Illinois Human Trafficking Act Signed by the Governor

Big  human trafficking policy news in Illinois! Governor Pritzker signed the Illinois Statewide Trauma-Informed Response Human Trafficking Act into law last week with several other bills. This law  focuses on improving prevention and intervention efforts while and establishing standards for survivor support services within several state agencies (Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL), Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ), Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board (ILETSB), Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs), the Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, the Illinois Secretary of State, and other stakeholders). 

Part of the law requires the development of a single statewide plan to identify and respond to survivors and we have already been working on that all summer as part of our subcommittee work so the implementation of the law has already begun. I am a little sad that the Governor's Office didn't approve the signing ceremony for the bill so all of the stakeholders could meet each other (we have been meeting online since last year formulating the legislation) but I am happy to see this legislation finally signed into Illinois law!

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