“Human trafficking creates a new subset of people living in homelessness.”
Richard A. Sands, MA/Ret. PI – Networking & Community Outreach Committee Chair of Michigan Senator Judy K. Emmons’ Citizens Advisory Board on Human Trafficking, Approves and indeed endorses the following message… Posted, shared and published by the Michigan Rescue and Restore Coalition (See More Details and Information Below…) God Bless Senator Emmons, and thank you.

MSHDA will work to create intake questions to assist in identifying victims. In the meantime, the following screening questions were developed by an advocacy agency from Indiana: (Also, their entire screening tool and report is attached.)

 1. Are you able to come and go from home and work as you please? If not, are you
threatened if you try to leave?

 2. Does anyone pressure you to do something illegal, or is someone profiting off of
you?

 3. Do you owe anyone a debt that makes you uncomfortable?
 If the individual answers “yes” to any of these questions, we recommend you consider them a potential victim and question them further.

 In general, victims of human trafficking qualify as homeless and can receive Emergency Solutions Grant funds. Human trafficking creates a new subset of people living in homelessness. Therefore, MSHDA will be working with state and federal government and advocacy groups to assist victims, and as information, policies, procedures, etc. become available, it will be forwarded to you. If you feel a victim has come to your agency, contact your MSHDA Homeless Assistance Specialist and we will work to assist. 
Brochures on human trafficking will be distributed next week at the Summit. For
information and/or brochures, go to www.project-liberty.com.
 
http://www.outwaynehomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/human-trafficking-id-tool.pdf Human
Trafficking ID Tool

http://www.outwaynehomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/human-trafficking-of-children-in-the-us-used-2013.pdf Human Trafficking of Children in the U.S. 2013

http://www.outwaynehomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/commercial-sexual-exploitatin-of-children-csec-youth-homelessness-naeh-2013.pdf Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) & Youth Homelessness, NAEH 2013

Reposting, repeating and sharing: Print the flyer, fill-in your contact information, check-mark Yes and mail it to the Office of Senator Judy Emmons, P.O. Box 30036 Lansing, MI 48909 

Sometimes, really good ideas in the fight against the sex trafficking of kids get adopted broadly, and it gives hope to all of us in the advocacy community. Two bits of news landed in my inbox this month that give me hope that we can abolish the sex slavery of children in our lifetimes.

First off, New York State, long a leader in these battles, announced it was opening 11 courts dedicated solely to human trafficking and prostitution cases. In such courts, trafficking victims will no longer be treated as criminals, but in many cases can be referred to social services such as shelter, health care, counseling, education, job training, help with immigration issues, and drug treatment. That's what they need -- the opportunity for a fulfilling future, rather than time spent in jail, a permanent criminal record, and a likely return to the dangerous streets.

The other piece of good news this month came from the halls of the scientific academy. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences issued a 466-page study of the commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors, a long-overdue look at the objective reality of trafficking victims.

It is so gratifying to see the issue given the credence it deserves. Far too many publications -- some of them bankrolled by profits from Backpage.com, where ads for trafficked people appear -- have downplayed the severity of domestic sex trafficking. The Institute of Medicine acknowledges that victims are very difficult to count. Victims are often ashamed, conflicted about their pimps, distrustful of people who want to help them, and not at all likely to admit that they have been trafficked. In a summary of its recommendations, the report moves beyond the thorny question of victim counting. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-m-ryan/abolishing-human-slavery_b_4097711.html