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Local Human Trafficking Task Forces and Coalitions: Promises and Pitfalls
September 18, 2020 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Live Web Event 1-2:30 p.m., EST Friday, Sept. 18, 2020
Hosted by: Florida’s Center for Child Welfare at USF. Audio will be provided through your computer. Attendance will be limited to the first 1,000 people who join this event. Please join early.
The Big Bend Coalition Against Human Trafficking (BBCAHT), The Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center (STAC) and the Florida Department of Children and Families invite you to participate in BBCAHT’s Monthly Third Friday Community Training Program.
This free webinar (description below) is one in a series that BBCAHT and STAC is organizing during this time of social distancing and to keep up our Third Friday training schedule. We are happy to extend this invitation to friends and colleagues throughout the Big Bend and beyond – please join us, but registration is required.
DESCRIPTION: The best way for local communities to support survivors of human trafficking and to bring traffickers to justice is to work together. Florida has a number of local human trafficking efforts that successfully collaborate to these ends, and one is the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force. This session will explore the challenges in building a local coalition to end trafficking, explore successes, challenges, and promising practices, discuss the role of child welfare professionals and the Department of Children and Families on this local effort, and provide ample time for participant questions and discussions.
PRESENTERS: Caridad Mas-Batchelor is the Task Force Coordinator for the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force. In this role, she oversees the over 400-member task force funded by the Office for Victims of Crime and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. She works collaboratively with partners and key stakeholders in the community to ensure access to information and resources. Caridad also provides training and conducts outreach to increase awareness and identification of human trafficking survivors in the South Florida area. Caridad provides technical assistance nationally including to the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime as a peer-reviewer informing the grant application process. Previously, she supervised the anti-trafficking caseworker and provided direct assistance to survivors for the Anti-Human Trafficking Program at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Miami. She has worked with vulnerable populations for over six years. Caridad holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Florida International University and a Master’s in Law in Intercultural Human Rights from St. Thomas University School of Law.
Theresa Kennedy returned to the Department of Children and Families as the Regional Human Trafficking Coordinator for the Southeast and Southern Regions in January 2018. In her current role she provides guidance to Child Protection Investigators, Case Management staff and community providers related to the identification and service provision of Human Trafficking victims, as well as assisting with the development of legislation, policy and procedures related to this issue. In 1997 Ms. Kennedy was hired as a Family Services Counselor and during her time with the Department she was promoted to Family Services Counselor Supervisor. In 2003, Mrs. Kennedy accepted a position with ChildNet, Inc. and served as their first Service Center Director during Broward County’s transition to community-based care. Ms. Kennedy remained with ChildNet for 14 years and served as the Program Officer of Case Management, Adoption and Youth Services for ChildNet, Inc. Her areas of expertise include independent living services, missing persons, intake, case management, adoptions, termination of parental rights, performance management, advocacy, service and resource networking, and community partner development. Theresa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Fordham University, and is a Certified Child Welfare Professional. She is the former Co-Chair of the Statewide Independent Living Advisory Council and Florida Coalition for Children Independent Living Sub Committee. She is a currently a member of the Ark of Freedom Alliance, Collective Impact Steering Committee.
Sponsors: STAC in affiliation with Big Bend Coalition Against Human Trafficking and the International Rescue Committee.
Contact: STAC at stac@surviveandthriveadvocacy.org or 850-597-2080.
If you have technical questions or concerns, please contact Center Support staff at centersupport@usf.edu.
STAC needs your support to sustain these important webinars. Will you donate today? Each gift helps to bring this vital information to the many people who are empowering survivors and preventing human trafficking. The only way we can maintain these programs and this work is with YOUR help.
Suggested donation: $20
