Human Trafficking
In 2017, DFPS created the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation team to:
- Strengthen compliance with federal and state human trafficking mandates.
- Develop best practices for preventing trafficking.
- Help DFPS better identify, report, recover, and restore victims of trafficking.
The team also builds relationships with law enforcement and community leaders to develop and expand services for children who are victims of sex trafficking.
In FY 2018, all DFPS staff were required to complete mandatory human trafficking awareness training. This was in addition to the human trafficking information that all new Child Protective Services and Child Protective Investigations caseworkers receive in professional development training. DFPS also:
- Laid the foundation for using the Commercial Sexual Exploitation – Identification Tool (CSE-IT) in Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Travis counties.
- Developed a protocol to help staff identify youth who are being sexually exploited or at risk of being sexually exploited.
- Hosted the first DFPS Human Trafficking Summit, a statewide conference for DFPS staff and key partners and stakeholders who help fight against trafficking for the children and youth DFPS serves. More than 500 people participated in 34 workshops covering topics such as identifying human trafficking, investigations, prosecution, types of trafficking, and victim treatment and services.
- Formed the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Region VI Human Trafficking Work Group, only the second of its kind in the nation. The group works to address the needs of youth who are trafficked and includes representatives from child welfare, juvenile justice, attorney general offices, law enforcement, and nonprofits, as well as survivor leaders, from Texas and neighboring states.