The FOCUS Project: Assessment, Intervention, and Collaboration in Lucas County, Ohio
Amy LaGesse, MA; James Andretta, PhD, ABPP & Monica Klonowski, PhD | September 18 | 3:15-4:15 pm
Topic: Programming | Knowledge Level: Intermediate
The FOCUS (Finding youth, Outreach, Comprehensive assessment and immediate services, Unified long-term services, and Service evaluation) Project is a collaborative program in Lucas County, Ohio that involves working with community agencies to identify youth at risk for human trafficking through assessment and to refer those at risk to a human trafficking intervention and other related services as needed. This presentation will provide an overview of the FOCUS Project, including validation of the FOCUS-S assessment for youth, an overview of building a continuum of care, and a review of de-identified assessment data. Attendees will learn about the process of creating a validated screening tool for youth, understand the steps and lessons learned to building a continuum of care in collaboration with community partners, and review descriptive information regarding who is at risk and what the most prevalent risk factors were for youth involved in the project.
Presentation Objectives:
• Review the process of creating a validated screening tool for youth through the utilization of research and measurement strategies
• Describe the steps and lessons learned when building a continuum of care in collaboration with community agencies who work with youth
• Discuss who is at risk for trafficking and other related services and what risk factors were most prevalent through a review of deidentified assessment data