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A MOTION requesting that the executive develop a report with recommendations for adding requirements related to human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation awareness training and testing for for-hire drivers.

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                     WHEREAS, victims of human trafficking, where persons profit from the control and exploitation of others and as defined under federal and state law, includes sex trafficking where a person is induced to perform a commercial sex act by force, fraud, coercion or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under age eighteen and labor trafficking where a person is forced into different forms of "labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion, for the purposes of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery," such as domestic workers held in a home or farm workers forced to labor against their will, and

                     WHEREAS, human trafficking is considered to be one of the fastest-growing criminal industries in the world, with human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation having been identified as serious crime problems in King County, in Washington state and worldwide, and

                     WHEREAS, Washington was the first state to criminalize human trafficking in 2003.  Washington state has some of the most comprehensive laws critical to the fight against human trafficking, punishing traffickers and supporting survivors, and is rated most outstanding by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center's Polaris Project, and

                     WHEREAS, the 2008 Report of the Washington Task Force against the Trafficking of Human Persons recommended among its urgent priorities the need to:  educate Washington communities about human trafficking; provide support to implement community-driven antitrafficking strategies, including primary prevention efforts; and help victims escape their situations by making one-on-one contact with people who may be in trafficking situations, and

                     WHEREAS, the King County Metro transit department participates in the Safe Place program to assist at-risk youth in finding support services, and public information about human trafficking to educate the public about human trafficking and inform victims about resources available to them, simultaneously addressing the needs of individual victims of trafficking are in need of services and protection, and

                     WHEREAS, King County regulates taxicabs, for-hire, and transportation network companies, vehicles and drivers.  The regulations are intended to ensure that customers can use these transportation options in a safe manner, and

                     WHEREAS, in 1995, King County entered into an interlocal agreement with the city of Seattle, whereby King County manages all for-hire driver licensing functions for both jurisdictions.  In addition, the county has interlocal service agreements with sixteen cities and the Port of Seattle to provide all for-hire transportation regulatory services.

                     WHEREAS, as required by K.C.C 6.64.070, all new for-hire driver applicants are required to complete driver training and pass the for-hire driver examination.  The prospective drivers are tested on fare determination, driver-passenger relations, driver conduct, ability to understand oral and written directions, vehicle safety requirements, driver regulations, emergency procedures, geographic knowledge of the county and personal safety equipment, and

                     WHEREAS, in 2017 there were 2,453 taxi and for-hire drivers licensed and a further 27,842 transportation network company drivers that received permits from the county, and in 2017 these drivers transported passengers on nearly 25 million trips countywide, and

                     WHEREAS, there are significant federal, state and local resources, including those from the private sector, related to training regarding the identification of human trafficking and commercially sexually exploited victims and survivors.  Further, some transportation network companies are voluntarily providing training to their drivers regarding trafficking;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     A.  The executive is requested to develop or acquire a proposed curriculum for for-hire drivers as part of the required driver training for a for-hire license in King County.  The executive should examine existing resources for training materials to help increase awareness and educate drivers on the indicators of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, the identification of human trafficking and commercially sexually exploited victims and how to report human trafficking to the appropriate local authorities to protect victims and survivors.

                     B.  The training program should be focus on three goals:

                       1.  Raising driver awareness about the nature of human trafficking, how and where it occurs locally and how to prevent and stop it;

                       2.  Helping drivers identify potential victims and survivors; and

                       3.  Providing drivers with information on how victims and survivors might gain access to services.

                     C.  The executive shall seek to use existing successful strategies for anti-human-trafficking education and training materials already available from federal, state and county agencies.  In addition, the executive should review any available training materials developed for human trafficking awareness by companies from the private sector, especially any materials that have been developed by transportation network companies or any other company that provides transport services to passengers.

                     D.  The development of recommended training options for drivers should be done in collaboration with subject matter experts, such as national, state and local advocacy groups; the transit department; the department of community and human services; the city of Seattle, the Port of Seattle and public health - Seattle & King County.  The King County prosecuting attorney's office and the King County superior court are encouraged to review the proposed education materials and curriculum.

                     E.  The human trafficking public information materials used in the education and training curriculum shall be accessible in multiple languages and should include contact information for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline.

                     F.  The executive should evaluate these materials and make recommendations for a plan for a proposed training program for drivers, recommendations on how the drivers will be tested on the content of the education materials and an estimate of the costs and other resources necessary to implement the training and examination requirements.  The executive should also include a description of how for-hire drivers with existing licenses could receive this training.

                     G.  The executive is requested to transmit to the council by April 1, 2020, a report with recommendations for human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation awareness training and testing for for-hire drivers, as required by this motion, in the form

of a paper original and an electronic copy filed with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers.