The purpose of this thesis was to present a policy analysis of Child Welfare Services Senate Bill 794 of 2015. This policy analysis presented a historical overview of the development of child welfare services, prostitution, and previous legislative efforts to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). A systems approach was used to present common risk factors associated with commercial sexual exploitation. Specifically, this analysis examined the objectives and impact SB 794 had on child welfare involved CSEC. The analysis was conducted by way of David Gil’s (1992) analytic framework.

This analysis found that legislative efforts continue to move towards complete decriminalization of CSEC. Senate Bill 794 aimed to create a tracking protocol that would be used for data collection purposes as well as documenting effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of service delivery. The analysis also suggests that SB 794 was drafted in compliance with federal HR 4980 and only met the minimum compliance requirements. As such, SB 794 did not address the issue with prior law, SB 855, which created optional funding to create a multidisciplinary team and program to serve CSEC. To conclude, recommendations for social work practice, policy, and research are discussed.