Youth Trafficking Survivors Personalized Recovery Services

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Applying a proven solution to a new issue or sector (using an existing model, tool, resource, strategy, etc. for a new purpose)

Fourteen years is the average age at which an LA County girl is first trafficked for sex. During exploitation, trafficked youth will experience a range of cruelty and abuse, including regular physical and sexual assault, hunger, forced drug use, emotional manipulation, often leading to developmental delays. Human traffickers are well known for using their victims’ vulnerabilities to recruit and then manipulate them into compliance with terrible abuse. Traffickers prey within communities where economic struggle and underinvestment of resources are the norm, and among vulnerable young people, including systems-involved youth (foster care/child welfare & juvenile justice systems). They exploit conditions of poverty, which can cause young people to see themselves as powerless with few options; and social isolation, which feeds yearning for approval and belonging. Without effective intervention, the traumatic cycle of exploitation and abuse begins in childhood and repeats over generations.

Sex trafficking victims aged 11-24 years who have been trafficked within LA County are our target population. Our clients are predominantly but not exclusively girls of color; specifically, over half are Black youth. Approximately 15% identify as LGBTQ and 85% have already been in the DCFS or juvenile justice systems prior to their involvement with us. These children and youth desperately need a ‘safe,’ culturally competent support system. After removal from their traffickers, our clients’ needs continue to be many: from urgent needs for safe shelter, clothing, food, and medical attention, to longer-term needs for personal support and care. After initial connection, our case managers meet with their clients regularly, helping them establish a sense of stability as they navigate their journeys to healing. We offer each client support including:
Direct crisis response after recovery from her trafficker
Advocacy to law enforcement and in court; throughout the juvenile justice and/or DCFS system
Ensure she has the material necessities: food, clothes, hygiene/comfort items, school supplies, etc.
Visit her in crisis placement: a foster home, group home, or youth detention center
Help her set personal goals and manage her physical, mental, and emotional health
Support her in building healthy relationships and changing unhealthy patterns
Encourage and equip her as she goes back to school and/or seeks a job
Celebrate milestones like birthdays, detention release, and graduation/GED

We recognize that an effective response to sex trafficking includes changing broken systems, not just treating the wounds those systems inflict. Since our founding in 2010, we have made it our mission to build a more supportive and victim-centered culture within the juvenile justice and social services systems here in LA: to help others see survivor youth the way we see them, as resilient, creative, brilliant people full of determination & hope. Our work predominantly focuses on serving systems-involved youth in LA County who need the kind of trauma-informed, clinically-sound care & advocacy that we provide. While crisis response & case management remain the core of our work, we continue to grow into program areas that respond to our clients’ needs. Recent examples of this responsive growth include personal development & peer support circles for transition-aged youth; our Foster Family Agency; & the Parent Empowerment Program for parents of youth who have experienced trafficking.

Success for us rests on our ability to serve each of our clients effectively and to grow our capacity to provide care for every youth in need of recovery and restoration after the trauma of commercial sexual exploitation. Many factors influence the outcomes we can expect for each client, based on the client’s own experiences before and during their exploitation. Our clients have suffered extreme trauma and abuse, and their healing journeys never follow a straight path. We incorporate mechanisms for learning and continual growth into our practice. Our clinical team regularly assesses client case data and client/partner feedback, identifying areas for reinforcement to ensure a consistently exemplary standard of care. Our team has been awarded by the LA Board of Supervisors, Probation Department, and District Attorney for their outstanding contribution to the fight against sex trafficking, and we regularly publish thought leadership and present at national conferences on our work.