciate that. 

Chairman, I know I am out of time, but the judge would like to 

respond, if that is okay. 

Chairman REICHERT. Well, we will let the judge talk. 

Mr. REED. All right. We will let the judge talk, as the sheriff 

says. 

Ms. BRIDGE. Well, for Ms. Harris, I want to say that there is 

somebody who is responsible at law ultimately for these cases, and 

it is the judge. 

Mr. REED. The court. 

Ms. BRIDGE. And that is a failure on the judicial system’s part 

in huge magnitude, because—and that stems back, in part, to lack 

of training and the lack of ability, again, to ask the right questions, 

to be alert to the cases that are presented, and to, in fact, approach 

the caseworker, to summon the caseworker even into court and say, 

‘‘We have this child on our caseload; where is she?’’ 

Mr. REED. Well, I appreciate that input, Judge. 

When I was a law guardian, when I started my practice of law, 

I dealt with caseworkers and child protective services, and there 

was a huge burnout factor. I mean, it is a tough job. And not to 

have that central person, that somehow it is not handed to caseworker, caseworker, caseworker, but a referral to a judge, I mean, 

these should be the cases that rise to the top, to say, hey, we have 

something very significant going on here and to take care of. 

And T.—please, T. 

Ms. PETTIGREW. I just have one more thing to say, is that—— 

Mr. REED. Yes. 

Ms. PETTIGREW [continuing]. As it aligns and it does fall in the 

courts and with the judge, I think that one thing that we—just out 

of, like, lack of knowledge and out of just fear of protection, I think 

what happens all too often is that we have, you know, judges who 

are misinformed or not clearly educated, and their way of safety is 

to lock the young people up in detention. And I think that we need 

to be really clear when we say these young people get no rehabilitation, no trauma-informed services. They are basically locked like 

a dog in a kennel waiting for somebody to pick them up on the next 

try. 

So I just really want to make that clear, that as we defer this 

issue towards the judges, that they need to be educated and informed of other resources, abilities, and ways and protocols to deal 

with these young people. 

Mr. REED. Great input, T. Thank you very much. 

And I thank the panel. 

And I yield back, Chairman. 

Chairman REICHERT. Thank you, Mr. Reed. 

Well, thank all of you for being here, a little over 2 hours of your 

hearing. And I just want to say again how much I appreciate what 

you all are doing to help our young people across this country. And 

thank you for being here today to testify. 

There were a number of things that really struck, I think, a lot 

of the Members here today. I know, for me, again, it always brings 


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me back to those days when I was working with those young people 

on the street. 

And one of the things that T. said about healthy relationships 

and not really knowing what that healthy relationship was, you 

know, when you think about it, most people in this country don’t 

understand what she just said, because they have a healthy relationship. 

And when you say, T., I really didn’t know what that was, I 

didn’t know what love was, I didn’t know what a family was, I 

didn’t know what that was, people don’t get it. I get it. I get it. 

So, also, I wanted to mention that we have had a series of hearings. One of those hearings, a few months ago, was about children 

being children and allowing foster kids to participate in sports and 

get rides home with coaches and other parents and get a driver’s 

license. And so that is a part of this whole effort. 

As we move forward and have additional hearings and stay in 

touch with you, what we would like to do is provide some of the 

thoughts that we are having along the lines of what legislation 

might look like, forward those to you, get your input, so that we 

can make sure this is right. We want to get this right because it 

is about the future of this country, it is about saving lives, it is 

about saving the lives of our children. 

So thank you all very much. 

And I must say this last sentence for the record. If Members 

have additional questions for the witnesses, they will submit them 

to you in writing, and we would appreciate receiving your responses for the record within 2 weeks. 

The committee stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:25 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 


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[Submissions for the Record follow:] 

Foster Family Based Treatment Association 


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Æ 


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