Source: http://www.childrenslegalrightsjournal.com/childrenslegalrightsjournal/volume_34_issue_2?pg=87
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 22:30:35+00:00

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CSEC is both a general and special education issue. First, research has established a growing link between unmet special education needs104 and school truancy and failure, both of which are risk factors and signs that a child is being commercially sexually exploited.105 Schools are best positioned to track truancy, and have a federal mandate under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”)106 to track students who struggle in their school settings.107 Recently, schools have even been given guidance on screening for CSEC from the Department of Education.108 Schools therefore have a critical role in identifying children who are being commercially sexually exploited.
Second, schools have a federal obligation to provide appropriate special education and related services to meet the unique needs of disabled children.109 The impact of commercial sexual exploitation, as will be discussed at length below, can exacerbate the impact of a child’s existing disabilities, or result in a child developing disabilities.110 Special education attorneys play a critical role in advocating for the school system to meet the unique needs of a commercially sexually exploited child, especially where service planning may be necessary to ensure a child’s needs are met.
A. Why is CSEC an Educational Issue?
104 Some research suggests that students with disabilities are independently at an increased risk of being commercially sexually exploited. Topics of Special Interest, U.S. DEP’T STATE, http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/192359.htm (last visited Mar. 25, 2014).
105 “Children with school-related problems, such as truancy and learning disabilities, may also be vulnerable to recruitment.” WALKER, supra note 26, at 18.
106 20 U.S.C.A. § 1400 (West 2014). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was reauthorized and amended in 2004 with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-446, 118 Stat 2647 (codified as amended in 20 U.S.C.A. ch. 33). Although the IDEA was renamed as the “IDEA, 2004,” the acronym, IDEA is still commonly used when discussing the statute. In this Article, reference to the IDEA includes the relevant sections of 20 U.S.C.A. as amended by the Improvement Act. 107 A parent of a child, or a State or local educational agency “may initiate a request for an initial evaluation to determine if the child is a child with a disability.” Id. § 1414 (a)(1)(B). A reevaluation of each child with a disability shall occur at least once every three years, unless otherwise necessary. Id. § 1414 (a)(2)(A)-(B).
108 See HUMAN TRAFFICKING, supra note 23 (listing “[ i]ndicators that school staff and administrators should be aware of concerning a potential victim”).
109 See infra Part III (B); Bd. of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 182 (1982). “The State must have in effect policies and procedures to ensure that – [a]ll children with disabilities residing in the State, . . . who are in need of special education and related services are identified, located, and evaluated[.]” 34 C.F.R. § 300.111 (a)(1)( i) (2014).
110 See infra Part III (B)(1)( i); see also U. S. DEP’T OF HEAL TH & HUMAN SERVS., HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN TO AND WI THIN THE UNI TED STATES: A REVIE W OF THE LI TERATURE 9 (2009), available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/Human Trafficking/LitRev/index.pdf [hereinafter A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE] (explaining the “correlation between school-related problems, most notably learning disabilities, and sexual exploitation”).
111 34 C.F.R. § 300.111.
112 While there is an absence of case law specific to the issue of the special education needs of commercially sexually exploited children, where helpful, the authors have provided citations to parallel case law that can assist special education attorneys advocating to ensure vulnerable students receive the services they need.

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