(FY18 AND FY21)

Office of the Governor

The Louisiana Child and Youth Trafficking Collaborative

Louisiana outlined the following systems-level barriers to identifying and assisting child and youth victims of sex and labor trafficking: lack of knowledge among service providers on identification of trafficking victims, limited resources for child victims, and absence of region- specific protocols or community response to child trafficking victims.

Through grant funding, Louisiana is addressing these gaps by developing and implementing a strategic evidence- informed statewide initiative. This initiative seeks to improve outcomes for child and youth victims of sex and labor trafficking through a multidisciplinary approach, enhanced collaboration and coordination of resources, and an improved response and delivery of services.

Objectives follow: (1) identify high-risk or human trafficking victims across the state; (2) assist in the coordination, investigation, and prosecution of cases of child and youth sex and labor trafficking; (3) conduct/facilitate regional trainings on identifying and responding to human trafficking; (4) support agencies in implementing screening tools and protocols to identify victims and refer to trafficking MDTs; (5) ensure establishment of trafficking MDT teams in nine regions; (6) conduct statewide meetings and trainings for regional coordinators and MDTs; (7) provide culturally responsive, trauma-informed advocacy and case management by regional coordinators for child and youth victims of sex and labor trafficking; and (8) facilitate a survivor advisory council to ensure survivor input and improve provision and quality of services.

The project hired nineteen regional coordinators housed in child advocacy centers throughout the state to carry out the regional work. Each regional coordinator is responsible for providing and facilitating TTA; conducting outreach to expand efforts into rural parishes; and providing direct services in the form of case management, advocacy, victim service coordination, and facilitation of or participation in MDT case staffing. The project directly involves and leverages existing victim assistance, law enforcement, and child welfare efforts throughout the state, as well as allied partners, including Louisiana Families in Need of Services, the Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force, health care organizations, and trafficking-specific community- based organizations.