January brings awareness to Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Human trafficking, including commercial sexual exploitation, impacts children and youth of all ages and demographics. There are many resources available to educate child welfare professionals about human trafficking, including information from the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services (DFPS) regarding vulnerability for children and youth with a history of child welfare involvement.

The DFPS Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Division educates and spreads awareness on how to identify, report, recover, and restore child and youth victims of trafficking who are served by DFPS. The division created a webpage with information on Texas’ Human Trafficking Prevention Month and published a 2024 Participation Guide with resources, including registration for important events such as a Lunch and Learn Series that occurs every Friday in January 2024. For more information, please contact [email protected].

The Office of the Texas Governor’s Child Sex Trafficking Team (CSTT) builds capacity in Texas to serve victims of trafficking and to raise awareness to prevent, interdict, and prosecute child exploitation. The CSTT team provides awareness materials, education resources, and research for judges, attorneys, child welfare professionals, and other stakeholders related to child sex trafficking, all of which are available on the Office of the Governor’s website.

On January 11, 2024, DFPS, and the Texas Attorney General, encourage all Texans to wear the color blue and use #WearBlueDay to share pictures on social media in an effort to spread awareness of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Additionally, the Office of the Attorney General has created a list of human trafficking red flags which child welfare professionals can use to learn how to recognize possible signs of exploitation.

According to Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS), an estimated 25% of young Texans who face homelessness also have experienced at least one instance of commercial sexual exploitation. In response, TNOYS recently published a manual for professionals working with youth experiencing homelessness or housing instability entitled Meeting the Needs of Children and Youth Experiencing Commercial Sexual Exploitation. TNOYS created this guide by engaging 59 youth to share their perspectives and experiences and it provides five recommended action items for professionals.

By utilizing the above resources, judges and attorneys can actively engage in human trafficking awareness and prevention, to the benefit of children, youth, and families experiencing the child welfare system in Texas.

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For a complete list of Resource Letters, please visit the Children's Commission webpage. Information provided by the Children’s Commission should not be read as a commentary by the Supreme Court of Texas or any other court. The Children’s Commission website is not equipped to facilitate dialogue or conversation about matters related to the information in this communique. For more information about the Children’s Commission, please visit our website.

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