Skip to Content
Healthy Schools
Home | Schools | Healthy Schools | Human Trafficking
Skip Navigation

Human Trafficking

During the 2025 Legislative Session, House Bill (HB) 1237 was passed and became law on July 1, 2025. This bill created Section (s.) 1006.481, Florida Statutes (F.S.), which requires the following:

  • The Department of Education shall identify a free training curriculum regarding human trafficking awareness, which must include all of the following:
    • The definition of human trafficking and the difference between sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
    • Guidance specific to the public education sector concerning how to identify students who may be victims of human trafficking.
    • Guidance concerning the role of employees of the public school system in reporting and responding to suspected human trafficking.
    • A protocol for reporting suspected human trafficking, which must require that suspicion of human trafficking of a child be reported to the Department of Children and Families or the Florida Human Trafficking Hotline at either entity’s designated telephone number.
  • The training curriculum may be conducted either in person or online.
  • Each public school shall require that all instructional personnel under s. 1012.01(2), F.S., administrative personnel under s. 1012.01(3)(c), F.S., and educational support personnel under s. 1012.01(6), F.S., who have contact with students must have received training on human trafficking awareness. Each employee must submit to the school an acknowledgment of having received the training, which must be retained by the school.

Training Materials

Pursuant to State Board of Education Rule 6A-1.094124, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), Required Instruction Planning and Reporting, school districts must annually provide instruction to students in grades K-12 related to child trafficking prevention and awareness. Using the health education standards adopted in Rule 6A-1.09401, F.A.C., Student Performance Standards, the instruction for child trafficking prevention will advance each year through developmentally appropriate instruction and skill building. Age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs and instruction to students in grades K-12 related to child trafficking prevention and awareness and must address, at a minimum, the following topics:

  1. Recognition of signs of human trafficking;
  2. Awareness of resources, including national, state and local resources;
  3. Prevention of the abuse of and addiction to alcohol, nicotine, and drugs;
  4. Information on the prevalence, nature, and strategies to reduce the risk of human trafficking, techniques to set healthy boundaries, and how to safely seek assistance; and
  5. Information on how social media and mobile device applications are used for human trafficking.

How to Report

Children and adults can be victims of human trafficking. “If you see something, say something.”

Subscribe to the Florida Department of Education

Get the latest information on news, events, and more