"We Were Little Girls" - County Case Studies from an Evaluation of California's Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Program

Background and Purpose: Nationwide, states are decriminalizing youth’s involvement in the commercial sex industry. California was an early adopter of safe harbor laws and has been a leading state in implementing an expansive response to commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). In 2014, California implemented SB 855 which formed an opt-in commercially sexually exploitation children (CSEC) program that provides funding to counties to address CSE. Building on a comprehensive environmental scan and statewide CSEC administrator survey, we conducted in-depth county case studies to better understand how California’s CSEC program is being implemented on the ground. Research questions included:

1. What are the key successes of SB 855?
2. What are the common challenges of SB 855?
3. What are best practices for implementing local CSEC response programs?

Methods: Twelve participating counties were selected for case study based on several factors including region, CSE population size, survey responses on key implementation questions, and CSEC funding amount. We conducted nine in-person and three virtual site visits between November 2022 and February 2023.

The case studies centered the voices of survivors through focus groups comprising adult survivors of childhood commercial sexual exploitation. We also interviewed over 100 program staff from child welfare, juvenile probation, service provider agencies, and other key organizations (e.g., behavioral health) who were best positioned to report on SB 855 implementation.

Results: Despite the variation in counties’ geographic context, CSE population, and other factors, we found a number of shared challenges across the state. Several counties noted a key gap was that there was no mechanism to serve youth at risk for CSE who are not under the jurisdiction of the child welfare agency. Many counties also noted that enthusiasm for the CSEC program was high when SB 855 was initially implemented but that energy has waned over time, suggesting there may be a need for re-evaluating the goals and direction of the program. Counties also expressed a need for updated training that looks at current CSE trends (e.g., cyber recruitment).

There were also some shared successes. Many counties noted that it was exceedingly helpful to have a child welfare unit specifically designated to respond to CSE. Several counties implemented a 24/7 dual response from child welfare and a CSE advocate contracted through a local non-profit agency to provide support during maltreatment investigations.

Finally, the site visits identified unique best practices including processes for youth who are not child welfare involved to get connected to services, and weighting CSE cases in caseload assignments with the acknowledgment that they are more challenging and time intensive.

Conclusions and Implications: These case studies highlight specific challenge areas as well as some creative solutions to these common challenges. The research team is in the process of working closely with each county and the state to disseminate these results and tailor them so that counties can use the information gleaned to improve their CSE response.