Human Trafficking – Needs for Collaborative Efforts

1. Human Trafficking – Needs for Collaborative Efforts Alicia White, LCSW NOFSW Annual Conference Baltimore, MD April 16, 2012

2. Objectives • Develop an understanding of human trafficking; • Identify and distinguish the roles between Social Workers and Attorneys who work with trafficking victims; • Develop successful collaborative methods with other agencies and professionals working with victims of human trafficking.

3. What is Human Trafficking? • Violation of human rights • The illegal trade of human beings through abduction or recruitment by means of: • Force, • Fraud or • Coercion

4. Trafficking as Defined by the Law “Severe forms of trafficking in persons”: • Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform a sexual act has not reached 18 years of age; or • The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery. • 22 U.S.C.7102(8) (2008)

5. Who Identifies Victims of Trafficking? • Law enforcement agents • Attorneys (prosecutors, immigration, criminal defense) • Victim service providers • Ethnic or immigrant community organizations • Current/former clients • Health care facilities

6. Guiding Principles • Recognizing that sustainable change and improved response to trafficked persons requires increased capacity of network partners working in concert to support trafficked person. • Developing new ways of working together to deliver services, share information, identify resources and advocate is pivotal to an effective response to trafficked persons.

7. Why Collaborate? • To get a result not possible through the work of a single discipline. • Helps to achieve an outcome that is good for the case and good for the client.

8. What is an Interdisciplinary Team? • Individuals with different professional expertise • Share a common goal • Have diverse perspectives • Develop a shared understanding • Develop a collaborative strategy

9. Steps in Effective Collaboration

10. Steps in Effective Collaboration • Role Clarification and Boundaries • Identify priorities and goals that are realistic of each other and case • Establish a timeline • Allow each member to use skills appropriate to their profession • Be mindful of each other’s time constraints and schedules • Maintain frequent two-way communication • Remember each member speaks a different language • Review functioning – what’s working, what isn’t?

11. Role of Social Service Provider • Advocate for client • Provide case management • Offer supportive counseling • Coordinate services • Assess needs

12. Immediate Needs Information and Options Safety Planning Housing Legal Mental Health Health Care Life Skills Employment Family Reunification Assessment of Service Needs

13. Tangible Needs Crisis housing Long-term housing Clothing Education Job or income Viable alternatives to employment Transportation Legal Representation or advocacy Opportunities to develop new skills and strengths Medical and dental care Health education Counseling and/or case management Safety plan Childcare and/or parenting skills Intangible Needs Safety Protection Nonjudgmental environment Respect Engagement in positive community Healthy adult relationships Mentors or positive role models Supportive peers Understanding of the recovery process Affirmation of skills and strengths Recognition of abuse and trauma An opportunity to not be defined solely by abuse and trauma Options A sense of empowerment in one’s own healing and restoration process Leadership opportunities Holistic care Needs of Trafficking Victims

14. Role of Legal Service Provider • Provide legal representation • Assist clients to secure immigration relief including filing for visas • Advocate through criminal justice process • Support during any legal processes including civil, criminal and immigration

15. Potential Obstacles to Attorney-Social Work Teams • Different “schools” of thought • Law Firm vs. Social Service Agency • Different ways to engage clients • Different views of client self-determination • Different professional boundaries • Different professional rules and ethical codes

16. What Can Social Workers Do? • Evaluate the client through a psychosocial interview and write a comprehensive report that may include: • Information obtained through collateral contacts • Reviewing medical records • Using assessment instruments

17. What Can Social Workers Do? • Advocate for alternative sentencing and access through referrals to appropriate treatment programs • Provide supportive counseling and crisis intervention to family members and clients • Collaborate with other professionals including, psychiatrists, psychologists, hospital personnel, case managers, social workers, etc.

18. What Social Workers Can’t Do? • Provide legal advice • Be miracle workers • Find appropriate programs within a very short period of time • “Bend the truth” or make modifications to a report that puts their credibility at risk

19. Client Stories…

20. The advice I would like to give to those in a position of legislative power is… In life there are imperative decisions to be made that will affect the status of one’s life. Women in the life are faced with these oppositions, and we wonder where this life will take us; death, jail or an insane society. We understand that the life we live may not be honorable to society, but it is a life of bare fulfillment. However, you should understand that it is not the money or the ridicule…But it is a void, an emptiness that has never been filled or just ignored. I pose the question, are we criminals? To some. Are we a disgrace to society and our families? To some. Or is there somewhere beneath the surface a little girl lost; who never had the chance to cry out, who never heard the words “I love you” without equating it to sex, or abandoned by the people who are “suppose” to love you, or raped and too ashamed to share, or hates her own image because of society says she should look like, or never understood why she was never considered “fair”! So the next time you’re face to face with a woman in the life and you as her, why are you doing this? Her response may be, I do it to survive! Bur try to look beyond the “Crime’ and your own ‘Strife’ and maybe you’ll see the scars that lay deep inside; that keep her awake in the night! - Anonymous, age 22, survivor of domestic sex trafficking

22. SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKINGin New York, New York and beyond Women’s Independence, Safety & Empowerment (WISE) @ Midtown Community Court Serves: All Clients Involved in Prostitution and Victims of Trafficking New York, NY 10019 (646) 264-1332 Urban Justice Center Sexworkers Project Serves: All Clients Involved in Sex work and Victims of Trafficking New York, NY 10038 www.sexworkersproject.org GEMS (Girls Education and Mentoring Services) Serves: Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation from 12 - 21 Years Old (212) 926-8089 www.gems-girls.org Sanctuary For Families Serves: All Victims of Trafficking (212) 349-6009 www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org

23. SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF SEX RAFFICKINGin New York, New York and beyond Safe Horizon Anti-Trafficking Program Serves: All Victims of Trafficking (718) 943-8631 www.safehorizon.org New York Asian Women’s Center Serves: All Victims of Trafficking with focus on Asian Women New York, NY 10002 (212)732-0054 www.nyawc.org Restore NYC Serves: Korean and Chinese Victims of Trafficking New York, NY 10274-1003 www.restorenyc.org

24. SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKINGin New York, New York and beyond Sexual Assault & Violence Intervention Program @ Mount Sinai Medical Center Serves: Victims of Trafficking, Sexual Assault & Abuse in all Boroughs (212) 432-2140 www.mountsinai.org My Sister’s Place Serves: All Victims of Trafficking with focus on Westchester & Duchess Counties (914) 683-1333 www.mysistersplaceny.org Polaris Project Serves: All Victims of Trafficking with focus on New Jersey (973) 624-5454 www.polarisproject.org

25. Contact Information Alicia White, LCSW The Legal Aid Society 49 Thomas Street New York, New York 10013 (212) 298-5442 (tel.)afwhite@legal-aid.org