Trafficking Is Not Black and White

Hi Friends!!

Today, I want to talk about human trafficking and sex trafficking.

I was recently told that I need to break down the different types of trafficking because when we hear the word trafficking, we automatically assume sex trafficking.

I learned the difference while working in the foster system.

Sex Trafficking

I first noticed the sex-trafficking problems we have in America while working at a group home for girls ages 12 and up. I noticed that the majority of the girls coming through the group home had either experienced sexual abuse or had been trafficked.

One thing about working in a group home is that you see children from counties throughout Georgia, not just one county. This gave me an opportunity to see patterns involving children from different areas.

I also noticed that some policies, laws, and procedures appeared to make it easier for children to become vulnerable to traffickers.

For example, I was told that if I physically stopped a child from leaving the group home, I could be arrested. The procedure was to allow the child to leave and then contact law enforcement to issue a BOLO, or Be On the Lookout.

I quickly learned that if a child reached the two-mile mark before law enforcement arrived, the child was gone.

Most of the children returned because of bad weather or because they eventually decided to come back. However, sometimes they didn't return at all.

What stood out to me was that there were no Amber Alerts, no search parties, and no 911 calls in the situations I witnessed. The children were simply listed as runaways.

That concerned me because a child who runs away from a group home may be extremely vulnerable. They may be running toward someone who has already groomed them or someone who intends to exploit them.

Another way I witnessed trafficking concerns within the group home involved the girls themselves.

There were girls in the group home who had pimps. I witnessed situations where one girl would encourage another girl to run away with her and then turn that girl over to a pimp.

This was one of the first times I began to understand that trafficking doesn't always look like what we imagine it looks like.

Human Trafficking

I eventually moved from working at Elks Aidmore's group home to working as a case manager for foster homes.

I thought my experience in the group home had prepared me for case management.

I had no idea about the moral decisions I would have to make on a daily basis.

As a case manager, I filled out what was called a waiver. This waiver helped determine the rate the agency would receive per child, per day. The rate was based on the behaviors and needs of the child.

Logically, you would think that the more trauma a child has experienced, the more services that child would need to reach stability.

However, the funding did not go directly to the child. It went to the agency providing the placement and services.

The child could receive more services based on how the needs and behaviors were documented on the waiver, and those services were then paid accordingly.

For example, a child with runaway or self-harm behaviors could receive a higher level of funding than a child who was considered a base-level placement with fewer identified behaviors. Mental-health services could be paid through Medicaid, daycare through CAPS, and other services through different funding sources.

This is where I began to feel that my position was becoming more like a sales position rather than a position focused solely on the best interests of the child.

Agencies are supposed to find homes based on the needs of the child. The goal should be to find the right placement so the child can remain stable instead of experiencing multiple moves.

Instead, I found myself negotiating with foster parents to take children.

When I explained the child's behaviors to a foster parent, I would sometimes hear:

"I'm not dealing with that. I need more money."

And sometimes, I didn't blame them.

Being a foster parent is a difficult job. Trying to get a child to school when that child refuses to go is difficult. Trying to manage behaviors that come from significant trauma is difficult.

But this is where the cycle begins.

Instead of getting to the root of the problem, we can end up negotiating around the behavior.

The child is in an environment they did not choose to be in. They have experienced trauma.

They may be angry, scared, confused, or simply trying to regain some control over their own lives.

And, in my experience, working the case plan toward reunification did not always feel as important as maintaining the child in the foster home.

That is where I began to question the system.

Quotas

I also had quotas on top of my daily job duties.

I have worked in sales positions before, so I understand the pressure that comes with meeting sales goals.

But the pressure I experienced to maintain children in the agency's homes was greater than any sales position I had ever held.

I am including pictures from our monthly meetings so you can see the breakdown of the census.

The picture is self-explanatory. You will see the residential program, the number of children placed, and then the goal.

That tells you whether we reached our goal or not.

I am also including a picture of the CEO stating that we were $60,000 short for the month of August 2019 and telling us to maintain children in the homes.

I want you to see these documents for yourself.

Why I Left

I hope this breakdown between human trafficking and sex trafficking gives you a better understanding of why I believe trafficking is not always as obvious as we think it is.

To me, trafficking is not always someone grabbing a child off the street.

Sometimes exploitation can happen through systems, relationships, money, manipulation, grooming, or control.

I believe we need to be willing to look at situations where vulnerable children may be treated more like numbers or products than human beings.

This was one of the reasons I could no longer work in the system.

I wasn't fired. I quit.

I quit without having another position lined up because staying silent felt like becoming complacent and becoming part of the problem.

Trafficking isn't always black and white.

It isn't always someone standing in front of you yelling, "This is trafficking!"

Sometimes, it pushes against your moral compass little by little to see how far you are willing to go.

So I have a question for you:

What lengths would you go to keep your job?

And more importantly...

At what point would staying silent make you part of the problem?

God Bless! Until next time ❤️