Identifying Youth at Risk for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in a Foster Care Clinic

Abstract

Background: Youth in foster care are at increased risk for the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), however most do not identify themselves as exploited. Mandates in New York State require child welfare workers to screen and classify all foster care youth for CSEC based on specific indicator tools. Despite being co-located with agency social workers, our medical providers may be unaware of a youth’s CSEC risk classification because the database is not integrated with our electronic medical record and cross disciplinary communication may fail to make all team members aware of this risk …