The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) unifying their efforts to combat child-labor exploitation.
The MOA formalizes the partnership between the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and HHS's Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to address the issue, the release reports, and describes procedures "to deepen information-sharing, coordination, training and education," the release states.
“Our partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services will help us continue to combat illegal child labor and protect the most vulnerable,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said in the DOL's March 24 news release.
“Our economy cannot – and will not – rely on the illegal hiring of vulnerable children," Nanda said in the release. "We will work across the federal government and with local and state partners to fight child labor exploitation.”
The MOA outlines procedures to maximize the enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor protections, the release reports. The MOA includes unprecedented steps for greater collaboration between the two agencies, which will help identify geographies and employers where children are likely to be exploited.
The MOA allows victims or potential victims of child-labor trafficking to have access to critical services, the news release reports. Through the agreement, the WHD and ACF will collaborate to create clear, easily accessible training materials on relevant programs and partners available to children, sponsors and other stakeholders, according to the release. These efforts will help unaccompanied children and their sponsors learn about child labor laws and their rights in the United States, the release states. The departments have announced other steps in addition to those outlined in the MOA to further improve their efforts to mitigate child labor.
The DOL reports a 69% increase in children employed in violation of child labor laws since 2018, with more than 600 child labor cases currently under investigation, the news release states. The agency is responsible for holding employers accountable for systemic abuses of child labor, and has launched a strategic enforcement initiative targeting child labor. HHS is expanding post-release services for children and sponsors after children have left HHS care.
“Child labor exploitation can disrupt a youth’s health, safety, education and overall well-being, which are unacceptable consequences for any child,” January Contreras, assistant ACF Secretary, said in the news release.
“This partnership with the Department of Labor provides further opportunity to carry out our mission of protecting the well-being of children by arming ourselves and our partners – inside and outside of government – with the information and tools needed to help us all be a part of preventing and responding to child labor exploitation,” Contreras said.
