Colorado HB 1078

By Rally on 2-06-2015 in Colorado, Foster Care, Legislation

“Reps. Dan Nordberg, R-Colorado Springs, and Beth McCann, D-Denver, are offering up a bill that could prove hard to vote against. House Bill 1078 instructs state child-welfare agencies to report missing foster children to local law enforcement, to an FBI database and to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 24 hours or less.

The bill got unanimous approval from the House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee Tuesday. It’s a common-sense bill that probably shouldn’t need to exist, but somehow it’s necessary. Nordberg is especially concerned that runaway foster kids are easy prey for criminals.

“Children in foster care are the most vulnerable of our youth and highly susceptible to the lies and false promises of human traffickers. In situations where these children do fall victim, time is of the essence and the sharing of information is critical to their recovery,” Nordberg said in a statement.

He added: “Human trafficking affects every community and we need to take action to make sure foster children do not fall victim. I’m pleased to see the committee strongly support new measures to ensure foster children are found quickly and safely when they go missing.”

Nordberg cited a story last August by Jesse Paul in The Denver Post that said the Colorado Springs Police Department’s human trafficking unit — which investigates human trafficking, pimping, pandering, providing a place for prostitution and prostitution — had recovered 25 children and 34 adult victims of human trafficking within just eight months after the unit started.

McCann is a former chief deputy district attorney in the Denver D.A.’s office and a former Denver manager of safety. Before she was elected the House in 2008, she was a deputy attorney general. She plans to run for the Denver district attorney in 2016, she announced last month.

The idea isn’t novel. When children held by the state Division of Youth Corrections escape, a similar process is required, including a warrant in the FBI national database within 24 hours and, of course, law enforcement is alerted quickly.

The legislation might occasionally create more work for the public agencies that deal with foster children, but the cost is minimal according to a legislative analysis of the potential costs. The Colorado Department of Human Services will be required to provide outreach and training to counties.

The bill goes now to the full House for a vote, and assuming it passes there, over to the Senate to restart the process in that chamber.

The bill’s summary states:

The bill requires the state Department of Human Services or a county department of human or social services that has legal custody of a child or youth to report the child’s or youth’s disappearance to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and to law enforcement immediately, or no later than 24 hours after learning of the disappearance, for entry into the National Crime Information Center database.”[Wow! Shouldn’t this already be the case? ]