December 26th, 2023 by WCBC Radio

A new study recommends state agencies change their methods to address child labor trafficking. Researchers at the University of Maryland found that 20 percent of child welfare workers reported work with people under 18 who were coerced or controlled by another for labor. Trafficked children are typically forced to do things like domestic service, childcare, and retail work as well as criminal activity such as stealing or selling drugs. Study author Neil Mallon says finding hard data to estimate the scale of the problem is difficult.