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Kevin Malone, once named Major League Baseball’s “The Best General Manager in the Game” by USA Today, now serves as a senior advisor on human trafficking at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He brings decades of experience in leadership, organizational development and coalition-building to the department’s nationwide efforts to prevent and respond to human trafficking.
Kevin spent 17 years in Major League Baseball, holding executive roles with the Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers. After leaving professional sports, he turned his focus to combatting human trafficking.
He founded Protect the P.A.T.H. (People Against Trafficking Humans) and kidsNOTforSale.org, and co-founded the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking (USIAHT). These organizations promote public awareness, prevention strategies and provide support for survivors. In 2018, the USIAHT opened one of America’s only safe homes for boys who had experienced trafficking.
In 2019, Kevin was appointed by President Donald Trump to the Public Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking in the United States. He later led anti-human trafficking operations around Super Bowl LVI in partnership with the NFL and the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission.
Kevin holds a degree in justice administration from the University of Louisville. He played minor league baseball for the Cleveland Indians organization and studied theology at Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary. In 2023, he published Scouting the Enemy, a personal and strategic look at child sex trafficking in the United States.
He and his wife of 42 years, Marilyn, have two adult children, Shannon and Shawn.
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"We’re excited to welcome Kevin Malone to HHS. Kevin’s deep dedication to preventing trafficking and supporting survivors brings valuable insights and energy to our efforts. His strategic leadership will help us expand our impact and accelerate progress toward ending human trafficking."
– Katherine Chon, Director, Office on Trafficking in Persons
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 One Call Can Change Everything: Supporting Survivors Through the National Human Trafficking Hotline
Kevin Malone, HHS Senior Advisor on Human Trafficking
A few months ago, a mother called the National Human Trafficking Hotline (Hotline) in fear and frustration. Her adult daughter, Rebecca,* was being trafficked for sex. The trafficker was actively controlling her movements, and while Rebecca wanted to leave, she was terrified that reaching out for help would lead to her arrest.
Rebecca’s mother called the Hotline to ask for help on her daughter’s behalf. A trained specialist immediately contacted law enforcement, who confirmed they would respond with urgency. But the situation shifted quickly. Within an hour, the trafficker had moved Rebecca. The Hotline followed up, and law enforcement officers deployed again — but they were unable to locate her.
Over the next several hours, the Hotline stayed in contact with Rebecca’s mother, answering questions, providing updates, and building trust — not just with her, but indirectly with Rebecca. That trust—built through real, human connection—made a difference. The next day, Rebecca reached out to the Hotline herself — this time via text.
She had escaped and made her way to a safe place. The Hotline immediately provided multiple referrals to ensure Rebecca received the care she needed to begin recovering from her trafficking experience.
This is the kind of story that sticks with us. It’s real. It’s complicated. And it’s why the National Human Trafficking Hotline exists.
We’re the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Through our Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP), we fund and oversee the Hotline grant program. And we want the public to know:
The Hotline is fully operational, and it continues to regularly report to and coordinate with survivors, service providers, and law enforcement — including in cases like this one. These reports are made when permitted or required by law, and we remain deeply committed to safeguarding the confidentiality of those who contact the Hotline for help.
Protecting the privacy and safety of individuals is central to the Hotline’s mission, even as it works closely with authorities to ensure safety, accountability, and justice.
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National Missing Children's Day
OTIP joins our federal partners to honor the exemplary efforts of government, non-government, private, and community-based organizations to find missing children and bring them home. On National Missing Children’s Day (May 25), we spotlight our partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to coordinate actions to protect children missing from care, including children and youth intersecting with child welfare, runaway and homeless youth, Native American, and unaccompanied alien children programs.
According to NCMEC, 1 in 7 of the more than 29,000 cases of children reported missing to them in 2024 were likely victims of child sex trafficking. OTIP coordinates with NCMEC and other child protection systems on many of these cases, in addition to concerns of child labor trafficking.
Earlier this year, Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison toured NCMEC and met with its leadership to discuss additional opportunities to strengthen the partnership with ACF.
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Accepting Nominations: 2025 Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor
The U.S. Department of Labor has re-opened the nomination period for the 2025 Iqbal Masih Award. This annual award recognizes individuals, organizations, companies, or governments that demonstrate exceptional leadership in the global fight against child labor.
The award is named in honor of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani child who was sold into slavery as a carpet weaver at age four. After escaping at age ten, he became a passionate public advocate against child exploitation until his tragic death at age 12.
Nominees may be individuals, companies, organizations, or national governments that have made significant contributions to reducing the worst forms of child labor, or who inspire others to become champions in the spirit and example of Iqbal Masih.
The nomination deadline is May 30, 2025. Learn more about the award, including submission and eligibility requirements.
Funding Opportunities
All OTIP Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) are posted on Grants.gov.
ACF awards funding on the basis of program policy and evaluation criteria as published in the notice of funding opportunity on Grants.gov. An integral part of that process includes a comprehensive review of each application by a panel of independent reviewers, which assists us in making funding determinations. All applications receive fair and full consideration.
Learn more about the award process, including finding and understanding funding opportunities, applying, understanding the review process, and more.
New Listserv Subscription Service
We’re excited to announce that we have implemented GovDelivery, a new email and SMS subscription service to make it easier for you to receive updates on the topics that matter most to you.
To ensure you get the most recent and relevant updates, we encourage you to log in and update your subscriber information. By providing details like your name, city, workplace, and other preferences, we can better tailor our communications to fit your interests.
Here’s what you can do:
- Sign in to the Subscriber Profile page with your email address – no password needed.
- Update your subscriber details.
- Choose your topics of interest from our expanded list.
Updating your information not only helps us send you the most relevant updates but also ensures we can provide you with timely alerts specific to interest.
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