V. Social Services

SOCIAL SERVICES RESOURCES FOR CHILD TRAFFICKING VICTIMS

ACCESS TO BENEFITS – CHILD TRAFFICKING-SPECIFIC

• Fact Sheet: Eligibility for Benefits for Child Victims – Describes and gives samples of eligibiity letters, benefits and service for child victims of trafficking.
  

• Child Trafficking Victims’ Routes to Federal Benefits – A report prepared by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service detailing what Federal Benefits are available to victims of child trafficking and how to obtain them.

• Memorandum of Understanding Between DOJ and HHS About Access to Federal Benefits for Child Trafficking Survivors – Sets forth basic functions and interrelationships of DOJ and HSS as they relate to child trafficking.

ACCESS TO BENEFITS – TRAFFICKING-SPECIFIC

• Public Benefits Eligibility for Immigrant Victims of Human trafficking, Domestic Abuse, and Other Crimes – Immigration Legal Resource Center Memo that discusses access to benefits for immigrant victims of human trafficking and domestic violence
  

Access to California State Benefits for Survivors of Human Trafficking Prior to Federal Certification

• Fact Sheet on Accessing California Benefits Under SB1569 – On September 29, 2006, California Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill that provides temporary and immediate access to social services for victims of human trafficking, domestic violence and other violent crimes prior to federal certification.

• SB1569 County Implementing Letter – The California Department of Social Services circulated an all-county letter with instructions for accessing SB 1569 in December of 2006. Since many agencies are unfamiliar with this new law you should bring this letter with you when applying for benefits for a trafficking survivors .

Sample Letters of Support Necessary for Acessing Benefits

• Sample Client Declaration for SB1569 Benefits
• Sample Attorney Letter for SB 1569 Benefits

ACCESS TO BENEFITS – IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

• The National Immigration Law Center website contains information about health benefits for immigrant children at:
  http:/www.nilc.org/ciwc/ciwc_ce/chdp_q&a_2003-11-18.pdf

SAFETY

• CAST Sample Safety Screening Form

SHELTER

The TVPA of 2000 provides that trafficking survivors are eligible for the federal Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program (URM):

Programs

• EthicaNet – Adopting of a Trafficking Victim – An adoption-related organization’s manual in regards to adopting a child victim of trafficking.

• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program
  For more than 25 years, LIRS has been one of only two refugee resettlement agencies authorized by the U.S. Department of State to arrange foster care placements for unaccompanied refugee minors. Over the years, LIRS has placed more than 5,000 unaccompanied refugee minors with licensed and trained foster families through 25 affiliated child welfare programs across the country. This link provides information about this and other programs run by LIRS including their Refugee Foster Care program and a host of faith-based initiatives

• Trafficked Child Placement and Technical Assistance Program – USCCB
  Descriptions of and links to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops programs aimed at finding culturally appropriate housing placements for victims of child trafficking

Shelters for Children in Los Angeles Serving Domestically Trafficked Children

Children of the Night
14530 Sylvan Street
Van Nuys, California 91411
Hotline: (800) 551-130
Main: (818) 908-4474
Fax: (818) 908- 1468
Services Provided: In-house for minors 11-17
About the Organization: Children of the Night is a private, non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded in 1979. It is dedicated to assisting children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are forced to prostitute on the streets for food to eat and a place to sleep. Since 1979, the organization has rescued girls and boys from prostitution and the domination of vicious pimps. It provide all programs with the support of private donations

Covenant House California
Los Angeles
Address: 1325 N. Western Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90027-5615
(323) 461-3131

Bay Area Program
2781 Telegraph Avenue
Oakland, California 94612-1733
Phone: (510) 625-7800
About the Organization: Established in 1988, Covenant House California has opened its doors to more than 145,000 homeless youth who suffer from the trauma of trying to survive on the streets. Covenant House California’s mission in its Hollywood and Oakland programs is to protect and safeguard all children of the street with absolute respect and unconditional love.

Larkin Street Youth Services
1150 Sutter St @ Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 673-0911
Neighborhood: Tenderloin
Languages: English & Spanish
Services Provided: Outreach, Education, Mental Health, Medical Care, Case Management, STD Screening, HIV Testing, HIV/STD Prevention, Family Planning, Pregnancy-Related Services, Substance Use Services, Crisis Intervention, Housing, Food/Clothing, Youth Development, Tutoring, Vocational Training.
About the Organization: Comprehensive services for homeless and runaway youth 12-24 including housing, support services, HIV testing, treatment and prevention, substance abuse and mental health counseling, and educational and vocational programs.

Social Service Organizations Serving International Trafficking Survivors

Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST)
About the Organization: The Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), established in 1998, has been a pioneer in the anti-trafficking movement in the United States and works exclusively with trafficked persons. CAST is a multi-ethnic human rights organization whose mission is to assist persons trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and slavery-like practices and to work toward ending all instances of such human rights violations.
Telephone: 213-365-1906 Fax: 213-365-5257
E-mail: info@castla.org

The Sage Project Inc.
1275 Mission Street,
San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone: 415.905.5050 Fax: 415.905.5054
E-mail: sage@dnai.com

ACTION Network, San Diego Youth & Community Services
About the Organization: San Diego Youth & Community Services (SDYCS) administers the Baja California-San Diego for Freedom From Exploitation (B-SAFE) Project.

San Diego Youth & Community Services
Hotline: 1-866-752-2327 or 1-866-Place2Stay
Office Line: 619-221-8600
Shelter provided: In-house for minors

Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC)
5348 University Ave, Suite 119
San Diego, CA 92105
Telephone: 619.582.4002 Fax: 619.265.0105
E-mail: mubava@msn.com
Contact: Marisa Ugarte

Social Service Organizations Serving At-Risk Children in Southern California

Healthycity.org
About the Organization: Healthycity.org is the largest online source of community resource information and demographic, economic, and health data in LA county. Use this website to search for community services, map community level data, and inform policy decisions.

Para Los Ninos
About the Organization: Para Los Ninos provides a comprehensive array of social and mental health services for children and their families. Para Los Ninos provides mental health counseling, in home counseling, education, parenting classes, support groups, and referrals for medical care.

Para Los Ninos Headquarters
500 Lucas Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Telephone: 213-250-4800

Hillsides
About the Organization: Hillsides provides mental health services to clients who are Medical eligible or for children with a history of abuse or at risk. Hillsides Family Center services include Intake and assessment, Individual treatment, Infant Mental Health, Group treatment, Case management, Psychological testing, Psychiatric evaluation, Medication management, Family therapy, Resource, and referrals.
For admission information, call: (323) 254-2274, ext. 410

Assistance League of Southern California
1370 North St. Andrews Place
Hollywood, CA 90028
Telephone: (323) 469-1973
About the Organization: Since the early 1900s, Assistance League of Southern California has been committed to giving youngsters from low-income families a good start in life with quality day care for infants and toddlers, a school readiness curriculum for pre-schoolers, after-school and vacation care, cultural enrichment and material assistance.

OTHER RESOURCES

• Center for Young Women’s Development (CYWD): Resources- Site with a comprehensive listing of social services resources in the Bay Area.
  
• Safestate.org: Focus Area: Human Trafficking Page – Human trafficking resources page of the California Attorney Crime and Violence Prevention Center
• Non-profit Christian organization providing homes to rescued victims.

Immigrant-Child Specific

• Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Caseworker’s Toolkit for Children in Federal Custody (login required): http://www.immigrationadvocates.org/link.cfm?10606

• The Immigrant Legal Resource Center offers materials on “Living in the US: A Guide to Immigrant Youth” in English, Spanish and Korean at: http://www.ilrc.org/resources/sijs/

• Serving Children Trafficking Survivors-UNICEF Guidelines on the Protection of Child Victims of Trafficking – Guidelines that set out standards for good practice with respect to protection of and
  assistance to trafficked children. These guidelines are based on international human rights instruments and look at the protection of trafficked children from their identification up to their recovery and integration. They shall be used together with other guidelines and tools focussing on prevention.