U.S. Sen. Gary Peters on Monday held a press conference at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine to announce that he is co-sponsoring Senate Bill 205: The Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2015. Also on hand to show their support for the bill were Dr. Jack Sobel, interim dean of the WSU School of Medicine, and Angela Aufdemberge, president and chief executive officer of Vista Maria in Dearborn Heights.
If passed as currently written, the Trafficking Awareness Training bill will provide a grant to one medical or nursing school in the U.S. to develop an “evidence-based” training program for healthcare professionals that would teach them to identify and respond to human trafficking victims. The bill says the grantee must work with law enforcement, social service providers, and other human trafficking experts to develop the training. The bill then requires the grantee to select sub-grantees to lead pilot projects in ten regions across the country. According to Peters’ office, the sub-grantees might include nonprofit organizations, local or state government agencies, or anti-trafficking task forces. Those sub-grantees would then pilot the training program at one or more eligible health centers in their regions.