specialized services Archives - Page 3 of 4

June 23, 2017 by Susanna Bean

Tanya’s Story at Mission 21

Mission 21 shares the story of Tanya, one of the survivors they served during the organization’s time in the Shared Hope Partners Program. Read Monday and Wednesday’s post to catch up on the rest of the Mission 21 story as they graduate from our Partners Program!

The whole day was spent shopping for new clothing for Tanya age 13. After being referred to our specialized foster care program immediately after her court appearance, she arrived at her host home in sweat pants and a hoodie and a pair of jeans stuffed in a Walmart bag. Tanya was upset. She was sure that the judge would let her go home that day. After all, her social worker said that all she needed to do was stay put for 35 days and she did. Why was everything not like they told her it would be?

“I’m not going to school. I don’t like it. Besides, I’m not going to be here for very long.” Tanya said matter of factly. “If I’m not out of here in 3 weeks, I’ll run. I’ll find a way.”

Her tough attitude didn’t hide the fact that she was very scared however. Nothing made sense.

“Well, how about we take this one day at a time and go get you some new clothes tomorrow? Would you like that?”

[easy-tweet tweet=”At Mission 21, we meet girls and families where they are at.” user=”SharedHope”]

At Mission 21, we meet girls and families where they are at. In Tanya’s case, we were able to see that she had some immediate tangible needs that we could assist her with in order to get her feeling comfortable and cared for. The following day, we bonded over outfit selections, make up and funky colored socks. All the while, as we drove from place to place, talking about life and expectations on both ends. After a quick bite to eat, she joyful skipped to the car saying, “I can’t wait to go to school!”

Surprised to hear the sudden change of heart I had to ask, “What? I thought you didn’t want to go to school? What changed?”

“To be honest, I didn’t have clothes before and the other kids would bully me so I didn’t go. But now… I’m gonna look really cute!”

As a community resource for youth survivors and their families we were pretty happy to be able to meet this seemingly small need for this kid. But something as simple as donated clothes from our partners at the Salvation Army and some new essentials bought with the support of our donors, we were able to see a complete change in attitude towards her giving school a shot again. Like Tanya, most of our youth participants experience poverty which makes them very vulnerable to being sexually exploited. Although providing some of these physical needs did not address all of her needs it was a great start. Providing her with a safe place and getting her back to school is just the beginning of a long road to healing. Like with Tanya and the rest of the girls referred to our program, we are in it for the long run and we thank you all for backing us up.

June 19, 2017 by Susanna Bean

Catapulted to Success through Partnership

Every year Shared Hope works in partnership with domestic and international partners, giving them grants to fund their direct service work with survivors and offer them technical support. This year we are graduating 3 organizations from our grant program and want to share with you their journeys!

This week we are interviewing Stephanie Holt, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Mission 21! Watch for posts Wednesday and Friday featuring the rest of the Mission 21 story!

A note from Mission 21:

To our grant partners, Shared Hope International, you have invested and entrusted us to manage your gifts well, you have challenged us to always be better, to dream bigger and to do the most good. For that, we are forever grateful. Thank you.

Tell us a little about yourself and why you founded your organization.

In 2010, my husband Matt and I founded Mission 21 as a respond to a lack of services to youth in our state who were sexually exploited. It all started after we attended a human trafficking awareness class in Cedar Rapids, IA. During an 8 hour day of eye opening information and stories we left changed people. Coming home from that class, we wondered what we could possibly do to make any kind of difference. The least we could do was talk to our friends and family about what we had learned, and like many people, we thought that we could give financially to an existing program already doing good work. To our surprise there were no services for kids in our state under 16.

With the average age of entry into the sex trade being 12-13 years old this was unacceptable. We never thought that God’s plan was to use us to fill in that gap. I can’t say that I immediately jumped at the opportunity to say “yes” to God when he first called us to this work. But when I finally did say “yes”, I dove in deep and the fruit of that obedience and willingness is evident in the success of Mission 21 to this day.

Where were you/your organization when the grant began vs. where you are now?

Four years ago, 2013, was a pivotal moment for Mission 21. After three years of establishing ourselves in the city of Rochester, MN we had gained much momentum and a consistent presence within our community. It was this year that our formal partnership with Shared Hope International began. Shared Hope International invested $40,000 the first year of funding with Mission 21 in an idea – that specialized foster care for sexually exploited youth was something that was absolutely needed, not only in the state of Minnesota, but nationwide. Four years and $125,000 later, Mission 21 was catapulted to the forefront of a national change in the way states respond to youth in placement.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Mission 21 was catapulted to success, made possible through partnership with @SharedHope”]

Our pilot program with private and public foster care agencies contributed to a state wide Governor’s workgroup conversation charged with changing the way that social services responds for youth in care. Mission 21’s vision for specialized foster care went from a call to action, and many denying that any changes needed to happen, to a powerful voice at a table of policy and change makers. In 2017, foster care for sexually exploited youth will see a complete statewide change backed by our Governor’s office. All of it was made possible by this partnership.

Check back Wednesday and Friday for the rest of their story!

November 17, 2016 by Susanna Bean

National Foundation of Women Legislators Passes Resolution on Child Sex Trafficking

Today at the annual conference for the National Foundation of Women Legislators the members passed an important resolution on child sex trafficking. Shared Hope International has worked with NFWL to craft a resolution that addresses the key issues currently confronting legislators responding to child sex trafficking victims.

You can read the whole resolution below.

Resolution regarding the critical importance of improving protections for child sex trafficking victims.

WHEREAS child sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery that exploits some of the most vulnerable members of society;

WHEREAS online exploitation has exponentially expanded the market for child victims who are bought and sold through online classified websites and other online venues developed around the commercial sex market;

WHEREAS child sex trafficking victims suffer serious trauma resulting from commercial sexual exploitation, regardless of whether they have an identified trafficker;

WHEREAS buyers of sex with children are central perpetrators in the crime of sex trafficking and failure to address the conduct of buyers as a crime of sex trafficking creates barriers to critical protections, services and resources for child victims;

WHEREAS children, who cannot consent to engage in commercial sex, must not be criminalized for commercial sexual conduct that is inherent to their victimization;

WHEREAS children who are exploited through commercial sex are victims of sex trafficking in need of specialized, trauma-informed services in lieu of being arrested and detained for their own victimization; and

WHEREAS strong state laws are critical to preventing children from becoming victims of sex trafficking and for protecting those children who have been exploited; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that members of the National Foundation of Women Legislators—

(1) strongly condemn the crime of child sex trafficking;

(2) recognize the need for states to develop mandatory response laws on behalf of child sex trafficking victims that ensure access to services and resources for recovery;

(3) call on every state to set a clear goal and plan for eliminating criminalization of minors for commercial sexual conduct and other conduct that is a result of their trafficking victimization; and

(4) urge every state to statutorily recognize all commercially sexually exploited children as child sex trafficking victims and align the state sex trafficking law with the reality that children are exploited by both traffickers and buyers by ensuring both types of offenders are acknowledged as perpetrators under the state’s core sex trafficking law.

August 10, 2016 by Guest

The Role of Child Advocacy Centers in Sex Trafficking Cases

By Iona Rudisill, Baltimore Child Abuse Center

I became a nurse because when I was ten years old I went to a doctor who missed the signs, and that was my last chance at telling someone about what was going on in my life. My last thought was, ‘Maybe somebody could rescue me. Maybe I could have a different life.’ When that guy missed the signs, it devastated me…I just decided what would have made a difference for me—and that was the medical professionals.
–Jen Spry, RN and survivor of human trafficking

The sex trafficking of juveniles is now recognized as a critical public health concern. The burden of identifying, referring and treating victims requires multidisciplinary education for health care providers and a coordinated community response, one that Child Advocacy Centers nationwide are prepared to provide. In 1987, Baltimore Child Abuse Center (BCAC) was the first Child Advocacy Center (CAC) developed in the State of Maryland, and for decades BCAC has been providing a resource to the community with a comprehensive approach for youth who have personally experienced sexual trauma and witnessed various forms of violence. BCAC is an accredited Child Advocacy Center that understands when providing services to youth who have been trafficked or are highly vulnerable to being trafficked, a holistic response (i.e. forensic interviews, treatment, advocacy, healthcare) is needed – from prevention to aftercare for youth and their families. Given their background and experience in trauma-focused and multidisciplinary approaches, CACs can provide an excellent healthcare response for DMST cases. BCAC as well as some other CACs have board-certified forensic pediatricians as part of their multidisciplinary team. This forensic pediatrician collaborates with medical and non-medical colleagues regarding multiple public health care needs such as malnutrition, tattoo removal, forced pregnancies, substance abuse, mental health diagnosis, visionary problems, dental care and burns. These healthcare risks can leave a permanent scar on the life of a youth, if mishandled or overlooked. Therefore, Child Advocacy Centers are an essential component in providing a necessary healthcare response in the best interest of the youth by performing such medical procedures as non-acute forensic examinations and testing for STIs, as well as healthcare education and necessary referrals.

Collection of forensic evidence in acute cases (sexual violations occurring within 72 hours) may be challenging in the CAC setting due to the extensive time involved in conducting these evaluations and the need for physicians who are comfortable with and experienced in doing these exams. Even if CACs do not have the personnel, space or time to complete these acute examinations, being able to refer to another healthcare provider is a necessity. BCAC has addressed this through an active partnership with Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD that is equipped to provide Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations (SAFE) for acute sexual abuse and assault cases, which would include DMST. Therefore, Law Enforcement and Child Protective Services investigators could transport a child who has received a forensic interview to Mercy for a forensic examination, which would provide the space, equipment and personnel to collect necessary evidence for their investigations.

The healthcare response in a CAC helps to provide consistency for a youth who has experienced DMST because they won’t have to travel to different places or be interviewed by different professionals, who all want to provide the necessary care for them. Therefore, ensuring that CACs have the critical resources and healthcare providers on staff who have knowledge about the multiple dynamics involved in these case investigations is essential. Overall, it is vital that health professionals of all branches receive the training and education needed to address the complexities of human trafficking.

In response to this need, Shared Hope International recently released i:CARE, a guide for health care providers to recognize and care for victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Resources like this one are so important in advancing the knowledge needed to improve the responses to juvenile sex trafficking. If the doctor who missed the signs in Jen Spry, the survivor quoted above, had been trained, and had the support of other trained professionals in the medical community, she might have been saved from further abuse and might have received the specialized treatment victims of child sex trafficking require.

i:CARE was written in collaboration with physicians, psychologists, nurses, professors, experts and survivors of trafficking, and is accompanied by four short training videos. Visit the Shared Hope Store online to purchase your copy of i:CARE today.

July 27, 2015 by SHI Staff

2015 Trafficking in Persons Report Released | How America Measures Up on Key Issues

243557 27 Today, the U.S. Department of State released the 15^th annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. This report collects information from U.S. embassies, government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, published reports, news articles, studies and research to evaluate each country’s action to combat trafficking through the three P’s: Prevention, Prosecution, and Protection.

The Department places each country onto one of four tiers, as mandated by the TVPA:

TIER 1 – Countries that fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
TIER 2 – Countries that do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to do so.
TIER 2 WATCH LIST – Countries that do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to do so, though trafficking is increasing and there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking from the previous year.
TIER 3 – Countries that do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

Since the United States was first included in the TIP Report evaluation in 2010, the country has received a Tier 1 ranking.

Below is a summary of how the U.S. measures up on key issues. For a full report, read the Trafficking in Persons report. All excerpts taken directly from the 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report.

STATE LAWS

In addition to federal laws, state laws form the basis of the majority of criminal actions, making adoption of state anti-trafficking laws key to institutionalizing concepts of compelled service for rank-and-file local police officers. A 2014 NGO report found improvement in states’ anti-trafficking laws in recent years, but noted that funding to ensure the implementation of these new laws was a challenge. The report also found there is still a need for state laws that comprehensively assist and protect victims of human trafficking.

See the Protected Innocence Challenge state report cards.

VICTIMS SERVICES

The United States improved its delivery of a victim-centered, multidisciplinary response to victim identification and services, certified a significantly higher number of trafficking victims, provided services to more victims, and increased funding for these services. The federal government has formal procedures to guide officials in victim identification and referral to service providers; funds several federal tip lines, including an NGO-operated national hotline and referral service; and funds NGOs that provide trafficking-specific victim services.

“And if there is a single theme that connects the diverse work of these heroes, it is the conviction that there is nothing inevitable about trafficking in human beings. It’s a choice.” Secretary of State John Kerry

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided comprehensive case management for foreign national and domestic trafficking victims and funded capacity-building grants for child welfare systems to respond to trafficking. DOJ provided comprehensive and specialized services for both domestic and foreign national trafficking victims. Federal funding for victim assistance generally increased in FY 2014.

Although federal, state, and local grant programs existed for vulnerable children and at-risk youth, child trafficking victims, especially boys and transgender youth, faced difficulties obtaining needed services. During the reporting period, HHS maintained level funding to train service providers for runaway and homeless youth and continued to provide formal guidance to states and service providers on addressing child trafficking, particularly as it intersects with the child welfare system and runaway and homeless youth programs. An NGO noted reports of gang-controlled child sex trafficking and of the growing use of social media by traffickers to recruit and control victims.

Some trafficking victims, including those under the age of 18 years, were detained or prosecuted by state or local officials for criminal activity related to their being subjected to trafficking, notwithstanding “safe harbor” laws in some states or the federal policy that victims should not be penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking. Therefore, the U.S. should encourage the adoption of victim-centered policies at the state and local levels that ensure victims, including children, are not punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking; support appropriate housing for child trafficking victims that ensures their physical and mental health and safety; increase screening to identify trafficked persons among at-risk youth, detained individuals, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations.

Learn about Shared Hope’s efforts to strengthen the intersection between statutes, systems and services through the JuST Response.

TRAINING AND AWARENESS

The U.S. government continued efforts to train officials and enhanced its efforts to share information. For example, DOJ developed an online e-guide to provide guidance for effective taskforce operations and engaged in extensive capacity building for law enforcement, military personnel, social service providers, labor inspectors, pro bono attorneys, and others. DHS updated a web-based training course and produced training videos for law enforcement.

The government also continued to conduct a number of awareness activities for its personnel, including general awareness trainings, trainings specific to law enforcement and acquisition professionals, and increased efforts to train staff in field offices. NGOs noted prevention efforts should better emphasize victims’ rights and protections under federal law and should seek survivor input to better reach potential victims.

Don’t miss the 2015 JuST Conference, the nation’s premiere conference on juvenile sex trafficking, on November 11-13 in Washington, D.C.!

PROSECUTION

DOJ prosecutes human trafficking cases through the 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices (USAOs) and the two specialized units that serve as DOJ’s nationwide subject-matter experts. Taken together, DOJ initiated a total of 208 federal human trafficking prosecutions in FY 2014, charging 335 defendants. Of these prosecutions, 190 involved predominantly sex trafficking and 18 involved predominantly labor trafficking, although some involved both. These figures represent an increase from FY 2013, during which DOJ brought 161 prosecutions charging 253 defendants. During FY 2014, DOJ secured convictions against 184 traffickers, compared with 174 convictions obtained in FY 2013. Of these, 157 involved predominantly sex trafficking and 27 involved predominantly labor trafficking, although several involved both. These totals do not include child sex trafficking cases brought under non-trafficking statutes. Penalties imposed on convicted traffickers ranged from five years to life imprisonment. For the first time, the government used an extraterritorial jurisdiction provision of the law to convict a trafficker for sex trafficking that took place in another country.

DEMAND

The U.S. government undertook efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex and forced labor in the reporting period. DHS worked with city and state partners to raise awareness of trafficking in advance of the 2015 Super Bowl.

Visit DemandingJustice.org to learn about demand activity in your state.