Now You See Me: The Human Trafficking Data Collection Project
Executive Summary
Human trafficking is still a real issue in the world and indeed in this country. With that said, there isn’t quality data on how many victims of human trafficking there are and who those individuals are, or at least demographic information. This greatly hinders our ability to design effective and targeted interventions.
In 2000, HHS was authorized to measure progress in prevention, protection, and assistance to victims of trafficking in the United States, and to expand interagency procedures to collect and organize data, including significant research on domestic and international trafficking. By the year 2015, HHS had new data collection responsibilities in health and human service systems, calling for coordinated, cohesive, and uniform data collection that will align programmatic priorities.
This project created, through collaboration with key partners, interoperable data fields and definitions that were most important to service providers, law enforcement, state/local governments and other key stakeholders. The goal was to learn more about who is being victimized to develop effective prevention strategies; identify key service and resource needs; and assess the social return on investment as a result of effective and efficient service delivery.
By the end of the Accelerator, end-users across all sectors supported the proposed data fields. This team learned that a comprehensive service delivery continuum; multi-sector training/awareness initiatives; and collaborative, systems infrastructure facilitate a demand for reporting and data coordination efforts. They also learned that all stakeholders want to know the incidence of human trafficking and to expand and/or improve existing anti-trafficking efforts.
At full scale, HHS will have a digital platform to monitor the number of trafficking victims served annually by HHS programs and interoperability partners. Data will inform service delivery; assess cost savings; and identify victimization trends.
A project supported by the: HHS Ignite Accelerator
Team Members
Latecia Engram, Team Lead, ACF
Rochelle Rollins, ACF
Adrienne Smith, OASH Office of Women’s Health
Milestones
June 2015: Project selected into the HHS Ignite Accelerator
July 2015: Time in the Accelerator began
September 2015: Time in the Accelerator ended
Project Sponsor
Katherine Chon, Director, Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP), Administration for Children & Families (ACF)
Additional Information
Contributing Partners:
Sheraud Ashton, ACF
ACF and HHS Human Trafficking Workgroups
