Legislature(2023 - 2024)GRUENBERG 120
01/22/2024 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Governor's Council on Human and Sex Trafficking | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 22, 2024
1:01 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Sarah Vance, Chair
Representative Jamie Allard, Vice Chair
Representative Ben Carpenter
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Jesse Sumner
Representative Andrew Gray
Representative Cliff Groh
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ON HUMAN AND SEX
TRAFFICKING
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
BRYAN BARLOW, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Public Safety
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a PowerPoint, entitled
"Governor's Council on Human and Sex Trafficking."
KATIE TEPAS, Program Coordinator
Alaska State Troopers
Department of Public Safety
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a PowerPoint, entitled
"Governor's Council on Human and Sex Trafficking."
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:01:21 PM
CHAIR SARAH VANCE called the House Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:01 p.m. Representatives Sumner, Gray,
Allard, and Vance were present at the call to order.
Representatives Carpenter, C. Johnson, and Groh arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): Governor's Council on Human and Sex
Trafficking
PRESENTATION(S): Governor's Council on Human and Sex
Trafficking
1:02:16 PM
CHAIR VANCE announced that the only order of business would be a
presentation on the Governor's Council on Human and Sex
Trafficking.
1:03:50 PM
BRYAN BARLOW, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Public Safety
(DPS), co-presented a PowerPoint, entitled "Governor's Council
on Human and Sex Trafficking" [hard copy included in the
committee packet]. He explained the foundations of the original
council, established on December 14, 2021, under Administrative
Order 328. The council completed their duties and put forth
recommendations to the governor on September 28, 2023. He began
on slide 2, which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Administrative Order 351
o Effective October 9, 2023
o Administrative Order (AO) 328 which established the
Governor's Council on Human and Sex Trafficking (CHST)
within the Department of Public Safety, was revoked
and Governor Dunleavy issued AO 351, reinstating the
CHST with a revised membership and updated duties and
responsibilities.
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW moved to slide 3, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
State Members
o One representative from the Alaska Mental Health Trust
o The commissioner of the Department of Health or
designee
o The Alaska Attorney General or designee
o The Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety or
designee
o The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections or
designee
o The Commissioner of the Department of Education and
Early Development or designee
o *The Commissioner of the Department of Labor and
Workforce Development or designee
o *The Commissioner of the Department of Family and
community services or designee
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW explained that the bullet points
marked with * were new additions to the council per AO 351.
1:06:30 PM
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW moved on to slide 4, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Public Members
o Two mayors or local-government-elected-officials
o One representative from a victim advocacy organization
o One representative from an Alaska Native stakeholder
organization
o One representative from a local law enforcement agency
o One representative from a faith-based community
organization.
o One representative from a homelessness direct-service
provider
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW noted vacant positions, and who
currently held each position. He continued to slide 5, which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Ex-Officio Members
o The Governor requests two ex-officio members, one who
is a member of the Alaska State Senate appointed by
the Senate President, and one who is a member of the
Alaska House of Representatives, Appointed by the
Speaker of the House
• Representative Vance
• Senator Kiehl
1:07:33 PM
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW proceeded with the presentation,
noting that a lot of the FY 24 plan influenced the current
Administrative Order 351. He continued to slide 6, which read
as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Fiscal Year 2024 Plan
o On September 28, 2023, the CHST fulfilled their duties
under AO 328 and submitted their recommendations to
the Office of the Governor
o CHST members expressed their commitment to ensuring
the work to combat human and sex trafficking in Alaska
continues
o On July 19, 2023, the CHST developed a fiscal year
(FY) plan for FY2024 which was submitted to Governor
Dunleavy for consideration
o Duties outlined in AO 351 mirror (For the most part)
the FY2024 plan
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW continued to slide 7, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Council Duties under AO 351
o initiating a proposal to the Governor for statutory
implementation of the Council
o Coordinating with the Department of Education and
Early Development's traffick9ing curriculum review
committee to provide a rubric for school districts in
providing age-appropriate curricula for school-based
youth.
o Assisting the Department of Education and Early
Development's e-learning module for educators, to
increase the understanding among educators about
issues, indicators, indicators, and resources relating
to trafficking youth.
1:10:12 PM
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW advanced to slide 9, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Council Duties under AO 351
o Producing discipline-specific training for medical
providers, mental health/behavioral health providers,
social workers, law enforcement, and other appropriate
disciplines.
o Designing, developing, and implementing public
messaging on trafficking directed to victims,
survivors, and the general public, aimed at increasing
awareness and reducing demand.
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW returned to slide 8, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Council Duties Under AO 351
o Developing an electronic rural resource guide or tool
kit for victims/survivors and communities
o Evaluating expansion of the survivor's assistance for
Escaping Trafficking (SAFE-T) Grant Program
o Assessing avenues to expand individual access and
organizational billing for essential healthcare and
mental health supports
o Ongoing evaluation of the efficacy of demand reduction
programs
o Producing annual public reports on the activities and
recommendations of the Council
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW cited the FY24 plan as an example of
such public reports.
1:13:32 PM
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW proceeded to slide 10, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Council Highlights
o Commitment
o FY2024
o Proposed statutory duties for the CHST
o One director two board model for CHST and the Council
on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (CDVSA)
o Data Summary document approved for public release
• Contains data from state, federal, and
municipal agencies as well as non-profit
agencies
• Data is from calendar year 2023.
1:14:11 PM
KATIE TEPAS, Program Coordinator , Alaska State Troopers,
Department of Public Safety (DPS), co-presented the PowerPoint
on the Governor's Council on Human and Sex Trafficking. She
explained the council's recommendations. She said Specific to
the FY 24 Plan was providing the Governor and Chair of this
committee with specific language for the proposed statutory
duties of the CHST, of which has been given and utilized in HB
259. She underlined the importance of putting the CHST into
statute, saying it would be "extremely important to move the
mission forward." She also spoke on the "one director two board
model" specific to House Bill 325, to oversee the CHST and the
Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (CDVSA)
1:16:45 PM
MS. TEPAS continued to slide 10 and discussed the "data summary
document" portion of the slide. She explained that the document
contains data from state, federal, and municipal agencies, as
well as non-profit agencies. She explained where the data came
from, as well as when (2023). She said the hope is that next
year, the Council may begin to develop data on past years in
order to begin doing trend analysis. She said the council is
not responsible for each data set, and if anyone has any
questions pertaining to those data sets, that they reach out to
the individual agencies who possess those unique data sets.
1:19:38 PM
MS. TEPAS moved on to slide 11, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
Council Highlights
o Education and Public Awareness Sub-Committees
o Demand Reduction Report from Legislative Research
Service
o Coordinating with Anchorage Task Force
o Upcoming meetings with US Advisory Council on Human
Trafficking-regional trip to Alaska
o Training
o Partnerships and coordinating across disciplines
MS. TEPAS explained that the sub-committee would provide a
rubric for any proposed curriculum and stressed the importance
of age-appropriate curriculum to teach children about human and
sex trafficking. She acknowledged that the demand reduction
report was requested from Legislative Research Services by
Senator Kiehl and was meant to focus on research to reduce
demand for Human and Sex trafficking.
1:21:44 PM
MR. BARLOW added that victimization could be lessened by making
increased efforts for the offender after incarceration.
1:22:18 PM
MS. TEPAS continued slide 11. She discussed coordination with
the Anchorage Task Force, saying they were developing specific
curriculum for their patrol officers. She described upcoming
meetings with U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking & their
regional trip to Alaska, as well as internal and external
training, utilizing partnerships, and coordination across
disciplines to create the trainings.
1:26:58 PM
MS. TEPAS concluded on slide 12, Which brought to light Human
Trafficking Awareness Month. The slide showed a letter written
by Governor Dunleavy to "Proclaim January 2024 as Alaska Human
Trafficking Prevention Month," as well as a 3 different graphics
supporting and explaining human trafficking awareness. The 1st
graphic on the bottom left was a rendering of a Blue Ribbon, a
common symbol & color to represent National Human Trafficking
Awareness Day. The graphic read "WEAR BLUE TO BRING AWARENESS
TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING" The second graphic pictured a road to
describe chronologically how human trafficking can happen, what
it is, and what you can do if you suspect someone is a victim or
responsible for human trafficking. In the lower right-hand
corner was a graphic made for Alaska Human Trafficking
Prevention Month, simply of a hand with the shape of the state
of Alaska in it with the words written "STOP" inside the outline
of the state.
MS. TEPAS explained that the council has moved "leaps and
bounds" since last year, given that they are still operating
under an AO, and have no designated staff. She acknowledged
Chair Vance and thanked her for her support in keeping the
council working and doing their work.
MS. TEPAS concluded the presentation and opened the floor for
any questions.
1:28:27 PM
CHAIR VANCE asked Ms. Tepas to expand on the available training.
MS. TEPAS said that winter training is available to their Sexual
Assault Response Team members. She said for law enforcement,
the training is posted on the Alaska Police Standards Council
(APSC) training page, as well as the CHST has their own internal
calendar where the public may find trainings. Trainings and
information are also available through the Alaska Network on
Domestic Violence and the Alaska Native Women's Resource center.
She said the goal is to have an online learning portal for more
accessibility.
1:30:55 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 1:30 to 1:35.
1:35:21 PM
CHAIR VANCE noted that the livestream went down at approximately
1:30 PM due to technical difficulties. She noted that they were
recording for the public, but there was no livestream anywhere
else in the building.
1:35:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked whether last year's legislation was
severe enough in terms of punishment.
1:36:48 PM
MR. BARLOW agreed the reducing the demand was vital to
addressing the problem that was victimizing innocent people in
the society. He said verbatim "The Department of Public Safety
(DPS) would support legislation that allows public safety to
effectively deal with the demand." He said public safety
appreciates having effective tools to deal with the root of the
problem, which is the victimization of innocent people.
CHAIR VANCE asked what a demand reduction program would look
like and how it would be administered.
MR. BARLOW deferred the question to Ms. Tepas.
1:38:43 PM
MS. TEPAS explained that it begins with identifying those who
seek to pay for sex, a "patron". This is usually done by
arrest, after which anyone arrested for purchasing sex could be
court ordered into the demand reduction program. She said the
programs could only take place if law enforcement was actively
working on identifying those individuals. She said the programs
varied around the nation, thus the study Senator Keihl requested
to see which type of program would be most effective for Alaska.
CHAIR VANCE questioned the motivation for DPS increasing the
charges for offenders.
1:41:55 PM
DEPUTY COMMISIONER BARLOW said the Department is motivated to
bring accountability to the patrons of prostitution; however,
DPS is dealing with several core vacancies in the department,
something that is a major hinderance in their ability to address
human and sex trafficking. He said in the future, the
department should place more emphasis on this issue as vacancies
are filled.
1:43:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER asked how much sex trafficking was
occurring, and whether there was a way to quantify that. He
also asked how we could see or know whether the policy measures
were working.
MS. TEPAS said that currently, the actual rates of victimization
in Alaska were unknown and complex in nature. She referenced
the Alaska Victimization Survey for rates of domestic violence
and sexual assault, of which the council does not have good data
to look to for numbers. She said what's missing is hard numbers
on labor and sex trafficking. Current data represented victims
that had come in contact with the system or agencies that
screened/identified them; or victims that had self-reported.
She mentioned adding discreet questions to the behavioral risk
surveillance systems, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
(BRFSS) and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).
She believed that increased self-reporting could result from
policy changes because victims feel safer to come forward;
however, it wouldn't necessarily mean an increase in
victimization. She said that trend analysis would be necessary
to see how the council should respond to it from a policy
perspective, and to more clearly see what effect these policies
have.
1:50:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER asked what dollar figure was driving
demand in human & sex trafficking as well as prostitution. He
asked if there were any data sets on the cost per type of sex
act performed.
MS. TEPAS said rates vary based on time and sex act, she
estimated $250.
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER said he's not particularly interested
in how much anything costs and asked whether the financial data
could be another way to measure whether or not the policies were
working.
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW responded, by comparing sex
trafficking to drugs in the sense of how they relate in the
market sense of buyer-and-seller.
1:55:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER reiterated his belief that a method of
measurement was needed to give the legislature an idea of what
to do.
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW responded, acknowledging his belief,
and said they could look at their reporting mechanisms and the
data they were collecting specific to that as a measurement of
how successful policies were.
1:56:27 PM
CHAIR VANCE reported that human trafficking is a $150 billion
enterprise globally, adding that it surpassed the small arms
trade years ago and is catching up with the drug trafficking
trade. She said per a report from Gwen Adams, that Each
individual sex trafficking victim has a street value of
$200,000, an Alaska-specific value, with their services being
used up to 10 times per day. She said part of what the council
is doing is trying to quantify a value specifically for Alaska.
1:58:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER reiterated that he wanted to make data
driven policy decisions that were result driven.
MS. TEPAS agreed. She said currently they'd not have adequate
resources to perform all of the duties they'd like to, so they
must be careful. She suggested that if the council were put
into statute, the initial piece of work would be the data
collection, mapping, and the evaluation of the data.
2:01:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GROH questioned current data on the prevalence of
sex trafficking in Alaska, in addition to domestic violence and
sexual assault.
MS. TEPAS reiterated that prevalence data was not available on
rates of victimization for sex and human trafficking. She said
they do have data on sexual assault and domestic violence,
because of the AVS survey. She stressed the point that numbers
of domestic violence and sexual assault victims far outweigh
victims of sex trafficking victims. She said that many data
centers may only provide a snapshot of the full problem, also
noting that many victims don't come forward in the first place.
She cited more components of data from different organizations
were forthcoming.
REPRESENTATIVE GROH acknowledged the substantial problem
worldwide and in Alaska, and further noted that this occurs
everywhere in the state, not just in the bush. He said that a
person growing up in Alaska is more likely to experience
domestic violence or sexual assault then they are to become a
victim of sex trafficking, and asked if that was a correct
statement.
MS. TEPAS said risk factors were the same for sex trafficking
and domestic violence/sexual assault, saying at a very basic
level they are predominantly all the same. She said one factor
is the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) Score, which is a
very strong indicator across all victimhood. She said that
victims of childhood sexual assault were more likely to become
victims of sex trafficking. Overall, she said that risk factors
across the board are all the same, but sex trafficking presented
slightly differently.
2:09:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON asked whether any organizations had
aggregated data for consistency, and if so, who is aggregating
it.
MS. TEPAS answered that the CDVSA is the organization that is
compiling all the data that they have identified.
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON asked "if there was a formatting
formula for how we ask these questions."
MS. TEPAS she said that most entities use similar definitions of
trafficking, which is defined by federal law. She cited HB 259,
saying one of the things in that bill is to standardize language
surrounding Human and Sex Trafficking. She said that sometimes
different entities label things as one thing that might not be
the other in the legal/criminal realm.
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON asked whether there was anything the
legislature could do to expedite the unification of data.
MS. TEPAS pointed out that passing HB 259 would be the best
thing the legislature could do, considering that they are
currently operating under administrative order.
2:17:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SUMNER asked who investigated labor trafficking
in Alaska.
MR. BARLOW responded, saying that there is not a "strong push"
right now from anyone, citing a lack of resources to dedicate
towards that front of labor trafficking.
CHAIR VANCE sought to clarify whether the current statute gives
DPS any authority with regards to labor trafficking.
MR. BARLOW said he'd have to refer to the statute to answer
Chair Vance's question accurately.
CHAIR VANCE shared her belief that it wasn't clearly defined.
She stressed the importance of HB 68, because it clarifies that
authority in statute for the state to take action. In response
to Representative Sumner, she said she believes that only the
Federal bureau of Investigation (FBI) has the authority to
investigate labor trafficking cases.
2:19:55 PM
MS. TEPAS said that the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development (DLUD) has some authority to investigate certain
aspects of labor trafficking. She stated that the Alaska
Institute for Justice is the only entity right now that has any
data on labor trafficking. She added that DPS was not currently
investigating any labor trafficking.
2:21:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked why data wasn't in front of the
committee when plenty of notice was given.
MS. TEPAS explained that the data sets are from a variety of
different organizations from places all over the world, as well
as the constant sifting and vetting of all of the data
contribute to it taking a long time to put together.
2:23:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD explained that she was concerned about the
idea that the CHST needs more staff to compile the data.
MS. TEPAS responded that CHST is compiling data but doesn't own
the data. She explained that the legislature would have to ask
the entities that own the data and apologized.
CHAIR VANCE explained why the committee was frustrated and
wanted an overall picture of victimization and the rate of the
problem of trafficking in Alaska. She reiterated and emphasized
her respect for the CHST and the work that they do, and
recognized why exactly they might not have all the data right
now.
2:27:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRAY questioned how the CDVSA board/director make
up was different from the makeup of the CHST.
MS. TEPAS said there is some overlap in membership between the
two councils. She said the overlap occurs in some state entities
and agencies.
2:29:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRAY questioned the necessity of the CHST if
trafficking crimes are a subset of domestic violence/sexual
assault and could be dealt with by the CDVSA.
MS. TEPAS said that sex trafficking isn't a subset, and that it
has unique aspects of the crime that created the need and desire
for the CHST. She further discussed the one director two board
model and how it is efficient and beneficial, and she explained
that merging populations might not be the best thing because
they both demand such different services and have so many
different needs.
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW agreed with Ms. Tepas, emphasizing
that the one director two board model worked well for the two
councils.
2:35:26 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRAY said he didn't want this to eclipse the
enormous problem of domestic violence and sexual assault by
splitting the directors and consolidating staff.
MS. TEPAS explained that the decision to consolidate under the
CDVSA was mainly in the name of efficiency, something that
prioritizes the needs of domestic violence and sexual assault
while also not wanting to diminish the needs of sex trafficking.
2:37:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked whether she would be open to
employee audits.
MS. TEPAS said she welcomed anyone looking at the volume of work
that they have and the need, saying that the CHST or DPS
wouldn't be making an ask if it wasn't needed.
2:39:27 PM
DEPUTY COMISSIONER BARLOW clarified that the need for additional
staff was to fill vacancies to fulfill the responsibilities and
needs of each position more appropriately.
CHAIR VANCE thanked the presenters for the update and reiterated
her support and respect for the work that the Council on Human &
Sex Trafficking does.
2:41:31 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Judiciary Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:41 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| January 22 2024 House Judiciary Committee 1.22.24.pdf |
HJUD 1/22/2024 1:00:00 PM |
DPS Presentation 01-22-24 |