For human trafficking victims, more help from the community beyond law enforcement, Orange County report says

A new report by the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force that looks at law enforcement and community support in the past two years highlights continued progress in arrests and convictions, along with positive outcomes of growing assistance for victims.

The 2019 Human Trafficking Victim Report, the subject of a news conference scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, reflects combined data from 2017 and 2018 that includes victim demographics, services, and law enforcement and prosecution.

The task force is a collaboration of more than 60 entities that includes police departments, prosecutors, victim service providers, government agencies, nonprofit and faith-based organizations, and volunteers from the community.

The report says the task force identified a total of 415 human trafficking victims in those two years, based on information provided by Waymakers, the lead service provider in the task force, and The Salvation Army Anti-Trafficking Services, a task force partner.

But that number is incomplete.

Human trafficking victims served outside of the resources of Waymakers and the Salvation Army are not included in the report, said Lita Mercado, director of victim assistance programs for Waymakers and task force co-chair with Anaheim Police Chief Jorge Cisneros.

“There are definitely more victims in Orange County being served than just those that Waymakers and The Salvation Army are reaching,” she said. “Those programs make a huge impact.”

Help in healing

Mercado points to a shift in who has been referring victims for services the past two years.

The task force found that more than half of referrals were generated outside of law enforcement investigations, which, before 2017, accounted for almost all referrals.

The report says 43 percent of referrals originated from local law enforcement over the two-year period, while individuals and partners in the community accounted for 22 percent. The remaining 35 percent came from government agencies, the National Human Trafficking Hotline, victims themselves, other survivors and former clients, and family and friends.

Education and awareness campaigns have led to increased involvement.

“We have worked really hard to involve the community and others,” Mercado said. “We are now seeing the fruits of that effort.”

One crucial need that is beginning to be addressed: emergency shelter. Typically, the task force has had to resort to motel or hotel stays, particularly when a victim is recovered late at night.

The large majority of human trafficking victims in Orange County are from other counties or or out of state. Most need at least a two-night stay somewhere while they stabilize and consider their options, Mercado said.

Just this month, the Salvation Army opened Thatiana’s Home, a 90-day, low-barrier shelter for victims of sex trafficking. The four-bedroom house can serve up to four women, with 24-hour staff on hand to provide support.

In 2018, Orange County Rescue Mission launched its women-only Strong Beginnings program last summer, offering emergency beds and additional support services at its Village of Hope campus in Tustin.

One 26-year-old woman, whose identity is being withheld, landed at Strong Beginnings through a referral in August, needing to escape what she described as a dangerous situation.

She was trafficked at the age of 12 and entered recovery when she was 21, spending the next three years in a few different programs. But when she tried to transition from the last program, she said she ended up in an unsafe place again, “back with a handler.”

“I needed immediate safety from where I was … From the moment I called, the next day I was here.”

Finding comfort and support in the faith-based Orange County Rescue Mission, the young woman decided to segue from Strong Beginnings to the two-year Village of Hope campus program. She hopes to win visitation with the 6-year-old son she last saw on Mother’s Day 2018.

“It took a while for my mind and body to understand I am safe,” she said. “I’m in a good place now.”

She is one of about 20 women to have spent varying amounts of time with Strong Beginnings, 90 percent of them young adults 18 to 25. The average stay has been one to three months, said Samantha Eitner, the case manager who worked with the woman.

Eitner said it often takes a half-dozen attempts at escape before a victim can transform into a survivor of human trafficking and leave that life behind: “It’s such a radical change from what they have known.”

More findings

Most of the victims referenced in the task force report — 302 — were newly identified. The majority — 87 percent — had been sex trafficked.

The Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) unit of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed 184 felony cases in the two-year period, according to the report. There were a combined 169 convictions.

Other demographic findings:

• 303 were adults; 112 were minors
• 389 were female; 26 male
• 120 were black, 78 white and 54 Asian
• 100 were Hispanic

The report also says that 100 percent of the children who were victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Orange County had a history of being abused or neglected. About one-third were already under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

Human trafficking cases in juvenile court are assigned to a special court called GRACE, for Generating Resources to Abolish Child Exploitation, that was established in 2015.

Last year, a therapy dog became part of the support team available inside the courtroom.