We Rise: Expanding Services for Minor Victims of Sex Trafficking in Essex County, MA

Centerboard’s We Rise Program seeks to expand to flexibly address gaps in services for female minor victims of sex trafficking in currently underserved communities with high rates of sex trafficking in Essex County, Massachusetts.  We Rise is a comprehensive, survivor-involved, multicultural program aimed at helping survivors to safely find a path out of the life.  We Rise will provide client coordination, safety/well-being services, protection/safety planning (24-hour hotline and counseling), clinical services, group substance abuse support, provision of personal items and short-term emergency housing via a pilot specialized foster care safe house model, family reunification, and transportation services. 

We Rise will also provide referrals and follow up for legal services, long-term mental health care, physical health needs, childcare, financial assistance, and housing.  We Rise works closely with key community partners to ensure the smooth and specialized provision of necessary services.  We Rise provides free training to the community with a focus on law enforcement, schools, and service providers so that they can recognize red flags of sex trafficking and respond in a trauma-informed manner.  We Rise works in concert with the Essex County District Attorney’s Task Force to provide coordinated services and to raise public awareness about this very underground issue.