Mayor Sylvester Turner released a 3-year progress report on the City of Houston’s acclaimed Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Plan at a Monday day dinner where he served food to trafficking survivors sheltered in partnership with the Salvation Army.
“We are here for you,” the mayor said. Click here for video of the event.
Highlights of the report include the city having provided 7,043 shelter beds/nights to 237 confirmed and potential sex trafficking and labor trafficking victims, with 20 securing longer-term housing.
Also, a human trafficking psychology fellow placed by the city at a county hospital identified 126 patients who were trafficking victims. The fellow works with a hospital case manager and mayor’s office case managers to provide them with long-term care.
“My administration has advanced bold and innovative steps to address human trafficking as detailed in our 3-year progress report,” Mayor Turner said. “With all that we have done so far, it was a personal highlight to share the progress report with these survivors – our clients – and serve them dinner. Our collective local efforts have earned Houston a national and global reputation as the anti-trafficking municipal leader, thanks to my special adviser on human trafficking, Minal Patel Davis.”
Other highlights of the report include:
- Mayor’s Office case managers serving 81 confirmed and potential victims with 2,425 kinds of services, including emotional support and safety services, advocacy and accompaniment, and others based on clients’ needs.
- Screening 1,282 homeless youth, resulting in the identification of 79 potential victims, and offering them referrals to services on the spot.
- Mobilizing eight city departments or divisions, comprising 1,535 employees, to address trafficking in their day-to-day duties.
- Convening 35 corporations to address supply chain risks to trafficking and forced labor during a Conscientious Capitalism: Labor Trafficking and Supply Chains event with 5 internationally-recognized experts.
- Hosting the domestic session of the Ten/Ten Human Trafficking Municipal Response, a two-day immersion program for officials from 18 mayors’ offices, to expand their trafficking responses beyond law enforcement investigative efforts.
The 3-Year Local Impact Report is here.
For more information, visit https://humantraffickinghouston.org/ or contact Minal Patel Davis, special advisor to the mayor on human trafficking, at (832) 393-0977 or [email protected].
