Jamie Macintosh joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as the two discuss how peer education is transforming human trafficking prevention in schools through the Safe Community Safe Kids Program.

Jamie Macintosh

Jamie Macintosh joined the Global Center for Women and Justice as the program coordinator for the Samueli Foundation Grant: Safe Community, Safe Kids Program. She is an alumnus of Vanguard University and has a single-subject teaching credential in social science and a college counseling certificate from UCLA. She has extensive experience working as a middle and high school teacher, a school counselor, and an administrator in both private and public education. Passionate about outreach, Jamie has traveled with students on trips to Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America.

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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast, brought to you by Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice, right here in Orange County, California. This is episode number 342. Peer educators to build safe communities.

[00:00:20] And I’m Dr. Sandie Morgan. This is the show where we equip you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in the fight to end human trafficking. I’m very glad to welcome Jamie Macintosh to the show.

[00:00:38] Jamie Macintosh joined the Global Center for Women in Justice as the program coordinator for the Samueli Foundation Grant. Safe Community, Safe Kids Program. She is an alumnus of Vanguard University and has a single subject teaching credential in social science and a college counseling certificate from UCLA.

[00:01:06] Sandie Morgan: She has extensive experience working as a middle and high school teacher, a school counselor and administrator In private and public education passionate about outreach. Jamie has traveled with students on trips to Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast Jamie.

[00:01:34] Jamie Macintosh: Thank you for having me here today Dr. Morgan,

[00:01:37] Sandie Morgan: I am so excited that you joined the Global Center for Women I Justice when we received the Safe Community, safe Kids Sam Welly Foundation grant, and I have to tell our listeners that when we interviewed you, ’cause listeners get to be kind of on the inside track, when we interviewed you, our committee was particularly impressed that you had served as a vice principal.

[00:02:13] What does a vice principal do that’s different than other teachers and administrators?

[00:02:20] Jamie Macintosh: As a vice principal, you really support the students. I think it’s a little bit more hands on with them and you’re really starting to learn more about them, especially students who are maybe having trouble in school.

[00:02:34] And so there’s a lot of times that they’re in your office and you’re talking about what’s happening in the classroom, but you’re really getting down to the root of what’s going on in their lives.

[00:02:43] Sandie Morgan: Somebody on the interview team said to me, oh wow, that’s great. She’s a problem solver, and so we knew you were the right one for the job. Tell us a little bit about what the Safe Community Safe Kids Program is doing.

[00:03:05] Jamie Macintosh: So in June, 2024, the Global Center for Women in Justice at Vanguard University, received a generous grant from the Samueli Foundation, and this was to launch the Safe Community Safe Kids Program. So this initiative just aims to combat the severe threat of human trafficking to minors in Orange County by providing expert led prevention, education, and trauma informed training to both students and educators.

[00:03:33] And all of this is done at no cost to the schools or to the teachers. So the Safe Community, Safe Kids builds upon the success of the Global Center for Women in  Justice and live to free. Who have educated over 11,000 students over the past decade, but with this grant, we’re able to launch and educate even more students.

[00:03:54]Sandie Morgan: So the Safe Community Safe Kids Program is going to also meet the California state requirements for seventh and ninth grade, is what I understand.

[00:04:11] Sandie Morgan: So when you’re talking about doing this for the schools for free, why is that so important?

[00:04:19] Jamie Macintosh: In 2016, California enacted the California Health Youth Act, which requires California public school districts to provide specific requirements for instruction on human trafficking to students in grades seven through 12, at least once in middle school and once in high school. So our program aligns with that.

[00:04:39] As well as assembly bill 1227, which still focuses on addressing human trafficking in California schools. So our program trains Vanguard University College students, which we call peer educators, to visit the classrooms to provide this crucial education on human trafficking, as well as online safety and healthy relationships.

[00:05:02] Sandie Morgan: And they adapted that a little later on, and I believe now every student is required in seventh grade and in ninth grade to have some kind of prevention training. Around human trafficking that includes both sex and labor trafficking. And the idea that it requires this training, but it doesn’t have specifics as far as whose training you have to use, has created, a need in our schools for support.

[00:05:42] So how does our program, and I’m just gonna be like promoting this because we wanna share this, out. We want other organizations to learn from what we’ve learned because we do believe prevention is super important. So how do we meet those guidelines?

[00:06:05] Jamie Macintosh: I think as a teacher, a...