Grantees should have policies and procedures in place to ensure that staff working directly with clients receive adequate training, support, and supervision. OVC requires that key staff, including case managers, must have prior victim service experience or be under the direct supervision of a senior case manager or project director with such experience. OVC recommends that case managers receive clinical supervision from a licensed social worker.
Grantees should note that the OVC award condition that states that the project director and/or any other key program personnel designated in the application shall be replaced only for compelling reasons. Successors to key personnel must be approved by OJP, and such approval is contingent upon submission of appropriate information, including, but not limited to, a resume. Changes in program personnel, other than key personnel, require only notification to OJP and submission of resumes, unless otherwise designated in the award document.
Any human trafficking grantee (and any subrecipient thereof) may not permit any grant staff to interact with any minor in the course of activities under the award, unless the recipient or subrecipient first has made a written determination of the suitability of that individual to interact with participating minors, based on current and appropriate information.
Yes. Relevant grant-funded staff are required to participate in grantee orientations and OVC-sponsored training and technical assistance. OVC records and posts important orientation materials on its FY 2023 Anti-Trafficking Grantee Orientations and FY 2024 Anti-Trafficking Grantee Orientations pages so that grant staff can rewatch as needed or share with new staff. These trainings address a wide range of topics, including administrative supports and civil rights regulations, and a checklist can also be downloaded from this site to help staff record and report on training attendance. OVC’s website features links to resources and other training and technical assistance. OVC recommends that new staff and community partners take the Understanding Human Trafficking training for a foundational training on responding to human trafficking.
Please refer to award documents for any additional mandatory program training requirements.
Please refer to the notice of funding opportunity an award was funded under for program-specific requirements.
For most OVC Human Trafficking programs funded under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the purpose of the funding is to support victim service programs: therefore, applicants should not propose primary prevention activities under this program. Primary prevention activities are any activities designed to protect individuals prior to victimization (i.e., stopping victimization before it occurs). Examples of primary prevention activities may include activities focused on the perpetrator of a crime, or that are focused primarily on crime prevention. Training and outreach conducted using OVC anti-trafficking funding should have the primary purpose of identification and referral of victims, but prevention may be an ancillary outcome of the program. Activities focused on preventing the revictimization of trafficking survivors are allowable.
One exception to the paragraph above is OVC’s Preventing Trafficking of Girls Program, which is funded under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 and does support prevention and early intervention programming for girls who are at risk of, or are victims of, sex trafficking.
OVC is committed to an approach to human trafficking that is trauma-informed, victim- centered, survivor informed, culturally responsive; and evidence-based. Definitions of these concepts are available in the glossary of OVC’s Model Standards for Serving Victims and Survivors of Crime.
In line with these concepts and to enhance survivors’ access to victim services, starting in FY 2022, OVC anti-trafficking programs selected for award will be required to attest that they engage in practices that remove barriers to receiving services and support survivor autonomy. Such practices will reduce requirements to engage in services, promote survivors’ choice within service delivery, and protect victim privacy and confidentiality.
Funded programs will demonstrate their commitment to this approach by maintaining the following. (Note: Many of these requirements are mandated by federal civil rights laws, while others reflect OVC’s policy direction to recipients to enhance access to services and promote survivor autonomy.)
- Procedures or policies that provide all survivors access to safe shelter, advocacy services, counseling, and other assistance without exclusions based on actual or perceived sex, age, immigration status, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental health condition, physical health condition, criminal record, involvement in commercial sex, income or lack of income, or the age and/or sex of their children. For those programs that by their design target a particular population (e.g., youth, gender specific) there should be procedures or policies in place to ensure access to comparable, qualified services for other survivors seeking support.
- Procedures or policies that protect the confidentiality of information and/or privacy of persons receiving services.
- Procedures or policies that do not require victims to take certain actions (e.g., receive counseling, report to law enforcement, commit to sobriety) to be eligible for, or to receive services. For youth serving programs with justifiable mandatory requirements, a shared decision making model should be used to provide minors with agency in determining a course of action.
- Project designs, products, services, and/or budgets that consider the unique needs of individuals with disabilities, with limited English proficiency, or who are Deaf or hard of hearing, including accessibility for such individuals.
TVAP is a grant program offered through the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children & Families that funds comprehensive case management services for adult foreign national victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons, potential victims of trafficking seeking HHS Certification, and their qualified family members through a national network of service providers. OVC anti-trafficking grantees should expect that at times they may receive requests for referrals from TVAP-funded programs. Please consult the TVAP website for additional information on the program.
Aspire is a grant program offered through the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children & Families that funds comprehensive case management services for foreign national children and youth victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons, potential victims of trafficking seeking HHS Certification, and their qualified family members through a national network of service providers. OVC anti-trafficking grantees should expect that at times they may receive requests for referrals from Aspire-funded programs.
For purposes of OVC anti-trafficking awards, “key personnel” refers to the project director, and any other personnel designated in the application or award whose positions are essential to the successful implementation of the award. This includes, but is not limited to, project staff in leadership, supervisory, coordination, or project lead roles. Additional questions about key personnel may be directed to your OVC Grant Manager.
No. The only exception to this is OVC-funded Housing Assistance awards that implement a transitional housing model that limits housing assistance to 24-months. In this situation, if an individual needs housing assistance for longer than 24 months, please contact your OVC Grants Manager.
Foreign national minors in the United States, including unaccompanied children, who have experienced a severe form of trafficking in persons (forced labor or commercial sex) are eligible for benefits and services under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended through the issuance of an Eligibility or Interim Assistance Letter from the HHS Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP). These benefits and services include access to trafficking-specific case management services, medical services, food assistance, cash assistance, health insurance, and other needs to the same extent as a refugee.
Please visit the OTIP website to learn more about how to report trafficking concerns and request assistance on behalf of a foreign national minor, how child eligibility is determined, or to access additional trafficking prevention and protection resources.
All clients with Eligibility Letters have already been screened for trafficking and are therefore eligible to receive services from OVC-funded anti-trafficking programs without re-screening. Additionally, all clients with Interim Assistance Letters are eligible to receive services from OVC-funded anti-trafficking programs during the 120-day Interim Assistance period without re-screening. If your client has an Interim Assistance Letter, contact the OTIP Child Protection Specialist for updates on their case and to determine if further assessment needs to occur.