Youth experiencing homelessness are at-risk of human trafficking with one in five youth being trafficked for sex, labor, or both while homeless. NN4Y strongly encourages all youth service provider staff to be trained in identifying and preventing human trafficking. To further this priority, NN4Y partnered with the McCain Institute and Arizona State University to develop two online certificate courses for youth service providers. Learn more about these courses (NN4Y members get a discount!).
Earlier this month, our Executive Director, Darla Bardine, was proud to attend Health and Human Services’ (HHS) National Human Trafficking Prevention Summit! The Washington, DC Summit focused on multi-sector collaboration, centering survivors as experts, and sharing new perspectives to prevent human trafficking in communities across the United States. Plenary sessions and a select number of workshops were recorded and these sessions are now available for you to view.
This Summit built on the draft federal National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework that HHS released earlier this summer. NN4Y submitted a comment on this draft framework. We strongly recommended that youth with lived experience should lead this work. NN4Y also encouraged HHS to expand the framework’s scope to prioritize eradicating youth homelessness and implementing early outreach and crisis intervention for youth who run away youth as key strategies to prevent trafficking among our nation’s young people.
Resources + Funding Opportunities
HHS launched an Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls worth up to $1.8 million to organizations with successful innovative and life-changing approaches to address human trafficking prevention among women and girls in the United States. “Human trafficking disproportionately impacts some of the most vulnerable and underserved members of our society,” said ADM Rachel L. Levine, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health. “This challenge is one example of a multi-pronged national effort to prevent and end this abhorrent practice that destroys lives.”
The Human Trafficking School Safety Protocol Toolkit features links to various resources and trainings on how to help students who experience disability, homelessness, poverty, and other risk factors for trafficking. It is a step-by-step guide to help schools (1) identify students that may be experiencing trafficking or may have an increased risk for trafficking, (2) ensure educators and other staff comply with mandatory reporting laws, (3) ensure the safety of students, educators, and other staff when reporting human trafficking and other forms of violence, and (4) help students connect to service providers and/or programs intended to reduce further exposure to violence and victimization.
The Human Trafficking Youth Prevention Education (HTYPE) Demonstration Program is the first federal initiative designed to support a school-based human trafficking response. The program funds partnerships between local educational agencies and nonprofits or nongovernmental organizations to build the capacity of schools to prevent human trafficking. The inaugural 2020-2023 HTYPE Demonstration Program is currently underway and includes eight projects. An evaluation report published in May 2023, summarizes efforts across HTYPE projects during Year 2 of project implementation.