C12.27 Human Trafficking Prevention and Support for Survivors

Legal Authority

Youth involved with the child welfare system are at increased risk for experiencing human trafficking.

Labor trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
Sex trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act when a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion. By law, children under the age of 18 who engage in a commercial sex act or exchange sex for anything of value, including food or a place to stay, are victims of sex trafficking.
Traffickers often target youth in out-of-home care (OOHC), as past trauma histories and lack of strong familial support may make them more susceptible to exploitation.
Traffickers may also target youth in residential settings, utilizing one youth with whom they have a relationship to “recruit” other youth. This makes it imperative to immediately screen youth following a runaway episode.

The SSW:

Ensures completion of the rapid screener for human trafficking following procedures in SOP C7.43 Survivors and Those at Risk of Human Trafficking;
Considers the results of screening when determining the youth’s needs that will impact placement or treatment services, as well as implications for transition planning;
Considers the need for a human trafficking prevention strategy for those determined to be at risk, in conjunction with case planning or transition planning, as described in SOP C7.43 Survivors and Those at Risk of Human Trafficking;
Consults with the human trafficking lead on the Child Protective Services or Out of Home Care Branches for additional support for youth transitioning from care or on extended commitment who may be at risk for human trafficking;
Follows procedures in SOP C12.28 Immigration and Legal Status Issues Impacting Transition Age Youth for immigrant youth who may be victims of human trafficking.

The Transitional Living Specialist (TLS):

Considers any history of trafficking and the results of the rapid screener for human trafficking for transition planning for youth aged seventeen (17) and older;
Considers the need for a human trafficking prevention strategy for those determined to be at risk, in conjunction with transition planning, as described in SOP C7.43 Survivors and Those at Risk of Human Trafficking.