National Freedom Day: Moving Forward in 2018
Happy National Freedom Day!
As we wrap up National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month , we wanted to share a few highlights from January. Our colleagues across HHS jumped right in and demonstrated how their programs support individuals who have experienced or are at-risk of human trafficking.
- Our ACF Acting Assistant Secretary, Steven Wagner, joined twenty foreign press journalists at the Department of State’s Foreign Press Center Combating Human Trafficking Tour to provide an overview of the role of HHS in the federal government’s efforts to combat trafficking.
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Child Traumatic Stress Network posted a number of trafficking-related resources for mental health professionals .
- ACF Regional Offices, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), the Office of the Regional Health Administrator hosted several webinars and events across the country.
- The Office on Women’s Health, OASH - Region 2, and Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) published information on State & Territorial Profiles on efforts to combat human trafficking through the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC).
- The ACF Administration for Native Americans released Combating Trafficking: A Native Youth Toolkit on Human Trafficking in partnership with OTIP.
- The ACF Family & Youth Services Bureau shared a success story about their grantee’s shelter for youth survivors of sex trafficking.
- The ACF Children’s Bureau Center for Capacity Building for States shared a number of trafficking-related resources for child welfare professionals .
Highlights from OTIP
- We joined a convening of anti-trafficking leaders in the southeastern U.S. facilitated by ACF Region 4 to strengthen partnerships between the statewide human trafficking task force and ACF. The meeting, hosted by South Carolina’s Office of the Attorney General, focused on addressing labor trafficking, integrating state court perspectives and activities, national data development, and strengthening state-federal coordination. In addition, the meeting featured a press conference declaring the Region’s commitment to the multi-state partnership and coalition-building to prevent and end human trafficking.
- We were pleased to join the U.S. Advisory Council as they released their 2017 Report .
- We co-hosted a roundtable convening with the DOJ Office for Victims of Crime for training & technical assistance providers and planned to implement efforts to increase coordination.
- Our Director, Katherine Chon, shared remarks at the United States Capitol Visitor Center at an event on labor trafficking hosted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign.
- Our Child Protection Specialists were joined by over 250 participants on their webinar on Responding to Foreign Minor Victims of Trafficking – now offered monthly!
- We co-hosted a webinar with SAMHSA on Human Trafficking & the Opioid Crisis and were joined by over 800 participants! If you’d like access to the training or to receive information about similar trainings in the future, join NHTTAC’s mailing list .
In February, we look forward to:
- (2/1) Webinar: Driving out the Darkness: Faith-based and Community Partners Preventing Human Trafficking . Hosted by the HHS Center for Faith Based & Neighborhood Partnerships .
- (2/6) Webinar: Federal Funding for Working with Victims of Human Trafficking . Hosted by Casa de Esperanza, a grantee of the DOJ Office for Victims of Crime .
- (2/7) Webinar: Responding to Child Victims of Trafficking. Hosted by OTIP’s Child Protection Specialists.
- Twitter chat: We will be joining FYSB later this month to discuss resources available for grantees serving runaway and homeless youth who have experienced or are at risk of human trafficking. Follow us on Twitter .
- Campaign Materials: Look Beneath the Surface. We look forward to sharing new posters and other materials with you in the coming months.