State-Based Approaches to Address Child and Youth Trafficking

The Improving Outcomes for Child and Youth Victims of Human Trafficking (Improving Outcomes) grant program, funded by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) since 2016, awards state or Tribal entities funds to develop state- or Tribal-based approaches to improve the identification of and coordinated response to child and youth victims of human trafficking within their states or territories.

This website includes resources that were created by, or have provided support to, the Improving Outcomes grant program to implement state- or Tribal-based approaches to address child and youth trafficking.

Resources

The compiled resources on this webpage can support other state agencies and Tribes looking to design or implement similar approaches to improve the identification of and coordinated response to child and youth trafficking.

Content on this website is organized according to the target group or agency that you are hoping to work with to improve identification and response to child and youth victims of trafficking. These groups include:

- Child Welfare
- Health/Human Services
- Law Enforcement
- Juvenile Justice
- Those who Identify and Refer Victims
- Those who Support Victims
- Survivor Leaders
- General Public
- Community Partners
- Multidisciplinary Groups

Meet Our Grantees

Grantee Highlights

Maryland State Highlight

The Maryland Improving Outcomes team is making strides to better understand the scope of child labor trafficking in the state. The Maryland School of Social Work Prevention of Adolescent Risk Initiative (PARI) team conducted a statewide environmental scan of child welfare and juvenile justice agencies to better understand the prevalence of child labor trafficking in the state. The evidence-based environmental scan will provide valuable information to support policy reform aimed at improving child labor trafficking identification and response strategies.

Kentucky State Highlight

The Kentucky Improving Outcomes team is implementing a robust agency policy within the Division of Protection and Permanency involving mandatory, routine screening for human trafficking victimization among all children and youth when there is a change of placement. The implementation of this policy, which includes required training for child-welfare staff and child-serving partners, has resulted in a significant increase in the identification of human trafficking victimization among the children and youth they serve.