HEVESILETTER.pdf

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Michael Green

Acting Commissioner

New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

Alfred E. Smith Building80 South Swan St.

Albany, New York 12210

Kristen M. ProudCommissioner

New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance40 North Pearl Street

Albany, New York 12243

October 22, 2013

Dear Commissioners Green and Proud:

I am writing to you in your capacity as former co-chairs of the Interagency TaskForce on Human Trafficking established in Section 483-ee of the Social Services Law,Chapter 74 of the Laws of New York, 2007 (the law). That law mandates that your

task force, under Subdivision (b) fulfill seven specific requirements and under

Subdivision (c) to report to the Governor and the Legislature one year from the effectivedate of the enactment of the law and issue such reports and recommendations as it

deems necessary to carry out its duties and responsibilities.

In August of 2008 your task force issued the statutorily mandated report, entitled

A Report by the Interagency Task Force Implementation of the 2007 law (the report).

Since August of 2008, your task force has submitted no additional reports or

recommendations to the Legislature nor have we been made aware of any reports orrecommendations made to the Governor.

As a result, the Legislature has no knowledge of any further action taken by thetask force since August of 2008 and can reach only one of two possible conclusions.

First, in the context of Subdivision (c) of the enabling statute, the New York State

Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking has deemed it unnecessary to continue tomeet its responsibilities mandated by the law.

ANDREW HEVESI

Assemblyman 28th District

Queens County

THE ASSEMBLY

STATE OF NEW YORK

ALBANYCHAIRMAN

Oversight, Analysis, and

Investigations

COMMITTEES

Energy

HealthLabor

Insurance


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Second, in the alternative, we must conclude that for the last five years the Task

Force has been working to fulfill its mission without issuing reports or recommendationsto the Governor and or the Legislature.

Your 2008 report explicitly declares that, Human Trafficking is a contemporaryform of slavery and a tragic human rights abuse that affects people throughout the globe.

(Page 4, the report) In order to work together towards the goal of reducing and

eliminating this human rights catastrophe, as Chair of the Oversight, Analysis andInvestigations Committee, I request that you answer the following questions by January

15, 2014.

1) Since the Task Force has issued no reports or recommendations to the Legislaturesince 2008, has your task force deemed it unnecessary to continue to carry out its

duties and responsibilities that were specifically delineated in Subdivision (b) of

the law? If so, please provide the rationale for that determination.

2) If the Task Force has been functioning and fulfilling all of its statutory

responsibilities from its creation in 2007 to its date of repeal on September 1,2013, then is it not fair to conclude that the Task Force would be able to provide

information relevant to all of its statutory requirements? If the answer is Yes, then

please provide all information requested in questions 3 through 10.

3) According to Subdivision (b) (1) of the law, the Task Force shall collect and

organize data on the nature and collection of trafficking in the state. Please

provide copies of such data relevant to that statutory requirement withdocumented sources from, at a minimum, yourselves and the eight other members

of the executive branch who were designated members of your task force by the

law.

4) According to Subdivision (b)(2) of the law the Task Force shall identify

available federal, state and local programs that provide services to victims oftrafficking, including but not limited to case management, housing, health care,

mental health counseling, drug addiction screening and treatment, language

interpretation and translation services, English language instruction, job training

and placement assistance, post-employment services for job retention, andservices to assist the individual and any of his or her family members to establish

a permanent residence in New York State or the United States. Please provide, in

detail, all information you have identified for each category. Only newinformation not included in the report from 2008 is necessary.

5) According to Subdivision (b)(3) of the law, the Task Force shall consult withgovernmental and non-governmental organizations in developing

recommendations to strengthen state and local efforts to prevent trafficking,

protect and assist victims of trafficking and prosecute traffickers. Please indicate

which members of the task force and which governmental and non-governmental


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organizations participated in these consultations and outline all of the

recommendations that resulted. Only new information not included in the report

from 2008 is necessary.

6) According to Subdivision (b) (4) of the law the Task Force shall establish

interagency protocols and collaboration between federal, state, and local lawenforcement, state and governmental agencies, child welfare agencies, and non-

governmental organizations. Please list and describe every protocol that has been

instituted related to each portion of this statute. Only new information notincluded in the report from 2008 is necessary.

7) According to Subdivision (b) (5) of the law the Task Force shall evaluate

approaches to increase public awareness about trafficking and makerecommendations on such approaches. Please provide all evaluations and

recommendations made by the Task Force on public awareness approaches and

those that have been implemented. Only new information not included in the

report from 2008 is necessary.

8) According to Subdivision (b)(6) of the law the Task Force shall evaluate theeffectiveness of training programs on human trafficking that have been designed

for law enforcement personnel, criminal defense attorneys, social service

providers and non-governmental organizations, and make recommendations forimproving the quality and effectiveness of such programs. Please describe in

detail each existing training program referred to in this portion of the statute, and

all recommendations considered and those implemented for these training

programs. Only new information not included in the report from 2008 isnecessary.

9) According to Subdivision (b)(7) of the law the Task Force shall measure andevaluate the progress of the state in preventing trafficking, protecting and

providing assistance to victims of trafficking, and prosecuting persons engaged in

trafficking. Please provide all measurements and evaluations for each portion ofthe statute. Only new information not included in the report from 2008 is

necessary.

10) In the report, under the section entitled Recommendations for 2008-2009,your task force proposed the following actions to improve New York States

response to human trafficking.

Expand training of and coordination between state law enforcement

agencies, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), serviceproviders, and non-law enforcement agencies likely to encounter human

trafficking victims;

Expand outreach and public awareness efforts;

Establish a statewide directory of service providers capable of servinghuman trafficking victims;


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Improve the delivery of services for U.S. citizen, eligible alien and child

human trafficking victims who do not qualify for the full range ofResponse to Human Trafficking program-funded services;

Expand safe housing options for human trafficking victims;

Promote federal legislation to facilitate the ability of foreign-born human

trafficking victims to obtain lawful immigration status and federalassistance;

Enhance law enforcement strategies directed toward persons who exploitprostitutes and employ forced labor in New York State; and

Explore the development of prostitution diversion courts

Please indicate the current status of each of your proposals and any and all

actions taken to achieve them.

I thank you for your time and attention to this matter and look forward to hearing

from you on or before January 15, 2014, if not the Committee will consider other options

available to it.

Sincerely,

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi

Chairman, Oversight, Analysis and Investigations Committee

Documents

HEVESILETTER.pdf