Human trafficking education bill ready for House floor

The House Education & Employment Committee has unanimously passed a measure to implement training for public school educators and other school personnel on human trafficking and the signs associated with it.

The legislation is now ready for the House floor.

Orlando Republican Rep. Erika Booth and Stuart Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf presented the bill (HB 1237). They explained that it would put in place mandatory education on human trafficking for all public school personnel, including teachers, custodians and cafeteria workers.

“This bill seeks to ensure that public school employees are adequately trained to identify potential victims of human trafficking in the school environment and respond in an appropriate manner,” Booth said. “Currently, schools are required to provide instruction regarding human trafficking to students grade K through 12, however there’s no mandatory training for school personnel.”

Booth said the measure will help to keep Florida’s children safe.

“This bill requires annual training to be provided to teachers, other administrative personnel, school nurses, doctors and other adults in the public school setting,” Booth said. “Equipping school personnel to identify, report and respond to human trafficking will help protect our children and foster a safer school environment.”

The committee adopted an amendment that was previously suggested by Orlando Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, which specifically adds education on human trafficking for staff of public charter schools.

During the bill’s passage through the House Education Administration Subcommittee, Lauren Evans and Tazara Fields, law students at Florida State University and part of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Law Project, showed support for the legislation and detailed the reality of human trafficking on children in Florida.

“In Florida, we face the hard reality that our state is the third-largest hub for human trafficking in the country,” Evans said. “Each year, an estimated 300,000 children in our country are at risk of sexual exploitation. And globally, this number rises to 3.3 million children. Vulnerability is the No. 1 risk factor for trafficked children. In Florida, over 737,000 children live in poverty, and 95,000 were homeless in 2023.”

Evans explained that the July 2024 Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) report on the commercial sexual exploitation of minors found that 82% of minors who were verified as victims of commercial sexual exploitation were enrolled in the Florida K through 12 public school system in the year following the verification of their abuse.

“This bill would be a natural extension of current legislation and allow us to fill a gap in the law,” Evans said. “Currently, there’s no mandatory training for public school employees for human trafficking, despite us requiring the same training for health care workers, hospitality workers, and even the students themselves.”

Evans added that despite state efforts to educate students on human trafficking, Florida lags behind in educating school employees on the same issue. She said that by mandating yearly training for public school employees, it could potentially save children from the lifelong trauma of being trafficked.

“Florida already leads the nation in educating our students, so it’s time to extend that responsibility to our educators,” Evans said.

Fort Myers Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin has filed a bill (SB 1804) that would impose stricter penalties for crimes involving sex trafficking, especially those that involve children or individuals with mental incapacities. The bill will be heard before the Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee this Tuesday.