The State of Minnesota’s Safe Harbor Law and No Wrong Door Response
An overview of a state and local response to providing comprehensive support for minor victims of sex trafficking.
Beth Holger-Ambrose, Executive Director of The Link
Minnesota Safe Harbor Law• Result of many years of work on many people’s part to create a new non-
criminalized response for victims and survivors of sexual exploitation-work is being done to increase the age upward of 18
• Other states that have SH or similar Laws: New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Hampshire, Illinois, Florida, Georgia and Texas (court litigation).
• Passed in 2011 and went into effect August 1, 2014
• Decriminalizes “prostitution” offenses for youth under the age of 18
• Created the Safe Harbor Committee-multidisciplinary committee headed by the Minnesota Departments of Public Safety, Health and Human Services
• Amends the child protection code to include the definition of sexually exploited youth
Research Consulted
• Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center & University of Minnesota’s Cost Benefit Study
• Garden of Truth & Shattered Hearts Reports
• Children’s Hospital’s Runaway Intervention Project Evaluation Studies
• Street Outreach Intervention Research
• Bush Foundation Fellowship: Lit Review, Site Visits to other states & youth feedback
• Expert Local Stakeholders
Implementation to Date
• Minnesota Department of Health hired Statewide Director, Lauren Ryan
• Training –Ramsey County Attorney’s Office & Kick-Off Conference
• Trainings-Law Enforcement & Hotel Staff
• Regional Navigators in Place
• Day 1 Hotline
• Child Welfare Changes
• Prosecutions no longer happening for minors
• Health Care Models
Implementation to Date
• Emergency Shelter and Housing (the Link, Life House & Heartland Girls Ranch)
• Street Outreach (Streetworks, The Link, Breaking Free) & Support Groups (Youthlink’s Sisters Program, PRIDE, Breaking Free, MCRC RIP)
• Hennepin County Working Group led by Commissioner Greene
• Women’s Foundation-Girls are not for Sale Campaign
• Carlson Companies/Carlson Foundation/World Childhood Foundation
Safe Harbor No Wrong Door
West Metro Local Response
West Metro (Hennepin, Scott and Carver Counties)
Overview of Link Programs
Juvenile Justice Division (Juvenile Supervision Center, Evening Reporting Centers, The Parent Support Program and School
Matters)
Housing & Homeless Youth Services Division (Lindquist Apartments, Lincoln Place, Housing First, Rapid Rehousing, Project
Live out Loud and The Young Families Program, Street Outreach Program and C.O.R.E. Drop-In Center)
Safe Harbor Division (Passageways Emergency Shelter and Housing Program, West Metro Regional Navigator, Aftercare & Outreach
Program, Mental Health and Family Reunification Program)
Youth Leadership• Insights Committee
• LGBTQ Youth Advisory Committee
• Survivor Advisory Committee* Designed and Co-Founded all Safe Harbor
Programming* 3 Members are trained facilitators for CSEC 101 and
Best Practice Trainings* University of Minnesota YPAR Project* Career Development & Staffing Opportunities
West Metro Regional Navigator• Partnership with The Link, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin
County and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center
• Position is housed out of The Link-Kristy Collier is the WMRN
• WMRN Main Functions: centralized point of contact for sexually exploited youth within Hennepin, Scott & Carver counties, provide screening for sexual exploitation, safety and needs assessment, crisis intervention, assistance with any basic needs supplies, mobile case management and advocacy, intake referrals into Passageways, training and technical assistance for community and systems on best practices with sexually exploited youth and the Safe Harbor Law/NWD Response
Passageways Shelter and Housing Program
Model is grounded in:
• Safe Harbor Law-No Wrong Door State-Wide Response Model
• Academic Research (list included later in presentation)
• Youth Themselves, The Link’s Survivor Advisory Committee
• Best Practices for working with Sex Trafficking Victims (Positive Youth Development, Victim-Survivor-Leader, Trauma Informed Care, Harm Reduction, Incentive Based Programming and Culturally Inclusive Programming)
• Multidisciplinary Approach
• Information learned from other states (Bush Fellowship Research)
• Staff experience working with Sex Trafficking Victims, Juvenile Justice Diversion & Homeless Youth Work Experience
• Feedback from many local and national stakeholders/experts
Cities/States Consulted-Safe Harbor & Emergency Shelter, Services & Housing for Sex Trafficked Youth
• New York City• State of Connecticut• Boston• State of Vermont• State of New Hampshire• Newark, New Jersey• State of Georgia• Miami, Fort Lauderdale & Orlando and state of Florida• Houston & Dallas• L.A., San Francisco, Oakland/Alameda County & Sacramento• Seattle/King County• Portland/Multnomah County• Chicago/Cook County• Washington, D.C.• Esterville, Iowa (Forest Ridge)
The Link’s Passageways Program Model
• Safe Harbor Law/No Wrong Door Response: The Link is one of three agencies in the state selected to provide Safe Harbor emergency shelter or housing through Safe Harbor funding.
• The Link works in close partnership with the other three agencies selected: Life House (Duluth), and Heartland Girls Ranch (Benson).
• The Link provides 6 emergency shelter beds for youth between the ages of 13 and 17 (there may be some exceptions made for younger youth) who have been sexually exploited/trafficked and 5 units of longer term housing for sexually exploited youth between the ages of 16 and 23 (who are also homeless).
• The program serves all gender identities. Transgender youth will be served according to best practices as their self identified gender.
• Parenting youth with one child can be served in the housing program.
Referrals to Passageways
Referrals can come from anywhere in alignment with the No Wrong Door Philosophy and can include:
• Youth Themselves • The Link’s Juvenile Supervision Center and other Programs• Regional Navigators & Day 1 Hotline• Law Enforcement (federal, local, etc.)• Schools• Health Care Professionals • County Staff (child welfare, juvenile justice diversion, etc.)• The Link’s Juvenile Supervision Center and other programs, • Other Safe Harbor Shelter & Housing Programs • Homeless Youth Programs• Street Outreach Workers• Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services
How to Refer to Passageways
The Link-West Metro Regional Navigator, Kristy CollierCell Phone: 612-232-5428Email: [email protected]
If she is not the person on-call she would have another staff member’s name and phone number on her cell phone to call.
Back-ups to this are:
Quisha Stewart 952-885-4454
Beth Holger-Ambrose 612-767-4467
Passageways Supportive Services
• Emergency Shelter up to 90 Days (with exceptions in some cases) and Housing is an unlimited length of stay
• Intensive Staffing & Case Management (1 CM to 11 Client Ratio)
• Access to Health and Mental Health Assessment w/in 24 Hours
• Access to Short & Long Term Health Care Services
• On-Site Mental Health Therapy and Family Reunification Therapy
• Connection to Education-Partnership with the Prior Lake School District with on-site education program
• Survivor Mentorship Program
Safe Harbor Supportive Services Programming
• Mental Health Therapy
• Family Reunification Therapy & Services
• Aftercare & Outreach Program
Some Research & ResourcesHolger-Ambrose, B.; Langmade, C.; Edinburgh, L. Identifying Effective Outreach Strategies for Sexually Exploited Youth, Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 48: Number 2S: February 2011.
Holger-Ambrose, B.; Langmade, C.; Edinburgh, L. & Saewyc, E. (2013): The Illusions and Juxtapositions of Commercial Sexual Exploitation among Youth: Identifying Effective Street Outreach Strategies, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 22:3, 326-340.
Link to Runaway Intervention Program Research:www.journalofjuvjustice.org/JOJJ0102/article06.htm
Minnesota Women’s Foundation Website: http://www.mngirlsnotforsale.org
MN. Indian Women’s Resource Center, Cost Benefit Study Link: http://www.miwrc.org/system/uploaded_files/0000/0147/Benefit-Cost-Study_Full_Report_9-4-2012.pdf
No Wrong Door Legislative Report: https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ojp/forms-documents/Documents/!2012%20Safe%20Harbor%20Report%20(FINAL).pdf
Local efforts to combat Human
Trafficking
Colorado (Statewide)
• No Safe Harbor (SH) legislation…yet. – Very few juvenile prostitution arrests.– Local decision not to arrest.
• Colorado Human Trafficking Council (CHTC) – Tasked with recommending Safe Harbor framework for 2016
legislative session.– Review of SH models from across country.– Input from Colorado county and/or city led efforts.
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The mission of DATA is to create a victim-centered, multidisciplinary response to human trafficking in Denver through trauma-informed victim services,
collaborative investigation and prosecution, education and awareness, and public policy
advocacy.
www.denveralliance.org
DATA (continued) • 40+ agencies working together to combat trafficking in Denver.• Denver District Attorney’s Office serves as lead agency.
– Sub committees include:• Juvenile Sex Trafficking• Victim Service• Training and Education• Membership and Governance• Demand Reduction
• DATA Goals (not a full list of goals):– Develop a comprehensive and collaborative response to all forms of human
trafficking in Denver.– Increase identification of all types of human trafficking victims by having
trafficking-informed partner agencies.– Leverage existing and additional funding to provide comprehensive services
to victims of trafficking.
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Other Denver Specific Efforts
• Restore, Educate, Support, and Treat (REST) problem solving court.– Focus on females, including victims of exploitation.
• Growing number of community-based programs focused on working with survivors.
• Denver Juvenile Services Center (DJSC)– Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) model.– Single point of entry for arrested youth. – Co-location of multiple youth serving agencies.– Enhance communication and system practices.– Provide timely and effective interventions. – Long-term goal of proving interventions to keep youth out of system.– http://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/department-of-safety/int
ervention-prevention/denver-juvenile-service-center.html
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How can DJSC resources support DATA goals
• Information: access to a variety of system databases. – Child welfare, juvenile justice, law enforcement, public education– System Monitoring/Notification:
• Monitoring of cross system youth to support integrated case management where appropriate.
• Staffing resources to support additional efforts– Revise scope of work for DJSC staff.
• Ability to support enhancement prevention/early intervention efforts to high risk population.– Local JAC’s: Colorado Coalition of Juvenile Assessment Centers.
• JAC’s used as drop off location for law enforcement contacting runaway youth.
• Not an option in Denver…yet.• Opportunity to expand services to non system youth.
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Runaway Notification and Outreach Project• Notification: system involved youth
– Notify supervising agency of run report
• Outreach: non system involved youth– Contact attempted within 24 hours – Assessment and referrals for service(s)– Follow up intervals (30, 60, 90 days)
• Directly impact identified DATA goals while supporting DJSC goals– Increase identification of all forms of trafficking
• Outreach to families: 431 families (Jan-Sept 2015)• Notifications made: 195 unduplicated (Jan-Sept 2015)• 41 families completed comprehensive screening• 5 youth identified as victim of trafficking
– More efficient practices. • 49 active runaway cases closed via outreach; cost savings for Denver
Police.
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National League of Cities Survey
• Purpose: identify effective strategies and what role JAC’s can take to support larger efforts.
• https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WZKBKLZ
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National League of Cities• Municipal Action Guide - Increasing Public Safety and
Improving Outcomes for Youth through Juvenile Justice Reform - http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/institute-for-youth-education-and-families/expanding-youth-opportunities/juvenile-justice-reform/infographic
• Issues Brief – Alternatives to Arrest for Young People - http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/institute-for-youth-education-and-families/expanding-youth-opportunities/juvenile-justice-reform/the-issue-and-the-opportunity
• Blog Post - Court as a Last Resort: NLC Provides Cities with Alternatives to Juvenile Incarceration - http://citiesspeak.org/?s=juvenile+center
CJJ Resources on Trafficking• CJJ has hosted three webinars this part year on trafficking,
including an overview of the intersection between trafficking and juvenile justice, and a webinar about boys as survivors. All are available at http://juvjustice.org/webinars-and-trainings/resources
• CJJ has also drafted a brief on girls and juvenile justice, and run away youth. To see these and other publications on status offenses visit www.juvjustice.org and visit our resources page.
Thank you!
Beth Holger-AmbroseExecutive Director, The LinkPhone: 612-767-4467Email: [email protected]
Patrick HedrickDenver Public Safety Youth Programs / Denver Juvenile
Services CenterOffice: 720-913-4615Cell: 303-910-6536Email: [email protected]
