Politics
DCF joins human trafficking fight
Florida has the seventh most cases on record nationwide.
Florida’s Department of Children and Families is involved in the larger state fight against human trafficking.
The agency rolled out $900,000 in grant money for law enforcement recently, and DCF Secretary Shevaun Harris says that’s only part of the agency’s commitment.
“We know that elevating awareness of human trafficking is key to combating and hopefully eliminating human trafficking from our state,” said Harris. “Our Department has created toolkits, assessments, and screening tools to give Floridians the knowledge and resources necessary to identify human trafficking risks and indicators for our most vulnerable children and adults. Through new law enforcement grants from the Department, we are investing in our partners as we come together to end this heinous crime.”
DCF is highlighting several initiatives.
Its Child Welfare Human Trafficking Identification Assessment is a tool for investigators to see who might be at risk.
Additionally, the department’s Community Human Trafficking Identification Guide designed in collaboration with the University of South Florida helps teacher and medical professionals identify potential cases of child exploitation and trafficking so they can be reported.
“The screening items included in the Community Human Trafficking Identification Guide describe the most common of trafficking conditions and experiences to enable a community of bystanders to identify victims more efficiently,” said Dr. Joan Reed, Director of the USF Human Trafficking Risk to Resilience Research Lab.
Reed adds that the “implementation of the tool to be in coordination with the comprehensive existing Human Trafficking tools highlights Florida’s efforts in using evidence-based practices to prevent trafficking.”
Florida is currently ranked seventh in the nation for human trafficking, with 738 cases reported in 2024 according to World Population Review. For states with the largest populations, Florida comes in third after California and Texas.
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Florida Politics’ Andrew Powell contributed reporting.
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