ANTI-TRAFFICKING NEWS
Announcing the awardees from OVC’s Services for Domestic Minor Victims of Human Trafficking Grant Program
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) announced that three demonstration sites have been selected for funding under their recent FY 2009 Services to Domestic Minor Victims of Human Trafficking Grant Program solicitation.
Beginning December 1, 2009, Safe Horizon, Inc., Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE), Inc., and the Salvation Army Chicago Metropolitan Division will initiate the implementation of OVC’s Services for Domestic Minor Victims of Human Trafficking Grant Program. These awarded demonstration sites will support OVC, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), other federal agencies, and experts in the human trafficking field in identifying promising practices in the delivery of a wide array of services to domestic minors who have been subjected to sex or labor trafficking as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000.
Through a competitive selection process, OVC awarded three cooperative agreements, each for $800,000, for a period of 3 years. Each of the successful applicants demonstrated an understanding of sex and labor trafficking; documented how comprehensive services will be provided to both male and female victims of sex and labor trafficking; and documented how they will work collaboratively with juvenile justice system professionals, child welfare service providers, and other youth-serving organizations to ensure that a comprehensive array of services are provided to victims—regardless of where the victims are placed.
Under this program, Safe Horizon, SAGE, and the Salvation Army Chicago Metropolitan Division will provide services to victims of sex and labor trafficking who are under the age of 18 and are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; develop, enhance, or expand the community response to domestic minor victims of all forms of human trafficking; and produce a final report about the implementation of the project that may be disseminated through OVC to the victim services field.
In order to provide objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to help victim services agencies and law enforcement make informed decisions about service delivery to minors who have been subjected to sex or labor trafficking as defined by the TVPA, OVC has also entered into an interagency agreement with NIJ to conduct a participatory process evaluation of the three OVC-funded demonstration sites over a 3-year period.
Beginning January 1, 2010, the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) will begin conducting activities under NIJ’s FY 2009 Evaluation of OVC Services to Domestic Minor Victims of Human Trafficking Grant Program in conjunction with the three selected OVC demonstration sites. The goals of the project are to evaluate services to domestic minor victims of human trafficking in three ways: (1) to document components of program implementation in OVC programs; (2) to identify promising practices for service delivery programs; and (3) to inform delivery of current and future efforts by youth-serving agencies, law enforcement, and others.
Should you have any questions about this initiative, please contact Mary Atlas-Terry, OVC Victim Justice Program Specialist, at 202-353-8473, or via e-mail at Mary.Atlas-Terry@usdoj.gov, or Kathleen Gless, OVC Victim Justice Program Specialist, at 202-307-6049, or via e-mail at Kathleen.Gless@usdoj.gov.
The Salvation Army PROMISE (Partnership to Rescue Our Minors from
Sexual Exploitation) hosted an international conference at Camp Lake,
Wisconsin on October 14-16, 2009 for partners from Stop the Traffik.
Representatives from nine countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium,
England, India, Kyrgyzstan, the Netherlands and the United States) were
present at Camp Wonderland to discuss and further develop current and
future projects intended to combat human trafficking on a global scale.
Some of the conference highlights included the launch of START FREEDOM,
a project in schools which encourages youth ages 12-18 to become social
advocates against human trafficking; a campaign to promote the
production and consumption of fair trade chocolate; and ACT (Active
Communities Against Trafficking),a grassroots effort intended for
community members to report suspected trafficking in their
neighborhoods. Stop the Traffik and its partners also agreed to focus
on initiatives for business travelers, the financial sector, girls
education and victim care.
Rohida Khan, Director of The Salvation Army Western Territory's Network for Emergency Trafficking Services, received the Esperanza Service Provider of the Year Award for her tireless efforts on behalf of highly traumatized and vulnerable trafficking survivors.
L to R: Major Ed Forster, Editor-in-Chief, The War Cry; Lisa Thompson, Liaison for the Abolition of Sexual Trafficking; Penny Matheson, Admin Specialist; Major Betty Israel, Nat'l Social Services Secretary; Rohida Khan, NETS Director & Trafficking Victim Services Coordinator; Major Joan Canning, Asst Chief Secretary; Major Florence Forster, Special Services & Circulation Manager, The War Cry .
In November 2008, The National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Exploitation, a
coalition of more than thirty partnering experts and organizations
including The Salvation Army, released "The National Plan to Prevent
the Sexual Exploitation of Children."
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