This committee is charged with reviewing strategies to collect statewide data to enable policymakers and law enforcement to assess progress in their efforts to tackle this growing problem.
This committee is charged with identifying and applying for potential grants and other forms of funding.
This committee is charged with reviewing Michigan’s human trafficking laws and policies to determine whether new legislation or policy changes are required.
This committee is charged with developing strategies to raise public awareness of human trafficking.
This committee is charged with reviewing existing training efforts for professionals and determining how those efforts can be enhanced and expanded. These professionals include various groups who may encounter human trafficking such as: law enforcement, health care providers, social-service providers, hospitality providers, and those in code enforcement and regulatory agencies.
This committee is charged with reviewing the needs of human trafficking survivors to determine how those needs can be met at the local and state levels.
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Meeting of the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission
January 23rd, 2025
Williams Building, Lansing, MI
Called to Order:
Chairwoman, Melissa Palepu, called meeting to order at 12:00PM.
Agenda Items:
Call to order and Welcome. Chairwoman Melissa Palepu welcomed Commission members and the public.
Roll Call. Chairwoman Melissa Palepu took roll call of the Commission Members.
Members Present:
Not in attendance:
Agenda Item:
Action Item: Approval of the Minutes from Wednesday July 31, 2024, and November 13, 2024: The minutes for the July 31, 2024, and November 13, 2024, meetings were approved.
Agenda Item:
Report of the Commission Chair: Chairwoman Melissa Palepu welcomed 2 new Board members, Dr. Jennifer Shih and Kimberly Hurst. Dr. Shih is a family physician at Trinity Health and Kimberly Hurst is the founder and executive director of the Avalon Healing Center.
Chairwoman Palepu also discussed the failure of the passage of the House Bills in 2024 but discussed potential work with the Legislature and that she was still gauging interest in passing some additional legislation.
Additionally, Palepu discussed an upcoming roundtable the Attorney General was holding on January 24, 2024.
The Michigan Association of Broadcasters Student Broadcasters Sponsorship was a success with 2 college entries at about 16 high school entries. The awards banquet is in March. There was a request to get the videos so the Board could watch.
The report to the Governor and Legislature is due and Chairwoman Palepu will distribute to the Board for approval.
Old Business: The meeting minutes from July 31, 2024, were approved.
New Business:
Committee Chairs provided their updates to the Board. There was no update from the Funding and Resources Committee, the Data Collection and Research Committee, the Training and Education Committee or the Policy and Legislation Committee. Tiffany Martinez spoke on behalf of the Public Awareness Committee, stating they met the prior week and discussed creating a brand kit and they would like to keep the old Commission logo. Katie Papke spoke on behalf of the Victim Services Committee and stated they have accomplished their tasks and are look for additional tasks.
Melissa Palepu brought up the idea of having a Michigan Human Trafficking Commission Mixer either in the Spring or Fall and stated there would be a Committee for organizing.
Melissa Palepu opened the floor for individuals to provide to the group any events or opportunities that were coming up. Several individuals provided information for events.
Public Comment: Melissa Palepu opened the floor for public comment.
Announcement of next meeting: The next meeting will be March 10, 2025, both in person at the Williams Building in Lansing and via Teams.
Adjournment: Melissa Palepu adjourned the meeting.