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Dear Partners:
It’s been a busy couple of months between vetting all the human trafficking legislation this session and reviewing grant applications!
Stay tuned - we will have a full legislative update in late June and news about grants in September.
In the meantime, we wanted to send out this quick newsletter with a couple of funding and educational opportunities. We also wanted to remind you about Missing Children’s Day. And, as always, we are sharing some success stories from the work you all do!
CSTT Team
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25th as National Missing Children's Day in honor of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy who disappeared on May 25, 1979. Each year, the Department of Justice commemorates National Missing Children's Day by honoring the efforts of those who have made a difference in recovering missing children and protecting youth from exploitation. This year, a virtual commemoration website will honor awardees.
Missing children are at high risk for human trafficking, and we applaud our law enforcement partners who work tirelessly to recover exploited and missing children. The Interdiction for Protection of Children training program from the Texas Department of Public Safety has led to hundreds of children being rescued as well as offenders being arrested. For information and resources related to missing children and their families, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Closing Date: June 29, 2021
This program’s purpose is to develop, expand, or strengthen a multidisciplinary approach to fight human trafficking. This solicitation requires two separate but coordinated applications; one application from an eligible lead law enforcement agency, and one from an eligible lead victim service organization. A pre-application webinar reviewing solicitation requirements took place on May 18 and a recording will be made available on the OVC website.
Closing Date: June 29, 2021
OVC is seeking applications for states or tribes to develop, enhance, and coordinate programs and activities geared toward improving outcomes for child and youth victims of sex and labor trafficking. A pre-application webinar reviewing solicitation requirements took place on May 13 and a recording will be made available on the OVC website.
Closing Date: July 6, 2021
The purpose of this program is to develop, expand, or strengthen victim service programs for minor victims of sex trafficking, whose victimization occurred when they were under the age of 18. A pre-application webinar reviewing solicitation requirements took place on May 21 and a recording will be made available on the OVC website.
Closing Date: June 28, 2021
The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) announces the release of the Fiscal Year 2021 Transitional Living Program (TLP) Funding Opportunity Announcement.
TLPs implement, enhance, and/or support effective strategies for successful transition to sustainable living for runaway and homeless youth ages 16 to under 22 and/or pregnant and parenting youth ages 16 to under 22 and their dependent child(ren). Projects must provide safe, stable, and appropriate shelter for up to 18 months and, under extenuating circumstances, can be extended to 21 months and provide comprehensive services that supports the transition of homeless youth to self-sufficiency and stable, independent living.
Grants awarded under this announcement will have a start date of September 30, 2021 and will be for a 36-month project period.
Closing Date: June 21, 2021
The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau announces the release of the Fiscal Year 2021 Basic Center Program (BCP) Funding Opportunity Announcement.
BCPs provide temporary shelter and counseling services to youth who have left home without permission of their parents or guardians, been forced to leave home, or other homeless youth who might otherwise end up in the law enforcement or in the child welfare, mental health, or juvenile justice systems. BCPs work to establish or strengthen community-based programs that meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth and their families. BCPs provide youth under 18 years of age with emergency shelter, food, clothing, counseling and referrals for health care. BCPs can provide up to 21 days of shelter for youth and seek to reunite young people with their families, whenever possible, or to locate appropriate alternative placements. Additional services may include: street-based services; home-based services for families with youth at risk of separation from the family; drug abuse education and prevention services; and at the request of runaway and homeless youth, testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
Grants awarded under this announcement will have a start date of September 30, 2021 and will be for a 36-month project period.
Closing Date: June 21, 2021
The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) announces the release of the Fiscal Year 2021 Street Outreach Program (SOP) Funding Opportunity Announcement.
SOPs provides street-based services to runaway, homeless, and street youth subject to or are at- risk of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and severe forms of human trafficking in persons. SOP services, targeted in areas where street youth congregate, are designed to assist youth in making healthy choices and providing them access to shelter as well as basic needs, including food, hygiene packages and information on a range of available services.
Grants awarded under this announcement will have a start date of September 30, 2021 and will be for a 36-month project period.
Closing Date: June 18, 2021
The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) announces the release of the Fiscal Year 2021 Maternity Group Home (MGH) program Funding Opportunity Announcement.
MGHs provide safe, stable, and appropriate shelter only for pregnant and/or parenting youth ages 16 to under 22 and their dependent child(ren) for 18 months and, under extenuating circumstances, up to 21 months. MGH projects must accommodate the needs and safety of the dependent children to include facility safety standards for infants and children on the premises. MGH services include, but are not limited to, parenting skills, child development, family budgeting, and health and nutrition education, in addition to the required services provided under the Transitional Living Program to help MGH youth realize improvements in four core outcome areas. The MGH combination of shelter and services is designed to promote long-term, economic independence to ensure the well-being of the youth and their child(ren).
Grants awarded under this announcement will have a start date of September 30, 2021 and will be for a 36-month project period.
Business Doing Good: Engaging Businesses to Hire and Empower Survivors - June 10th from 1:00 - 2:00 PM
Shannon Deer and Cheryl Miller will discuss the upcoming book Business Doing Good that will release on Aug. 15th. The book presents an evidence-based economic empowerment model based on six principles. This model is already gaining the attention of organizations and corporations, leading to partnerships that create employment opportunities with good wages and benefits for women overcomers. This webinar will touch on the six principles and the recently launched Second Chance Initiative.
Recent: The Research Supporting the Texas Model for Addressing the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Youth and Ongoing Learning - May 13th
Child Sex Trafficking Team’s (CSTT) Director, Andrea Sparks, and North Texas Regional Administrator, Tomi Grover, present on how research informs our strategies to prevent and recognize the commercial sexual exploitation of youth, effectively recover victims and support their healing, and bring justice to their exploiters. For the past 2 years, CSTT has been curating relevant research from peer-reviewed journals and providing helpful summaries of and links to those full research reports on its website. CSTT also funds research on child sex trafficking and evaluations of innovative anti-trafficking programs and encourages collaboration by scholars in the field to amplify research efforts. This webinar will provide an overview of CSTT’s efforts re: research and what we are learning so far. Access the webinar here.
2021 CSTT Research Volume 1
The 2021 first edition of Research Resources, a compilation of articles, offers a new collection in all five strategic areas of Protect, Recognize, Recover, Supportive Healing, and Bringing Justice. Several new articles discuss the importance of client-centered, trauma-informed approaches to working with an exploited youth and affirm the need to work with their protective parents for more positive long-term outcomes.
Trafficking Victims Assistance Program: Safety Planning with Foreign National Children and Youth Survivors of Trafficking Toolkit
This resource will support direct services professionals and community partners working with foreign national minors. Download it today for practical strategies, activities, checklists, and tips. Access this toolkit by scrolling down to the Resources section.
Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force May Newsletter
Check out the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force’s recent newsletter for a list of its legislative recommendations as well as other updates from around the state.
Texas School Safety Conference
Make plans now to attend the 2021 Virtual Texas School Safety Conference on June 29 - 30. During the past year, Texans have shown resiliency through tremendous changes. Join us as we build on the challenges of the past year to advance our shared goal of creating safe, secure, and healthy environments for Texas students.
Themed Texas Strong: Resiliency Through Change, the conference will bring together educators, administrators, school-based law enforcement, and emergency managers to collaborate, network, and learn from each other.
This year’s keynote speakers include:
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Elizabeth Smart, Abduction Survivor & Best-Selling Author: My Story: The Journey from Abduction to Empowerment
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George Brauchler, Former District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District of Colorado: The Anatomy of a Mass Homicide Prosecution
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Dr. Steve Sroka, Speaker, Trainer, and Author: Being Fearless in the Face of Adversity with the Courage to Lead
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Toni McKinley, Survivor, Author, and Counselor: Human Trafficking Awareness in Schools
Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation 2021 Global Summit
FREE: July 20-24
The rise of the Internet, social media, and other technologies have completely revolutionized the way people live. Along with the good these developments have made possible, they have also unleashed tidal waves of sexual hard.
The theme of the 2021 CESE Summit is: Building a Future Free of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. Each presentation will provide solutions and resources, and together we will network and strategize.
Child Sexual Exploitation, Human Trafficking, Internet Safety for Kids & Victim Resources Webinar - May 26th from 12:00 - 3:30 PM
Learn from Federal Agents who are Subject Matter Experts from Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crimes Unit & Victim Assistance Specialists, who are combatting Cyber Crimes and Child Sexual Exploitation nationally.
You will learn about online resources to prevent child exploitation and Project IGuardians, a prevention program that was developed by HSI in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s NetSmartz and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces.
Protect
CSTT’s Debbie Solcher facilitated efforts to improve Austin and Travis County’s response to runaway youth. The new response includes local law enforcement calling CSEY (Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth) Advocates upon recovering a youth or a youth returning from a runaway incident. CSEY advocates will provide crisis management for the youth, screen them for exploitation, and connect them to appropriate community resources. This collaboration also included DFPS, Travis County Juvenile Probation, Travis County Juvenile Court, Lifeworks, Dell Children’s Hospital, Center for Child Protection and NCMEC.
Recognize
When the pandemic shut down in person trainings over a year ago, CSTT sprang into action to develop and implement a virtual training in the CSE-IT trafficking screening tool. To date, hundreds of child care providers, juvenile probation officers, social workers, and school staff have been trained and over 40,000 children and youth have been screened for sexual exploitation, with 12% of those showing a clear concern and then referred for services.
Recover
Mariela, a 16 year old unaccompanied minor and mother of a newborn baby boy, came to an emergency room and made a disclosure of abuse and exploitation. A CSEY advocate was dispatched and started building rapport with Mariela, communicating daily. Eventually Mariela was successfully classified as a refugee minor, making her eligible for foster care where she is now receiving care, basic needs, therapeutic services, education and most importantly a safe home.
Support Healing
Several youth are excelling in their specialized foster homes! Nina celebrated her 2 year anniversary in her home and is excelling at school and working part-time as a paid intern at her church. Veronica is also excelling in school and received joint custody with her foster parents for her soon to be 3 year old daughter. Yoni and Elizabeth are working on getting their driver's licenses.
Bring Justice
Rochelle Keyhan, CEO of Collective Liberty and Joe Scaramucci, McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, pictured here with Christian Benavides, CSTT South Texas Regional Administrator, presented a 4-day training in Laredo for numerous South Texas law enforcement agencies on best practices in human trafficking investigations. This training series, funded by CSTT, has resulted in increased investigations and prosecutions in several areas across the state. We are eager to see this happen in South Texas after last week!
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