Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Erin Burke from Homeland Security to discuss federal investigations into child exploitation crimes. They discuss the public-private partnership between HSI and NCMEC, the difference between child exploitation and human trafficking, and the rise of sextortion amongst our youth.

Erin Burke

Erin Burke is the Unit Chief for the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (CEIU) at Cyber Crime Center (C3) with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). CEIU is comprised of three sections, the Victim Identification Lab, Intake and Operations, and Angel Watch. As a Special Agent, Erin has worked investigations related to child exploitation, human trafficking, national security, transnational narcotics, gangs, and financial crimes for over fifteen years. Erin earned a master’s degree in Forensic Science from The George Washington University.

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Sandra Morgan  00:00

You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode 293, Investigating Child Exploitation, with Erin Burke.

Sandra Morgan  00:27

Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. And for many of you in our last episode, you learned that my founding co-host, Dave Stachowiak, has sent me out of the nest solo and this is my first solo hosts to podcast. So, I am especially delighted to have such an amazing guest today. Erin Burke is unit chief for Child Exploitation Investigations at the Cyber Crime Center, Homeland Security Investigations. And she is an amazing and diligent investigator. She has, as a special agent, worked investigations related to child exploitation, human trafficking, national security, transnational narcotics, gangs, and financial crimes for over 15 years. Erin has a master’s degree in forensic science from The George Washington University. Thank you so much for joining us today, Erin.

Erin Burke  01:53

Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here today and to talk to you.

Sandra Morgan  01:57

So tell us, first of all, what the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit at Cyber Crime Center, also known as C3, what does it do?

Erin Burke  02:11

So the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit, I might also refer to it as CEIU, is basically Homeland Security Investigations headquarters element that focuses on all types of child exploitation and abuse crimes. So we are comprised of three units, there’s intake investigations, and that unit is where we work with our domestic and international partners to actually work on cases and large scale operations to combat predators online. The other section is Angel Watch. And that is an initiative that we have to basically protect the world’s children. So it’s an initiative where we have to make sure that individuals who are leaving the United States with the intent to harm and abuse children elsewhere, that we can target them and prosecute them as necessary. Then our third is the victim identification lab. And this is a cutting edge laboratory, our main mission is to identify and rescue children of abuse and exploitation. So they use some really amazing technology combined with traditional investigative tools to focus on finding those kids who are being abused, and their images are posted online, who are being abused, and they’re being caused to travel around the country, they’re going to focus on identifying who those kids are, rescuing them, identifying the predators and putting them in jail as well. So really, we’re a one stop shop for all things child exploitation for Homeland Security Investigations, and for all of our partners around the world.

Sandra Morgan  03:40

Wow, all three of those sections could be a single podcast. But let’s start with the victim identification lab. What happens when you find out a child is being exploited onl...

The Ending Human Trafficking podcast is moving forward. Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak reflect on 12 years of the Ending Human Trafficking podcast and what lays ahead for the future of the podcast.

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Dave  00:00

You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is Episode 292, The Path Forward for the Ending Human Trafficking podcast.

Dave  00:23

Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandra Morgan  00:28

And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave  00:31

And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, it is just you and I today. Normally we have a guest, but here we are. So many years in, 12 years in on the show almost and what fun it has been during this entire time.

Sandra Morgan  00:53

Dave, I am looking back at our first episodes and when we started, you’d just joined the Global Center for Women and Justice board. And you wanted us to start a podcast, and I trusted you. And we did in 2011. And now it’s 2023. And we have just developed an awesome resource. Someone emailed me just the other day and said that the Ending Human Trafficking podcast is their go to to stay up to date on the issues around human trafficking. And that’s such a rewarding feedback for what we’ve been doing. But do you remember when you made that suggestion that we start the podcast? What was in your mind, your heart? How did you perceive this?

Dave  01:57

I remember it vaguely. As I recall, we were in a board meeting. And I’m trying to remember even where the genesis of the idea for me came from. Certainly, I was already thinking about podcasting because I had purchased podcasting equipment because I was planning to start a show on leadership, which became Coaching for Leaders. And then right about that time, I came on the board for the Global Center for Women and Justice. My wife, Bonnie, had been on the board for a number of years, and you did a big transition of no longer having faculty and staff on the board. And so there was a big transition of a number of folks. And you were very kind to invite me on the board. And then I don’t remember if you and I talked about it beforehand, or we talked about it at that board meeting in front of everyone. But I thought, wow, we have all of this expertise from you and from the work and the research the board and the Global Center had been doing, what if we had a way to share it in a medium that was really accessible to folks? And of course, back then podcasting was very much in its infancy still. But I thought, this would be potentially a really great way to get the word out and to talk about your work and to support people around the world. And that was my entire thought process, I think.

Sandra Morgan  03:24

It was so wonderful. And I remember actually asking because the manager, part of me says, so how much is this going to cost? And you said, Well, your time, but this is my give back to the community. I’ve already started learning podcasting for the Coaching for Leaders podcast, and this is my give back. And we started. And the rest is, as they say, history.

Dave  03:53

Yeah, indeed. And it has been such an incredible, it’s been an incredible 12 years. And the reason we are airing this episode today is we are having a transition that is coming into a new era for the podcast. And the transition involves both of us, but me specifically, in that I am going to be stepping away as co-host of the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, which is a big transition for the show now after 12 years of this time. And I suppose the immediate question that will come up in people’s minds who’ve been listening to the show for a while is: why are you stepping aside after 12 years? And there’s two big reasons. One of them is a very practical reason. And then one of them is more of a big picture reason and I think both are actually really good reasons, as you and I have talked about Sandie. So the first one is, you know, maybe I’ll start with the big picture one. When we started this back in 2011 our vision for the show was that you as the person who has dedicated your life to support ending human trafficking around the world and has done so...

Sandie Morgan is joined by Adjunct Professor for the Anti-Human Trafficking Certificate and Executive Director of PEHT in Connecticut, Jamie Manirakiza. In this episode, they discuss how coercion is used in human trafficking cases and how direct service providers and front line responders can provide trauma-informed, survivor-centered aftercare.

Jamie Manirakiza, LMSW

Jamie Manirakiza, has over 10 years of experience in the field of anti-human trafficking. As the Executive Director of Partnership to End Human Trafficking, she brings her experience working in various roles throughout the Northeast. Prior to joining PEHT, Jamie, held several key roles with The Salvation Army. Her longest position was in Greater Philadelphia as Director of Anti Trafficking for the New Day to Stop Trafficking Program. Most notably, Jamie helped to start a drop-in center for women victimized by the commercial sex industry in 2010, incorporating models of harm reduction, motivational interviewing, and the Sanctuary Model ® for trauma-informed care. Jamie was also part of the founding team to open up a residential program for survivors of sex or labor trafficking in the Greater Philadelphia region. In 2018, Jamie transitioned to work as the Territorial Anti Human Trafficking Program Coordinator for The Salvation Army Eastern Territorial Headquarters in New York. As Territorial Anti Human Trafficking Program Coordinator, she developed, implemented, evaluated, and supported the ongoing growth of direct survivor service programs and coalition building on a regional scale. She has managed numerous Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crimes grants to provide comprehensive victim services in various States across the Northeast. Jamie has consulted for Tahirih Justice Center, and provided training as a consultant for OVC-TTAC.  Jamie continues to serve as an adjunct professor for Vanguard University’s Human Trafficking Certificate Program and has consulted on crime victim services for a number of national organizations on promising practices and trauma-informed care. Jamie is a founding Board of Advisor member for the Villanova University School of Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Jamie received her MSW degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a licensed social worker.

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 291 Unpacking the Complexities of Coercion, with Jamie Manirakiza. 

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential. 

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak. 

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan. 

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, we have another guest expert with us today, a wonderful partner in our work, one of our instructors with the Ending Human Trafficking Certificate Program and someone who just has a tremendous amount of expertise. I’m so glad to welcome Jamie Manirakiza. She has over ten years of experience in the field of anti-human trafficking as the executive director of Partnership to End Human Trafficking. She brings her experience working in various roles throughout the Northeast. Jamie joined PEHT as the executive director in July 2020 to establish one of Connecticut’s first residential programs for survivors of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. As executive director, Jamie has helped to establish a 24 month residential program and relaunch a survivor led social enterprise business, providing employment opportunities for women who have experienced human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, or sexual violence. In addition to her past experience with several key roles with the Salvation Army, she also continues to serve as an adjunct professor for Vanguard University’s Human Trafficking Certificate program and has consulted on crime victim services for a number of national organizations. Jamie received her MSW degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a licensed social worker. Jamie, so glad to have you on the show. 

Jamie [00:02:01] Thank you for having me. 

Sandie [00:02:03] I’m really excited about interviewing you because you are one of our expert practitioners in the Anti-Human Trafficking Certificate Program...

Sandie Morgan is joined by Derek Marsh, Associate Director of the Global Center for Women and Justice. They discuss Derek’s BJA Fellowship on human trafficking and how law enforcement and task forces can be more proactive in investigating and assisting labor trafficking.

Derek Marsh, MA, MPA

Derek Marsh retired from the Westminster PD, CA, after more than 26 years of service. In 2004, Marsh helped start the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF). He served as the co-chair of the OCHFFT from 2004-12. During that time, he developed and taught courses in human trafficking across the state of California, provided oversight to human trafficking investigations, assisted in creating HT DVDs, wrote multiple grants, and provided Congressional testimony twice as a HT expert witness. He has presented anti-HT trainings across California and the United States, Saipan, Italy, and Argentina. He taught HT as an undergraduate course at Vanguard University, CA, from 2009 to present. He develops and teaches criminal justice and human trafficking courses. He has served with the United Nations to train Rwandan immigration officials, law enforcement, prosecutors, and NGOs over four intensive seminars in 2017. He has an MA in Human Behavior, an MPA in Police Management & Leadership, and graduated from FBINA Class #224. Currently, D.C. Marsh works as the Assistant Director at the Global Center for Women and Justice. He is researching how human trafficking task forces identify, investigate, and prosecute labor trafficking cases throughout the United States through on-site visits and review of historical task force and federal performance documents. He is helping to develop and provide training and technical assistance through the BIA, TTAC, and OVC-TTAC agencies. His expertise in Criminal Justice will contribute to the research, education, and advocacy mission of the Global Center for Women and Justice.

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode 290, BJA Fellowship Review, with Derek Marsh.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today we have back a frequent guest of ours, Sandie, our associate director here at the Global Center for Women and Justice, Derek Marsh. Derek, so glad to have you back with us.

Derek [00:00:55] Glad to be back. Thanks for having me.

Sandie [00:00:57] So, Derek, you were adjunct here before you retired from Westminster Police Department, where you started the first iteration of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. Before you came, though, to work here as the associate director at the Global Center you did a BJA fellowship. So I thought it would be really fun for us to talk about what that look like. BJA means Bureau of Justice Assistance. So let’s talk about that. What was your purpose and why did you take on an absolute gargantuan task?

Derek [00:01:43] Well, it was a task of pleasure. I got to tell you, I really enjoyed my time with BJA as a fellow in human trafficking. I had just retired in 2013. They put out a notice, much like a solicitation for a grant and I for a change I wrote a grant for me as opposed to other people. And I was lucky enough to be selected to participate. So I went from 2015 to 2018 as a visiting fellow in human trafficking with the Bureau of Justice Assistance. And my major focus was labor trafficking. Understanding promising practices about how people were pursuin...

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by survivor, author, and advocate, Keeya Vawar. Together they discuss partnership between allies and survivors, survivors redesigning their life, and much more!

Keeya Vawar

Keeya Vawar advocates for victims of sex trafficking globally. She is a lived experience survivor expert, mentor, speaker and author of “One Thousand Elsewhere: A True Survivor Story.” A powerful voice of hope in a growing ecosystem of despair, her motivation and passion for youth and women of all ages is inextricably linked to her own story of hardship and survival against insurmountable odds.

Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 289 Survivor Led Advocacy, with Keeya Vawar.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, of course, one of the most important voices we always have as part of these conversations is the voice and the experience of survivors. I’m so glad to welcome today Keeya Vawar. She is an advocate for victims of sex trafficking globally. She has the lived experience as a survivor expert, mentor, and speaker and author of One Thousand Elsewhere: A True Survivor Story. Keeya, we’re so glad to have you with us today.

Keeya [00:01:13] It’s my honor to be here.

Sandie [00:01:14] I’m really excited to meet you because Antipas Harris, Dr. Antipas Harris is the one who introduced us. So big shout out. And he was on Episode 275 Reflections on Human Trafficking from a Community Leader. And he told me that you are a powerful advocacy leader, your voice, your story, and you’re just a beacon of light. So let’s dig in and tell me a little bit, first of all, about your lifetime goals.

Keeya [00:01:56] I’ve ten goals. You know, pretty simple. I want to make impact in the space against human trafficking. Simply put, I use my story to do that right now. But really, to continue on this journey of training and directly being involved in the lives of survivors. And so that’s it’s simply put, I could do this for the rest of my life.

Sandie [00:02:24] And you told your story in a book called One Thousand Elsewhere: A True Survivor Story. How did you choose the title One Thousand Elsewhere?

Keeya [00:02:39] Well, I chose the title based on my faith. And there was a scripture in Psalm 84:10 that said, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the House of the Lord then dwell in the tents of the wicked. And I think about the years that I discussed in my book as being the journey to elsewhere. It was everything else in between doing right things. It was my story of struggle. It was my story of victimization. But also my story of escape.

Sandie [00:03:15] Well, let’s start right there with your story of escape and what you see as the first steps when a survivor literally escapes that being elsewhere.

Keeya [00:03:29] Right. And, you know, it’s complicated. For me, I can say that I didn’t go or experience a rescue that was formal. I simply reached out to my brother, who I finally, after years of hiding the truth of what I was doing as a teenage runaway. I reached out to him from a psych ward and I told him that I needed a place to stay. And I shared with him what I had been through. And he drove from Dallas, Texas to Elizabeth, New Jersey to get me off the 13th floor of the Elizabeth Emergency Care Unit. And I started my life over again at his house. And so back then, in 1997, there was no program to rescue someone out of human trafficking. They didn’t even call it that then. There was no terminology other than juvenile delinquent and prostitute. And so it’s only in recent years that we’ve developed language around sex trafficking. And so to give that defi...

Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 288, Practical Strategies to Go Beyond Awareness.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. You hear us say that at the beginning of every episode, and we do invite you every time to start by studying the issues, and we often have that invitation at the end of our conversations. For those who haven’t already, go to endinghumantrafficking.org to download Sandie’s guide as a starting point. And yet there is so much that you can do, regardless of how much you have listened to us or what your level of expertise is, or perhaps you’re just picking this up for the very first time. The mission of the Global Center for Women and Justice is to take action and to move beyond just awareness and to actually take action in order to have some wonderful things begin to move forward. And you can, regardless if you’ve been thinking and contributing for a decade, or perhaps you’ve just downloaded this episode for the first time today. There are many things you can do that go beyond awareness and that you can take action on right now. Today we’re going to look at six. We’re often asked, Sandie and I, what can I do to move forward? In addition to listening to the show, in addition to going on the website, what can I do to move forward? And we’ve got six key things for you. Things that are very timely in the next couple of months that will help you to move forward and to take action to go beyond awareness. Sandie, I’m so glad we get to have this conversation because there’s a lot happening, isn’t there?

Sandie [00:02:13] Oh, my goodness. There really is. And when I think back to 2011, when you invited me to start this podcast, I had no idea we would still be doing it 11 years later at my desk. But the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in October 2000 and shortly after the United Nations passed the Palermo Protocol. And now we’re going to be in 2023, and we are positioned to move way beyond just knowing about it, beyond just being aware. I keep telling people, don’t invite me to speak at an awareness event. I won’t do it because we are way beyond awareness. We need our whole community, teachers and preachers and business leaders, social workers, attorneys and judges. Every single part of society has a place at the table: government and technology, education and religion, business and nonprofits. And I’m using like generalized place at the table. But Dave, I still love the image of the pithari. That great big jug with handles baked into it all over so everybody can find a place to do something.

Dave [00:03:41] Indeed. And as we’re looking at these six areas today, we’d invite you to be thinking not all of them, but one of them. What’s your handle? What’s the on...

Sandie and Samantha Miller, a child safety and restorative justice consultant, discuss how parents and organizations that work with children can empower children with tools to protect themselves and create a safe space for children to disclose harm. The outline five preventative safety rules and seven elements for an effective child safety protocol.

Samantha Miller

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 287, What Can We Learn About Child Safety from a Child Abuse Investigator, with Samantha Miller.

Production Credits [00:00:12] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:32] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:40] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I’m so glad for us to be able to welcome today an expert that will help us to look at the challenges of child safety and really help us to frame what’s next and how we can learn from her experience. I’m so glad to welcome Samantha Miller to the show. She’s the founder of Voices Heard LLC and serves as a consultant on child safety and restorative justice. She conducts training and inquiries into allegations of current and historic child abuse, particularly within the Christian ministry context. She’s trained as a child forensic interviewer and spent years as a federal investigator in the United States. She has a master’s degree in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College in Illinois, where she focused her thesis on restorative justice in human trafficking. She currently volunteers as a facilitator for her city’s restorative justice program and previously volunteered as a member of Circles of Support and Accountability in Denver, where she joined a circle of other volunteers to provide pro-social support and accountability to persons convicted of sex offenses after they were released from prison. Samantha is passionate about keeping the demand side of the human trafficking issue at the forefront of the discussion about how to best pursue justice and restoration. Samantha, so glad to have you with us.

Samantha [00:02:03] Thank you for having me.

Sandie [00:02:05] I’m so excited to have you here because I met you during the pandemic when one of our colleagues started a book club to talk about the literature in anti-human trafficking circles. And it was so fun. Once a month, sometimes a couple of times, we all got together on Zoom. And now Zoom is one of our best friends, right?

Samantha

Sandie is joined by Jeni Sorensen from Poverty Action to discuss research methods and data gathering approaches to help NGO’s evaluate their programs. They look at the different types of data, how to design your research, and existing tools.

Jeni Sorensen is a human trafficking specialist with 20 years of experience designing, managing, and evaluating programs to combat human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world. Ms. Sorensen currently serves as Director of International Poverty Action’s Human Trafficking Research Initiative, which fosters partnerships between researchers and program implementers to build and carry out rigorous research studies. Previously, Ms. Sorensen served as Director of Winrock International’s Human Trafficking and Safe Migration programs, where she oversaw a $70 million portfolio of counter-trafficking programs in Asia and Latin America. Ms. Sorensen holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MPP from Georgetown University.

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To get more information about HTRI’s program evaluations or their competitive fund and research funds, contact [email protected].

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 286, How Do We Measure Prevention, with Jeni Sorenson.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. And of course, a big part of that difference is prevention, right Sandie? We’ve talked about this.

Sandie [00:00:48] Oh, yes! It’s my favorite topic.

Dave [00:00:49] Again and again as we’ve gone forward. And of course, we’re going to come back to this today. I’m so glad to be able to welcome an expert for us to really dive in on this further. Jeni Sorenson is a human trafficking specialist with 20 years of experience designing, managing and evaluating programs to combat human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world. She currently serves as director of IPAs Human Trafficking Research Initiative, which fosters partnerships between researchers and program implementers to build and carry out rigorous research studies. Previously, she served as director of WIN Rock International’s Human Trafficking and Safe Migration Programs, where she oversaw a $70 million portfolio of counter trafficking programs in Asia and Latin America. She holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and an MPP from Georgetown University. Jeni, what a pleasure to have you on the show.

Jeni [00:01:42] Thank you so much for having me.

Sandie [00:01:43] So I’m really excited. You’re a hero in my ecosystem to use some of the language people are starting to talk about here, and I like to talk about prevention the same way we talk about brushing our teeth. But it’s not very helpful in anti-trafficking because we don’t have an easy way to be able to do every six month checkups with every kid that we give a toothbrush to or that we give something to that we think is going to prevent them from being exploited. I want a vaccine. But prevention in this frame is very challenging to actually measure what we’re doing for real impact. So how would you describe prevention?

Jeni [00:02:41] So I think prevention for human trafficking, I think to really understand and appreciate what’s involved, you need to kind of look at the vulnerabilities of different populations. And so my lens comes more from the international realm because that’s where I focused my efforts. Although Sandie, I know we’ve talked about the U.S. context and ...

Sandie and Stacy Deeble-Reynolds discuss FOCUS, a program designed to intervene when youth experience a traumatic event and provide guardrails, support, care, and a safe environment at an early stage when need is most critical. They reflect on similar programs in other states and how someone can bring FOCUS to their community.

Stacy Deeble-Reynolds serves as the Director of the Student Achievement and Wellness unit at the Orange County Department of Education. Stacy has over 20 years of experience working with students, parents, educators and community stakeholders in Sacramento, Orange County, and throughout the state of California. She currently serves in various leadership capacities among Orange County work groups focused on student mental health and wellness, family engagement, prevention, and positive youth development. Stacy holds a bachelors degree from UC Irvine, and a Masters degree from CSU Long Beach.

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 285, Focus on Children Under Stress, with Stacy Deeble-Reynolds.

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, you were just telling me before we started our conversation today that you have known today’s guests for a long time. I’m so glad to meet her and to welcome her to the show. Stacy Debble-Reynolds is our guest today. Stacy serves as the Director of the Student Achievement and Wellness Unit at the Orange County Department of Education. She has over 20 years experience working with students, parents, educators and community stakeholders in Sacramento, Orange County and throughout the state of California. She currently serves in various leadership capacities among Orange County workgroups, focused on student mental health and wellness, family engagement, prevention and positive youth development. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine and a master’s degree from Cal State University of Long Beach. Stacy, what a pleasure to have you with us.

Stacy [00:01:34] Thanks so much, Dave.

Sandie [00:01:36] I’m very excited. We just finished Priceless a few weeks ago and your new program, FOCUS, received one of our Diamond Awards. And the thing to know about our Diamond Awards is they’re not just glitzy. Those awards are models of replicatable programs that people anywhere can learn how to do and make available in their own communities that contribute to healthy communities that are resilient and reduce exploitation and even human trafficking. So we were really honored to present this award to focus at Orange County Department of Education. And I’m not going to tell people what FOCUS is because I want you to do that, Stacy.

Stacy [00:02:32] Oh, thank you, Sandy. And you’re correct, this is definitely something that others can easily replicate. And it’s what we did. Here at the Orange County Department of Education we partner often with Vanguard University’s Ensure Justice conference. Thank you, Sandie, for inviting us to be a partner every year. And at one of the conferences we learned about Handle with Care. It’s a program in West Virginia that we decided to model FOCUS after. And this program I’ll tell you about it in just a second. But what I want to share is that we learned all about it at Ensure Justice. So we’re so grateful to you and to the conference that you provide every year because it’s a really wonderful opportunity for connections to be made and for people to do even more macro work in prevention.

Sandie [00:03:27] And I love the connections and the way ideas are spread. We have listeners in 148 countries. And I want to say to people, when you finish listening to this podcast...

Sandie is joined by Steve Kim, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Project Kinship, an organization that provides services, healing, and hope to individuals who have been affected by incarceration, gangs, or violence. Steve Kim discusses what is restorative justice and their work in the Orange County collaborative courts.

Steven Kim is the Co-Founder of Project Kinship where he serves individuals impacted by gangs and incarceration, with the aim to successfully re-integrate them back into the workforce, schools, and community. His dedication to breaking cycles of incarceration, gang membership, and community violence stems from over 15 years of working with traumatized and abandoned youth throughout Orange County.

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 284 Restorative Justice, with Steve Kim and Project Kinship.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today, we’re so glad to welcome the executive director and co-founder of Project Kinship, Steve Kim. Steve is the co-founder of Project Kinship, where he serves individuals impacted by gangs and incarceration with the aim to successfully reintegrate them back into the workforce, schools and community. His dedication to breaking cycles of incarceration, gang membership and community violence stems from over 15 years of working with traumatized and abandoned youth throughout Orange County. Steve, welcome to the podcast.

Steve [00:01:17] Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Sandie [00:01:19] I saw Steve really recently at our Priceless annual event where he accepted the Outstanding Nonprofit Diamond Award for Project Kinship. And our Diamond Awards are not just about we want to give somebody an award, but we want our community to see people doing this work well. And Project Kinship has done such an excellent job. We’ve been partners with our Live2Free student. They are part of our community. Steve often speaks at Ensure Justice and we’ll put some links in case you want to hear more from him in the show notes. But we especially value the achievements of Project Kinship in our schools and in our community. And I want to start our conversation with a quote from you, Steve. You said about Project Kinship, “the heartbeat of Project Kinship holds compassion and inclusion. It is a place where hope lives and people are reminded they are not a mistake. Something powerful happens as this truth is embraced and people feel their worth.” I’m curious, when you co-founded Project Kinship, did you have such a succinct idea of the vision for Project Kinship?

Steve [00:03:04] I did, Sandie. I think I wasn’t able to articulate it in such words at that time, but I think what I realized is for many years, carrying the heavy weight of shame, being multiple marginalized, and then being with folks in the community who carry similar burdens. And so I think carrying that for so much of my life and then seeing other folks in the community who’ve also carried encounters, the challenges I think I’ve lived with it. And then when Project Kinship started, give an opportunity to birth and to life an opportunity to heal together. And so we looked at Father Greg and Homeboy Industries, and they’re our mentors and our heroes that pioneered this work before us. And the way Father Greg and everybody at Homeboys is to carry the heartbeat of kinship, love and compassion gave us language and gave us a visual on how to do the work. And so I think over the years, we’ve found the language to wrap around our pain and our healing.

Sandie [00:04:11] So not all o...