Many different types of service providers are working to identify and serve youth who have been sexually exploited. In some states, including Minnesota, service providers from various sectors, including housing, victim-services, medical, and youth programming are working with youth.

In order to learn how these different groups are coordinating their efforts, and where there are areas of improvement, we propose having a roundtable to discuss lessons learned.  

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) represents a particular challenge for mental health professionals across multiple services settings. Commercially Sexually  Exploited clients often have complex mental health needs and are at high risk for a broad range of adverse consequences and negative mental health outcomes.  Specifically, clients often have long histories of multiple traumatic experiences and high rates of PTSD, complex trauma, anxiety, depression, and substance use problems. Furthermore, they often present with significant engagement and retention challenges that can impede the progress of therapy.  In this workshop, presenters will describe Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and applications of this treatment with clients who have been commercially Sexually Exploited. The rationale for the use of TF-CBT with CSEC will be described, strategies for enhancing engagement with CSEC clients will be identified, and CSEC-specific applications of TF-CBT PRACTICE components will be described.   Presenters will also describe Project Intersect, a SAMHSA-funded project of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and the strategies and applications of TF-CBT that have been utilized through this service grant. Therapist feedback, CSEC client reports of their experiences in TF-CBT treatment, and outcome data collected through the Project Intersect program evaluation, will be shared with workshop attendees to further reflect the benefits and challenges of the provision of trauma-focused treatment with CSEC-identified clients.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation victims need a variety of services and individualized care.  Devereux Florida developed a treatment track for youth served in our programs, which includes inpatient residential care, foster care, and outpatient therapeutic services. Presenters will discuss the basis for developing the treatment track, how it is implemented in each level of programming, and what the challenges, successes, and lessons learned have been at each programmatic level. 

There is substantial research on human trafficking in general, and especially on sex trafficking of children, also known as commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). However, while there is some literature on ways coalition-building, task force creation, and other collaborative initiatives are utilized in the implementation of human trafficking policies and programs, there is almost no literature on stakeholder engagement in the process and outcomes of research done on trafficking in persons. This presentation will describe the engagement of over 100 stakeholders (i.e., international, governmental, non-governmental, community-based, etc.) in the development of a three-country study on CSEC in the West African region. The presentation will discuss four major stages of involvement of stakeholders in the research and crucial roles some of them had in the overall outcomes of the international study. Implications and recommendations for research and practice with hard-to-reach populations are discussed.