As of May 29, 2017, Public Law 114-22 went into effect, this requires mandated reporters report any suspected and confirmed cases of CSEC to Department of Human Services / Child Welfare Services and/or Law Enforcement. DHS/CWS will refer trafficking specific services to TVAP Hawaii.

Public Law 114-22, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, requires that effective May 29, 2017, states consider any child who is identified by a state as a victim of sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking (as defined in sections 103(9)(A) and (10) of the TVPA) as a victim of “child abuse and neglect” and “sexual abuse.”  Act 016, Relating to Reports of Child Abuse, was passed by the 2017 Hawaii State Legislature in compliance with the public law and was signed in to law by Governor David Ige effective May 29, 2017. 

For this purpose, the parent, guardian, or caretaker may or may not be the perpetrator of such harm.  “Mandated reporter” is defined by HRS 350-1.1 as:

(1) Licensed or registered professionals of the healing arts and any health-related occupation who examines, attends, treats, or provides other professional or specialized services including, but not limited to, physicians, including physicians in training, psychologists, dentists, nurses, osteopathic physicians and surgeons, optometrists, chiropractors, podiatrists, pharmacists and other health-related professionals;

(2) Employees or officers of any public or private school;

(3) Employees or officers of any public or private agency or institution, or other individuals, providing social, medical, hospital, or mental health services, including financial assistance;

(4) Employees or officers of any law enforcement agency, including, but not limited to, the courts, police departments, correctional institutions, and parole or

probation offices;

(5) Individual providers of childcare, or employees or officers of any licensed or registered childcare facility, foster home, or similar institution;

(6) Medical examiners or coroners;

(7) Employees of any public or private agency providing recreational or sports activities;

(8) Commercial film and photographic print or image processors;

(9) Commercial computer technicians; and

(10) Members of the clergy or custodians of records therefor; provided that a member of the clergy shall not be required to report information gained solely during a penitential communication. When a clergy member receives reportable information from any other source, the clergy member shall comply with the reporting requirements of this section, regardless of whether the clergy member received the same information during a penitential communication. For purposes of this paragraph, "penitential communication" means a communication, including a sacramental confession, that is intended to be kept confidential and is made to a member of the clergy who, in the course of the discipline or practice of the applicable religious organization, is authorized or accustomed to hearing those communications, and under the discipline, tenets, customs, or practices of the applicable religious organization has a duty to keep those communications secret.

For more information about Child Welfare Services (CWS) and the process of reporting abuse or neglect, please refer to the following guide.

Susannah Wesley Community Center (SWCC) is the lead agency for the Trafficking Victim Assistance Program (TVAP) Hawaii. The TVAP consists of subcontractors and partnerships in order to provide crisis response and comprehensive case management services to CSEC victims statewide. On Oahu, SWCC shares the case load distribution with Hale Kipa and Parents And Children Together (PACT); Hale Kipa (Hawaii Island and Kauai); Parents And Children Together (Maui county); and the Ola Hou Clinic (trauma assessments).

TVAP Hawaii’s case managers are safe providers. The TVAP is also partnered with Legal Aid Society of Hawai’i, Pacific Survivor Center, Bluewater Mission, and has memorandum of agreements in place with the Sex Abuse Treatment Center (SATC) and The Children’s Alliance (Oahu).