Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 43 - PUBLIC WELFARE (§§ 43-1-1 — 43-NEW01-012) › Chapter 26 - DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES (§§ 43-26-1 — 43-26-23) › Section 43-26-3 - Procedures when responding to allegation of child abuse, or human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of a child; presumption that minor taken into custody under Section 97-29-49 is victim of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation

(1)
The Department of Child Protection Services shall immediately send the on-call caseworker to the scene or location chosen by law enforcement (a) when the department is contacted by a law enforcement officer who encounters a minor whom the officer reasonably suspects of being a victim of human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation, and (b) the officer requests such assistance using the Mississippi Child Protection Services hotline.
(2)
The Department of Child Protection Services, in addition to its duties provided in Section
43-21-353
, within twenty-four (24) hours of receiving a report of child abuse, human trafficking of a child or commercial sexual exploitation of a child, sending an on-call caseworker to a location in response to a minor who is reasonably suspected of being a victim of human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation at the request of a law enforcement officer, or when a Child Protection Services caseworker encounters a minor who is reasonably suspected of being a victim of human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation, shall:
(a)
Make in-person contact with the child to determine appropriate next steps for the protection of the child, or where in-person contact cannot be made within twenty-four (24) hours of receiving the report, shall immediately notify the Coordinator of Services for Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation within the Department of Child Protection Services and law enforcement, and shall document all steps taken to make contact with the child as well as the steps that will be taken to locate and ascertain the safety of the child;
(b)
Attempt to have an on-site interview with the child's caretaker;
(c)
Attempt to have law enforcement or an appropriate investigator conduct an on-site interview with the child's suspected offender; and
(d)
Document and assess the safety of other children in the care or custody of the caretaker and/or who may be at risk of abuse by the suspected offender.
(2)
If the child is suspected to be a victim of human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation, the Coordinator of Services for Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation within the Department of Child Protection Services shall activate an emergency, separate and specialized human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation assessment team. The team shall include, at a minimum:
(a)
an investigator certified by the Mississippi Human Trafficking Operational Task Force Board,
(b)
an investigator from the Department of Child Protection Services, and
(c)
a person certified by the office of the Attorney General as an advocate for victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Such emergency assessment team shall be created without authorization of the youth court, or designated by the Office of the Attorney General as an advocate for such victims.
(3)
Any person under eighteen (18) years of age taken into custody under the provisions of Section
97-29-49
shall be presumed a victim of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
Added by Laws, 2020, ch. 493, HB 1559,§ 7, eff. 7/8/2020.