January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Human trafficking is a crime that has been reported in all 50 states with children and youth being common targets of related exploitation. It is critical that school staff members are properly trained and prepared to respond to instances of suspected trafficking.
The New Jersey Department of Education announced in an advisory that school staff are invited to attend a two-part training series on human trafficking that includes information on risk factors, warning signs and how schools can support and promote the awareness and prevention of human trafficking.
In alignment with the Guidelines for Schools on the Prevention of Human Trafficking of Students, the two-part series will offer the following:
- Part I: An overview of what human trafficking is, its risk factors, recruitment tactics of traffickers, behavioral indicators of trafficking and reporting and response protocols.
- Part II: Suggestions for ways in which schools can incorporate and provide prevention and awareness education utilizing a tiered systems of support lens on not only human trafficking specifically, but also on broader skills that can serve as protective factors for students.
Interested attendees should register for each session via NJDOE’s calendar of events.
Part I (Human Trafficking 101: The Basics for School Staff) will be held Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024.
Part II (Human Trafficking: Supporting Prevention and Awareness within Schools) will be held Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024.