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November 2013Vol. 14, No. 8ACYF Guidance to States on Human Trafficking

The Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Department of Health and Human Services, released guidance to States and services addressing human trafficking of children and youth. This guidance is especially important for the child welfare field because child welfare professionals often encounter children and youth who have been victims of trafficking. The guidance document reports that the California Child Welfare Council found that between 50 and 80 percent of sexual exploitation victims in California were involved with child welfare. It also cites the Department of Children and Families in Connecticut, which reported that 86 out of 88 children identified as victims of child sex trafficking had been involved with child welfare.

To build greater awareness and a better response to this growing problem, ACYF released guidance that outlines:

  • The scope of the problem
  • The needs of the victims
  • The need for a coordinated effort among Tribal, State, local, and Federal levels to prevent, identify, and serve trafficking victims
  • The role of screening and assessment in identifying possible trafficking victims
  • The use of evidence-based interventions for serving vulnerable youth populations
  • Resources available to support efforts to strengthen workforce capacity to prevent trafficking, identify victims, and serve young people who have been trafficked

Guidance to States and Services on Addressing Human Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States is available on the Children's Bureau website:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/resource/human-trafficking-guidance (781 KB)

Related Item

Children's Bureau Express featured a Spotlight section on the intersection between child welfare and human trafficking in the July/August 2013 issue: 

https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewSection&issueID=148&subsectionID=50