Human Trafficking Youth Prevention Education

Our Goal

• Develop and implement a Human Trafficking School Safety Protocol
• Increase teacher/staff understanding of the risks of human trafficking
• Increase students’ understanding through prevention education
• Train qualified staff to implement and replicate grant activities throughout 10 school districts

Objectives

Over the 5-year grant period, the project will:

1. Provide human trafficking prevention education to 18,884 educators and other staff
2. Deliver human trafficking education to at least 60,000 students
3. Train 179 qualified individuals to implement and replicate project activities throughout the district (Training of Trainers: TOT) and
4. Develop and implement a Human Trafficking School Safety Protocol in consultation with law enforcement and community stakeholders.

Approach: 

Using an existing online platform that includes lesson plans, slides, and videos and an active educator community, our nonprofit partner 3Strands Global Foundation will:

1. Train educators and all other staff on human trafficking prevention
2. Educate students in grades 5, 8, and 11 using proven PROTECT, research-based curricula
3. Train qualified individuals (TOT) to train and implement curricula, train educators and train trainers and
4. Establish a multidisciplinary team to establish and implement the HTSSP.

Partner School Systems

ESC 1 serves 48 school districts and charter systems across 8 counties on or near the Texas-Mexico border in an area known as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).

About 423,000 students are enrolled in schools within the ESC 1 region.

The following 10 districts are currently participating in the HTYPE Grant:

1. Laredo ISD
2. Brooks County ISD
3. Jim Hogg County ISD
4. Roma ISD
5. Rio Grande City Grulla ISD
6. La Joya ISD
7. Hidalgo ISD
8. Weslaco ISD
9. Progreso ISD
10. Lyford CISD

Need for Assistance: 

Homeland security has identified the RGV as an increasingly active center for human trafficking.

Additionally, Region 1 students face compounding vulnerabilities, as more than 90% are considered economically disadvantaged.

96% of students are Hispanic and a substantial portion of the student population utilizes ESL services.

The RGV is under-equipped with an unestablished and fragmented continuum of care structure, and community leaders have expressed an urgent need for human trafficking prevention and intervention resources.

Organizational Capacity: 

ESC 1 is uniquely positioned to facilitate this program to participating districts, which is aligned with the primary functions of the Education Service Centers.

ESC 1 has demonstrated ability to develop, implement, and administer programs similar to HTYPE for federal and state grants. 3SGF’s PROTECT has been implemented in 1,238 school districts.

Training over 88,000 educators and professionals, and reaching over 715,000 students, including as the primary program in four HTYPE awards.