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Clearwater Human Trafficking Immersion Project

Award Information

Award #
2008-VT-BX-K101
Location
Congressional District
Status
Closed
Funding First Awarded
2008
Total funding (to date)
$99,730

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2008, $99,730)

The city of Clearwater Area Task Force on Human Trafficking (CATFHT) will serve as an anti-human trafficking task force leadership site. As a leadership site, the city of Clearwater, in collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute (UMCPI), will develop and implement an immersion-based training program to be delivered to five BJA-funded human trafficking task forces, and perform follow-up training and mentoring, as needed, to visiting task forces.

The project goals and objectives are to: (1) develop subject matter content for the immersion learning process; (2) identify 'best practices' for use by new or existing anti-human trafficking task forces; and (3) serve as a training location for selected task forces identified by BJA and provide intense training to selected attendees in the form of mentoring, coaching, advising, and demonstrating successful practices. Training participants will include up to four critical members of a visiting task force: an Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of prosecuting human trafficking cases; a task force commander; a victim services provider representative, funded by OJP's Office for Victims of Crime; and a law enforcement officer assigned to human trafficking investigations.

The immersion training will cover the following elements: (1) develop a better understanding of the capabilities and proper roles of each task force member agency and improve intra- and inter-agency and multi-disciplinary collaboration; (2) access other agencies and resources that may be available to bolster investigative capabilities and services to victims; (3) import lessons learned and promising practices of the leadership task forces; (4) enhance dissemination of information to the community and law enforcement with regard to human trafficking and its victims; and (5) improve the accuracy and reliability of human trafficking investigations and victim statistics.

The city will use the grant funds to pay for law enforcement overtime, travel (follow-up meetings at remote sites), teleconferencing equipment, training materials, web-site maintenance, and office supplies.

NCA/NCF

Date Created: September 25, 2008