Amends TCA Title 4; Title 37; Title 39 and Title 40.

Present law requires the department of children's services to develop a state plan for the detection, intervention, prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse. Present law specifies several requirements for the department to follow when developing the state plan. This bill adds a requirement that the department, human trafficking advisory council, joint task force on children's justice and child sexual abuse, and the council of juvenile and family court judges work together with appropriate public and private groups and organizations, including, but not limited to, Tennessee Counter Trafficking Alliance agencies, to develop a mechanism to identify and provide services to children involved with the juvenile justice system who have been sexually abused or trafficked for commercial sex acts. The services must be accessible to a child identified as a victim and must not be contingent on the child's participation in another program or pretrial diversion. The plan for establishing services required by this bill must be included in the comprehensive state plan.<br /> <br /> ON APRIL 14, 2022, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2740, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 replaces the provisions of this bill concerning the development of a mechanism to identify and provide coordinated services to children involved with the juvenile justice system who have been sexually abused or trafficked for commercial sex acts. This amendment instead requires the district attorneys general conference to work with the TBI, the department of children's services, the Tennessee Sheriffs' Association, the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Children's Advocacy Centers of Tennessee to develop recommendations on the creation of multidisciplinary teams to provide responses specific to child sex trafficking cases. The purposes of these teams will be to enhance the services to victims of child sex trafficking, improve the coordination of investigations and the tracking of child sex trafficking cases, and identify gaps in services. This amendment requires the district attorneys general conference to report the recommendations to the chairs of the judiciary committee of the senate and the criminal justice committee and the children and family affairs subcommittee of the house of representatives by January 15, 2023.<br />