Human Trafficking Prevention
Violence, exploitation, and trafficking can have lasting effects on young people, leading to serious health challenges and struggles with trust. We work on preventing exploitation, supporting survivors, and building stronger communities where all young people are safe and valued.
How does human trafficking affect Youth?
Human trafficking is a global issue, impacting people from all walks of life. But young people are among the most vulnerable. Trafficking causes long-term harm to health and trust, often pushing youth away from the support they need. Disconnected from caring networks, the risks grow even higher.
How does Youth Collaboratory help?
Youth Collaboratory believes that prevention and healing are possible when communities are equipped with the right tools, knowledge, and support. Our approach combines national leadership with on-the-ground insights and personal experiences, ensuring that resources, training, and innovation reach the communities and young people who need them most.
Public & Private Partnerships
Our team works with partners and funders to spark innovation and expand opportunities for young people. These partnerships allow us to pilot new ideas, strengthen community-based programs, and respond quickly to emerging needs.
Youth Collaboratory partnered with Liberty Mutual Foundation and youth-serving organizations in the Boston area to strengthen community capacity to prevent and identify commercial sexual exploitation. The project focused on creating safer and more supportive services for girls by building the skills of both young people and the programs that serve them.
Youth Collaboratory participates in a national initiative to develop standards of care for organizations serving survivors of trafficking. Led by Freedom Network USA and in partnership with agencies representing the U.S. departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, Youth Collaboratory helped gather insights from providers across the country to ensure the new standards provided guidance that is both practical and responsive.
Outreach & Education
National webinars and public education opportunities provide a platform to share knowledge, highlight promising practices, and enhance responses to the needs of youth. These events bring together professionals and young people alike to learn from one another and build stronger communities.
Our team hosts interactive forums to spark important conversations about youth engagement, strengthening protective factors, and collaborative practices. With our public webinars, we use our platform to deepen understanding, share resources, and build stronger networks of support.
Developed with and by people with experiences of trafficking, Youth Collaboratory’s free web resources bring knowledge out of the shadows and into the light. Our digital toolkits bring awareness to important topics such as familial trafficking, a prevalent, but often hidden form of trafficking.
Bridging Federal and Community Efforts
Youth Collaboratory partners with federal agencies to support local anti-trafficking efforts. Through federal grants, we develop innovative programs, provide training and technical assistance, and share best practices that strengthen communities across the nation.
Youth Collaboratory, in partnership with the U.S. Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), is launching a pilot program to increase identification of and services for youth and young adults impacted by sex and/or labor trafficking by funding and providing support to organizations and communities. Through a cohort model with peers and Subject Matter Experts, selected organizations will participate in an initiative focused on organizational capacity building and enhancing the quantity and quality of services.
Since 2020, Youth Collaboratory has partnered with the U.S. Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and 21 youth-serving organizations across the country to close critical gaps in knowledge and resources. Together, we focus on preventing trafficking and providing early intervention for girls and young women. To date, we have provided training to more than 4,100 people through this initiative.
Youth Collaboratory partnered with the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Center for Combating Human Trafficking to provide training and support to 25 organizations offering mentoring for children and youth who experienced exploitation and trafficking. Nationally, these organizations included drop-in centers, juvenile courts, mentoring programs, task forces, and more. Altogether, the effort reached nearly 6,000 people nationwide.
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