HHS/Center for Disease Control (CDC) FY 2016
THE NEED FOR FUNDING AND REPORT LANGUAGE
The Committee recommends the Center for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey be expanded by including questions to identify homeless youth who are at risk of human trafficking. The Committee encourages the CDC to work with human trafficking service providers to develop the most effective questions for the survey.
Summary of Program
The CDC developed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) in 1990 to monitor priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults, including—
- Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence;
- Sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection;
- Alcohol and other drug use;
- Tobacco use;
- Unhealthy dietary behaviors; and
- Inadequate physical activity.
RBSS includes the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), “a national school-based survey conducted by CDC and State, territorial, tribal, and local surveys conducted by state, territorial, and local education and health agencies and tribal governments.” (See Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System: Overview, http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/pdf/system_overview_yrbs.pdf.)
These surveys are conducted every two years among high school students throughout the United States and capture health risk behaviors related to violence, sexual behaviors, drug use, among other injuries. More than 13,000 U.S. high school students participated in the 2013 National YRBS. The 2013 report includes data from surveys conducted in 42 states and 21 large urban school districts.
Need
The YRBS specifically targets youth in grades 9-12 enrolled in high school and was developed by the CDC to assess categories of health risk behaviors among youth. Additional mandatory questions on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) would capture more data about the number of children and youth who are still attending school and experiencing homelessness and human trafficking every year.
Even though there is limited space to add additional questions to the survey, ATEST believes streamlined questions could be included to capture youth homelessness and trafficking. Based on service provider experience in the field, ATEST proposes questions that were crafted to be simple, straightforward, and encompass information that we believe is best for data collection.
Solution
ATEST is requesting that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services be required to add questions about housing status and human trafficking to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in an effort to identify homeless youth who are at risk of human trafficking, including sex and labor trafficking.
For example, the CDC could include questions, such as the following: During this school year, did you live away from your parents because you were kicked out, ran away, were abandoned? Where do you typically sleep at night? Did you ever work or do an illegal act, and someone else received money for your work/act? How many days/months did you do this? What type of work/illegal act did you have to do? Have you ever received money, a place to stay, food or something else of value in exchange for sex? What age did you first start having sex for money or in exchange for help/support? Did another person take money or benefit from you having sex in exchange for money/something of value?
Proposed Report Language
The Committee recommends the Center for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey be expanded by including questions to identify homeless youth who are at risk of human trafficking. The Committee encourages the CDC to work with human trafficking service providers to develop the most effective questions for the survey.