Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) opened the third of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth
Speaker Series
yesterday by providing an introduction on the caucus and the issue of
domestic sex trafficking of foster youth. Grassley described the caucus
as a forum for youth and young adults with foster care experiences to be
heard by federal decision makers across legislative jurisdictions. He
further explained that youth in care are particularly vulnerable to the
advances of predators, that they are victims, and that we collectively
have a responsibility to address their needs.
Tanee
Hobson and Withelma “T” Ortiz are young women who speak about their
experiences of domestic trafficking victimization and work to combat it
and its effects professionally. Both bravely shared their story of
growing up in foster care with feelings of loneliness and abandonment
that caused their vulnerability to exploitation.
Tanee
emphasized raising awareness amongst workers to recognize that
children’s lives are not confined to business hours and that children
are victims, not other labels. Ortiz called for coordination of domestic
trafficking services into a national network. She also identified a
need for more safe havens, to alleviate the reliance on using detention
to t keep victims safe. She further explained that services must be
individualized and should be implemented by both survivors and allied
individuals. She described support from survivors as inspiring and
hopeful and support from allies as critical to understanding the
difference between “who you are and what was done to you.”
Four
professionals who work with victims of domestic sex trafficking
provided a comprehensive overview its manifestation, what is being done
about it and what is needed moving forward. The panelists all called for
universal and targeted education and training for child welfare,
juvenile justice, and court professionals. Each described initiatives
that they created or implemented to enable such collaboration, focusing
on various aspects of rescue and response. Additional themes emerging
from the panel including improving assessment tools and approaches and
focusing on permanency for healing. Oh- The solution to the problem with the system is just more of the same old thing. If their poison is killing people, the problem is people are not taking enough poison? OR WHAT?
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