New Human Trafficking Educational Requirements For Michigan Health Care Professionals

Posted by Donna Craig in Mar, 2017

  The prevalence of human trafficking has reached alarming levels in the United States. In an effort to address this widespread crisis, individuals licensed or registered by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (nurses, professional counselors, physicians, social workers, massage therapists, etc.) have a new continuing educational requirement which must be met when seeking initial or renewal of an individual’s licensure or registration.

In the next renewal licensure and registration cycle (e.g. nurses’ licensure cycle beginning on April 1, 2017, etc.), individuals must receive human trafficking training which covers the following areas:

• Understanding the types and venues of human trafficking in Michigan or the United States;
• Identifying victims of human trafficking in health care settings;
• Identifying the warning signs of human trafficking in health care settings for adults and minors; and
• Identifying resources for reporting the suspected victims of human trafficking.

Training may be accomplished through any of the following methods:

• Nationally recognized or state recognized health related organization;
• Training offered by, or in conjunction with, a state or federal agency;
• Educational programs approved by the board for initial licensure, or by a college or university; or
• Reading an article related to the identification of victims of human trafficking that is published in a peer review journal, health care journal, or professional or scientific journal.

Approved training modalities include any of the following:

• Teleconference or webinar;
• Online presentation;
• Live presentation; or
• Printed or electronic media.

As with other continuing educational requirements the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs may randomly audit individuals and request documented proof of the completion of human trafficking training. If audited the individual must provide acceptable proof of training, which includes either:

• A completion certificate issued by the training provider that includes the date, provider name, name of training, and individual’s name.; or
• A self-certification statement by an individual that includes the individual’s name and either:
  • For training completed by a live presentation, online presentation, teleconference, or webinar, the self-certification must include the date, training provider name, and name of training; or
  • For training completed by print or electronic media, the self-certification must include the title of article, author, publication name of peer review journal, health care journal, or professional or scientific journal, and date, volume, and issue of publication, as applicable.

The human trafficking educational requirement applies to all license and registration renewals beginning with the first renewal cycle after this new rule became effective and for initial licenses and registrations issued five (5) or more years after the effective date of applicable rule. All individuals licensed or registered by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs should contact their applicable boards to determine the enforcement date and answer any questions.