Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking Training

male receptionist at hotel lobby desk looking at computer

FAST FACTS – Where is the training?

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) Human Trafficking Awareness for Hotels online training is now available for hotel employees.

The new online learning management system (LMS), Benchmark Analytics provides innovative ways for DCJS to share important information, training, and resources across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Benchmark Analytics is a singular consolidated platform for users to register for conferences, in-person and virtual trainings, view on-demand webinars, and more. Each user will be able to search for available trainings and maintain their own training histories and certifications to view as needed.

To create your new account, please visit https://training.benchmarkonline.app/dcjs and click on “Log In” on the left. Then click “Create an account” and enter the required information. You must use your individual work email address. If you do not have your own professional email address, a personal email address may be used.

Click here to view a step-by-step guide to log in for the first time.

Be Advised: This course must be taken by individual employees and not presented in a group setting.

Courses can be accessed on desktop computers, smartphones, or tablets. Please check back often for new content.

For technical assistance or a brief overview of Benchmark LMS functionality, please refer to this user guide. Review the User Guides to register an account and access your transcript. For technical issues, contact Blane Sawyer at blane.sawyer@dcjs.virginia.gov.

DCJS has and will continue to approve existing training resources. CLICK HERE for the Approved Curriculum Directory from DCJS (scroll to the bottom of the page to access the link to the directory). This is a pdf list with all of the approved existing training courses and the website links (if available).

Other free existing courses on identifying and reporting human trafficking through existing groups include:

Note – Language barrier? EPACT is approved for use in 17 different languages.

The ECPAT course is approved by DCJS and identified on the Approved Curriculum Directory. If a language barrier is prohibiting compliance, a facility operator can look into using the ECPAT courses at https://courses.wearepact.org/recognize-the-signs.

Historical Summary

House Bill 258 (Hotels; human trafficking training), as adopted by Chapter 751, is an act that directs the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), under the direction of the Criminal Justice Services Board, to develop an online course to train hotel proprietors and their employees, as defined in § 35.1-15.1 of the Code of Virginia, to recognize and report instances of suspected human trafficking. The act provides that such online course shall be provided at no cost to the hotel proprietors and their employees. The act requires that every hotel proprietor require its employees to complete such human trafficking training course developed by the Department or an alternative online or in-person training course approved by the Department within six months of being employed by a hotel and thereafter at least once every two years, for as long as the employee is employed by the hotel. The act has an effective date of January 1, 2023; VDH will begin enforcing these requirements starting July 1, 2023.

Overnight lodging facilities permitted by VDH

VDH regulates overnight lodging facilities (hotels, motels, inn’s, bed-and-breakfasts) through Title 35.1. Hotels, Restaurants, Summer Camps, and Campgrounds. The new section, § 35.1-15.1, will require training of hotel employees, as defined in the chapter, and this training will be regulated by VDH through Chapter 431. Sanitary Regulations for Hotels.

Where can I find the training?

To access the course and create an account, please visit https://training.benchmarkonline.app/dcjs and click on “Log In” on the left. Then click “Create an account” and enter the required information. You must use your individual work email address. If you do not have your own professional email address, a personal email address may be used. Click here to view a step-by-step guide to log in for the first time. For technical assistance or a brief overview of Benchmark LMS functionality, please refer to this user guide. Review the User Guide to register an account and access your transcript. For technical issues, contact Blane Sawyer at blane.sawyer@dcjs.virginia.gov.

Be Advised: This course must be taken by individual employees and not presented in a group setting. Courses can be accessed on desktop computers, smartphones, or tablets. Please check back often for new content.

DCJS has and will continue to approve existing training resources. CLICK HERE for the Approved Curriculum Directory from DCJS (scroll to the bottom of the page to access the link to the directory). This is a pdf list with all of the approved existing training courses and the website links (if available). Do you have an existing training course that you would like approved by DCJS? If so, visit the DCJS Human Trafficking Training Requirements for Hotels webpage for more information.

Other free existing courses on identifying and reporting human trafficking through existing groups include:

My staff and I are trained, now what?

Hotel operators will need to provide documentation that the appropriate employees have been trained through an approved training course or curriculum. It will be necessary to provide a list of applicable employees, their employment start date, when they completed the training, and documentation supporting the training completion (certificates, transcripts, etc.). VDH will begin enforcing these requirements starting July 1, 2023 and will be part of the normal routine inspection.

Starting after July 1, 2023, your local VDH health inspector will ask for this information at the next routine inspection. You do not need to forward training documentation to your local health department at this time. 

Additional Resources

For more information on human trafficking, visit:

Anonymous Human Trafficking Tip Hotline

The Virginia State Police’s (VSP) tip hotline is an anonymous tool to report human trafficking. This resources allows the public to submit tips to the VSP’s Human Trafficking Investigative Unit.

VSP encourages witnesses of victims of human trafficking to Text 847411, then type VSP followed by the tip or make a web tip online.

Read the VSP Media Release HERE.