OVC Announces Multiple Events for National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

As we commemorate National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, OVC is pleased to announce the following events and activities:

• January 14, 2014: Release of Coordination, Collaboration, Capacity: Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States, 2013–2017
• January 14, 2014: Human Trafficking Survivor Forum and Listening Session
• January 15–17, 2014: Innovation Workshop for Finalists of the Partnership for Freedom’s Reimagine: Opportunity Challenge.
• January 14, 2014: Release of OVC’s "Faces of Human Trafficking" public service announcement.
• January 29, 2014: OVC Web Forum Guest Host Session About the Federal Strategic Action Plan

Coordination, Collaboration, Capacity: Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States, 2013–2017

Read the full report (3 mb)
or the fact sheet (1 mb).

On Tuesday, January 14, 2014, the White House announced the release of Coordination, Collaboration, Capacity: Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States, 2013–2017 (3 mb) at the OVC Human Trafficking Survivor Forum and Listening Session.

The Plan reaffirms the American values of freedom and equality and builds on the progress that our Nation has made in combating human trafficking and modern-day forms of slavery through government action and partnerships with allied professionals and concerned citizens.

Outlined in the Plan are the following 4 goals, with 8 objectives and more than 250 associated action items for victim service improvements that can be achieved during the next 5 years.

• GOAL 1: ALIGN EFFORTS: Promote a strategic, coordinated approach to the provision of services for victims of human trafficking at the federal, regional, state, territorial, tribal, and local levels.
  
  
• GOAL 2: IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING: Expand and coordinate human trafficking-related research, data, and evaluation to support evidence-based practices in victim services.
  
  
• GOAL 3: EXPAND ACCESS TO SERVICES: Provide and promote outreach, training, and technical assistance to increase victim identification and expand the availability of services.
  
  
• GOAL 4: IMPROVE OUTCOMES: Promote effective, culturally appropriate, trauma-informed services that improve the short- and long-term health, safety, and well-being of victims.

A few of the many specific action items for OVC include—

• Updating and enhancing the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and Operations e-Guide by providing updated guidance on collaboration, identification, prosecution, and service provision that is informed by federal partners and stakeholder feedback. A new section will be added on strategies for outreach and awareness.
  
  
• Publishing, in consultation with federal partners, a survivor-created guide on developing culturally competent services for commercially sexually exploited and trafficked girls and young women.
  
  
• Revising, in collaboration with federal partners, Trafficking in Persons: A Guide for Non-Governmental Organizations (previously published in 2002). The publication will set forth common terminology for use by federal agencies in their anti-human trafficking work and can also be used for the purpose of public awareness and education on human trafficking.
  
  
• Engaging in a multi-year, multi-pronged effort to build capacity for legal services for all crime victims, including victims of human trafficking, called Legal Assistance for Crime Victims: An OVC Capacity Building Initiative. The initiative will provide training and technical assistance for pro bono and low-cost legal service providers to expand their services to victims of human trafficking.
  
  
• Working to increase access to crime victim compensation for human trafficking victims through policy clarification, focused information, and training and technical assistance to state Victims of Crime Act compensation program administrators.

About the Plan. Federal agencies worked collaboratively to develop the Plan’s framework, led by co-chairs from the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Homeland Security (DHS). In spring 2013, public comments were accepted from government and nongovernmental stakeholders across the country to strengthen the Plan and contribute to the realization of a sustainable, comprehensive, and trauma-informed victim services response for victims of human trafficking. During the public comment period, co-chair agencies received 337 online comments and an additional 62 comments by letter and e-mail, representing 297 individuals and organizations.

Human Trafficking Survivor Forum and Listening Session

"We see you. We hear you. We insist on your dignity." —President Obama, Clinton Global Initiative

OVC, in collaboration with the White House, DHS, HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, and DOJ’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys, is conducting a Human Trafficking Survivor Forum on January 14, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

The forum was developed in response to public comments received on the draft Federal Strategic Action Plan. During the forum, survivors of human trafficking will provide input on a number of issues, including how Federal Government agencies can collaborate to engage survivor groups and incorporate their perspectives in federal anti-trafficking efforts. OVC solicited statements of interest from human trafficking survivors in order to convene a group with geographic, gender, and experiential diversity. Twenty survivors have been invited to participate in the 1-day forum with—

• Cecelia Muñoz, Director, White House Domestic Policy Council
• James Cole, Deputy Attorney General, DOJ
• Bill Corr, Deputy Secretary, HHS
• Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy Secretary, DHS
• Karol Virginia Mason, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, DOJ
• Joye E. Frost, Director, OVC, Office of Justice Programs, DOJ

Innovation Workshop for Finalists of the Partnership for Freedom’s Reimagine: Opportunity Challenge

On January 15–17, 2014, the finalists of the Partnership for Freedom’s Reimagine: Opportunity Challenge will attend an Innovation Workshop to meet with coaches from complementary fields who will help them refine and sharpen their ideas before submitting final proposals. The Partnership for Freedom, a public-private partnership supported by DOJ, HHS, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, along with Humanity United, announced finalists for its Reimagine: Opportunity Challenge in December 2013.  This first of three innovation challenges seeks new solutions in sustainable housing, economic empowerment, and social services for survivors of human trafficking. Up to three winners will be announced in the spring and will receive up to $1.8 million in funding to begin piloting their solutions.

Find out more about the finalists, the Partnership for Freedom, and Reimagine: Opportunity by visiting the Partnership for Freedom Web site.

Watch and share OVC’s "The Faces of Human Trafficking" PSA.
60-second PSA
QuickTime (5.8 mb)
Windows Media (3.9 mb)
Windows Media (CC) (3.9 mb)
Transcript

Faces of Human Trafficking Public Service Announcement

On January 14, 2014, OVC debuted "The Faces of Human Trafficking" public service announcement (PSA), which will also be highlighted in the 2014 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) Resource Guide. The goal of the PSA is to raise public awareness of human trafficking, how anyone can be a victim, and that survivors of this crime have very diverse backgrounds and experiences. The PSA also will be made available in Spanish, Thai, Hindi, and Tagalog.

Please view the PSA on OVC’s YouTube page and consider sharing it.

OVC Web Forum Guest Host Session About the Federal Strategic Action Plan

On January 29, 2014, OVC will be hosting a Web Forum Guest Host Session on the Federal Strategic Action Plan. Representatives from the agencies that prepared the Plan—Mary Atlas-Terry, OVC, Katherine Chon, HHS, and Corey Walz, DHS—will be available to address questions from the field about the goals, objectives, and action items detailed in the report. Sign up for the OVC Web Forum E-Alert to be notified when more details are available.

• 2013 OVC Report to the Nation, Fiscal Years 2011–2012
• OVC-Funded Grantee Programs To Help Victims of Trafficking
• Trafficking in Persons
• Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and Operations E-Guide