CrimeSolutions
CrimeSolutions is a searchable online database of evidence-based programs covering a range of justice-related topics. The site is a tool to understand, access, and integrate scientific evidence about programs into programmatic and policy decisions.

The Vicarious Trauma Toolkit
Research shows that vicarious trauma, when left unaddressed, can lead to staff burnout, turnover, stress, and a lesser quality of services for victims. This OVC toolkit offers guidance to help organizations strengthen their ability to address work-related exposure to trauma. The toolkit contains a state-of-the-art repository with nearly 500 resources for the fields of victim services, emergency medical services, fire services, law enforcement, and other allied professions. 

The toolkit includes a Blueprint for a Vicarious Trauma-Informed Organization to help organizations begin the process of becoming more trauma-informed.

VictimLaw
VictimLaw, a comprehensive online database of federal, state, and Tribal victims’ rights law, is supported by OVC. It includes victims’ rights provisions that pertain specifically to victims of human trafficking in several categories of rights that are most commonly enacted from state to state.

In addition to OVC, many Federal Government agencies are working to combat human trafficking. While not a comprehensive list of all anti-trafficking efforts, the below list provides a summary of many of these initiatives.

U.S. Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to a collaborative approach to combating human trafficking and improving services for victims. Visit the U.S. Department of Justice's Human Trafficking website and view the information below to learn more.

Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS)
CEOS works to combat incidences of child exploitation and sex trafficking of minors. Issues under the CEOS umbrella include child pornography, illegal interstate or international transportation of minors, international parental abduction, computer-related exploitation of children, and child victimization on federal and Indian lands.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The FBI is responsible for investigating human trafficking. The FBI also runs the Innocence Lost National Initiative, focusing on sex trafficking of children within the United States.

Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit works closely with Assistant United States Attorneys and law enforcement agencies to streamline fast-moving trafficking investigations, ensure consistent application of trafficking statutes, and identify multijurisdictional trafficking networks.

National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, funds research on—

• the nature and extent of human trafficking,
• detecting and investigating traffickers,
• prosecuting traffickers, and
• services for trafficking victims.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, implements training and capacity-building initiatives related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The office funds the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which helps prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation; find missing children; and operates a toll free missing children's hotline. The office also funds projects to investigate the Internet-related crimes of child pornography and enticement through the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services
The Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services at the Administration of Children & Families, administers the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelter and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their children.

Office of Refugee Resettlement
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, at the Administration of Children & Families, helps refugees and other special populations, such as adult victims of severe forms of trafficking, obtain economic and social self-sufficiency in the United States.

Office on Trafficking in Persons
The Office on Trafficking in Persons, at the Administration of Children & Families, seeks to create pathways to freedom for victims and those at risk of human trafficking by—

• developing anti-trafficking strategies, policies, and programs to prevent human trafficking,
• empowering health and human services organizations to respond to human trafficking,
• increasing victim identification and access to services, and
• strengthening health and well-being outcomes of survivors.

Runaway and Homeless Youth Program
Through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program, the Family and Youth Services Bureau, Administration of Children & Families, supports street outreach, emergency shelters, and longer-term transitional living and maternity group home programs to serve and protect these young people.

U.S. Department of State

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons conducts awareness-raising activities, diplomacy with other countries, and funding for international anti-trafficking initiatives.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Blue Campaign
The Blue Campaign provides information on training and outreach, how traffickers operate, and victim assistance to help keep the public informed.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicates applications for T and U visas, which are available to foreign national victims of trafficking. Lawyers and advocates may check on the status of an already submitted case by calling the Violence Against Women Act Unit Helpline at 802-527-4888.

U.S. Department of Defense

Combating Trafficking in Persons
The Combating Trafficking in Persons Program Office establishes policy and ensures that the services, combatant commands, and defense agencies have the necessary tools to prevent trafficking.

U.S. Department of Education

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments
This Center offers a Human Trafficking in America’s Schools guide to help school officials understand how human trafficking impacts schools; recognize the indicators of possible child trafficking; and develop policies, protocols, and partnerships to address and prevent the exploitation of children.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

HUD's Continuum of Care Program—

• promotes communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness,
• provides funding for efforts by nonprofit providers and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma,
• promotes access to and effect use of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families, and
• optimizes self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

U.S. Department of Labor

Wage and Hour Division
The Wage and Hour Division enforces federal labor laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act. The Division assists with human trafficking investigations involving the violation of these laws.

The Division's Timesheet App allows users to record the hours that they work and includes a function to calculate overtime pay. The app is available to download in both English and Spanish.

Employment & Training Administration
The Employment & Training Administration sponsors CareerOneStop. This program offers services such as job-search, job-placement assistance, job-counseling services, and more to human trafficking survivors.

U.S. Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation trains transportation employees and the traveling public to recognize and report possible instances of human trafficking.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Anti-discrimination laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, particularly those prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, and sex, are an integral part of the fight against human trafficking.

It is difficult to measure the magnitude of human trafficking in the United States. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, due to the nature of human trafficking, many of these crimes are never identified by local, state, Tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies that investigate them.

Although statistics are available, they provides an incomplete picture of this complex issue. A National Institute of Justice-funded study “found that inadequate victim identification was a problem not only for law enforcement but also for victim service providers.”

Existing data on human trafficking focuses on identified victims. However in order for researchers to make accurate estimations on the prevalence of human trafficking, law enforcement, victim service providers, social services, and others need to be able to better identify victims.

View OVC human trafficking grantee data on services provided to trafficking victims. Data from OVC human trafficking grantees is available on total clients served, new clients served, services most frequently provided to clients, and more. Note: these data only represent services provided by OVC-funded human trafficking grantees and do not represent services provided to all human trafficking victims in the United States, nor do all human trafficking victims seek or receive services.

For further information, view the following resources.

• Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Human Trafficking page: provides data as required by the Combat Human Trafficking Act of 2015.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program site: provides annual data on human trafficking reported by law enforcement agencies.
• National Institute of Justice’s Human Trafficking page: includes research on the nature and extent of human trafficking.
• Attorney General’s Annual Trafficking in Persons Report to Congress: includes victimization data related to government efforts to combat trafficking.
• Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Annual Report: provides estimates on the prevalence of human trafficking around the globe.