Arizona Human Trafficking Hotline
Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, MSW, PhD; Tanya Alegria & Liliana Anthony | September 20 | 11:15 am-12:15 pm
Topic: Programming | Knowledge Level: Beginner
Access to services to victims of human trafficking in real time has been an ongoing challenge in the U.S. Victims of human trafficking rarely fit simply into the current service provision streams of unsheltered persons or victims of interpersonal or sexual violence. The Arizona community identified the need for a human trafficking specific response, and in February 2023, a statewide human trafficking hotline went live in Arizona. The Arizona Human Trafficking Hotline is a partnership between the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research with calls going to the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC) which is the Arizona Department of Public Safety 911 system. If the caller requests support services, the call is warm transferred to the Arizona Human Trafficking Hotline with trained agents. The Arizona Human Trafficking Hotline agents are led by a Lived Experience Expert with 12 years of experience providing supportive services including crisis response. The second Hotline agent is a native Spanish speaker. The Hotline agents provide immediate support through connections to services, assistance with transportation, emotional support, and assistance with providing basic needs. The Hotline agents can assist callers for up to 12 months of support. During the first year, the Arizona Human Trafficking Hotline received 1,187 calls with 112 unique cases developed with crisis and ongoing services provided. This presentation will describe the process of developing a response protocol including consent, information collection, response protocols, and capacity building activities in the Arizona community.
Presentation Objectives:
• Discuss the process of developing and implementing a statewide human trafficking hotline
• Describe the response protocols developed for the hotline including consent, response, and capacity building
• Discuss the challenges faced and lessons learned during the first year of the Arizona Human Trafficking Hotline
• Describe 4 specific cases and the hotline response activities