Louisiana task force launches statewide plan to standardize hospital response to trafficking

State Rep. Kelly Hennessy Dickerson convened the first meeting of the Human Trafficking and Emergency Departments Task Force on May 15 to begin drafting a statewide human-trafficking protocol for hospitals and emergency departments.

Mary Kate Androponte, director of the Office of Human Trafficking Prevention, told members the task force was created by Act 267 of the 2025 legislative session and tasked the group with producing a written protocol that could be adapted into regional sexual-assault response plans and overseen by the Louisiana Department of Health. "We want these protocols to be trauma informed and survivor centered," Androponte said, urging multidisciplinary collaboration among medical staff, advocates and law enforcement.

Androponte presented results from a survey of about 55 hospital and health-system partners. She reported that 56% of respondents said their hospitals do not mandate training on human trafficking, 67% said their facility lacks a screening practice specific to trafficking, and 80% said their agency lacked written human-trafficking protocols. She also said only 40% of respondents felt confident in their ability to identify trafficking victims in a health-care setting.

The director outlined screening tools and frameworks the office recommends for adoption, including the PAIR interview framework, rapid appraisal tools tailored for adult emergency settings, the QUIT youth indicator tool, and the Office of Human Trafficking Prevention's Louisiana Child and Youth Trafficking Identification Tools. Androponte said the office has partnered with HEAL Trafficking, a national organization, to help draft a protocol that is transferable across regions.

Members prioritized four pillars for the draft protocol: education and mandatory training, standardized screening and identification, written protocols and workflows, and clear care-and-referral pathways so clinicians know "what to do next" when they identify a possible victim.

Legislators and law enforcement on the panel emphasized phased, scalable implementation tied to available resources. Chief Tommy Clark urged beginning with hospitals and expanding outward, saying "you cut it and cut it by pieces" to fit differing departmental priorities. Several members pressed for education to be embedded in medical and nursing curricula as well as hospital in-service training for nonclinical staff.

The office plans to produce a draft protocol based on today's feedback for members to review before the next meeting; the group expects to produce a final draft after a second meeting. The chair said the next meeting is tentatively planned for early August.