Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2022, $750,000)
The Mississippi Human Trafficking Council (formally known as the Mississippi Human Trafficking Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking).will develop, expand, and strengthen a multidisciplinary approach to fight human trafficking (HT). This funding will support expanded task force partnerships, refinement and implementation of new and existing protocols, meaningful survivor engagement, and implementation of proactive approaches that are victim-centered and survivor and trauma-informed. Mississippi covers 46,907 square miles, with a 2020 estimated population of 2,961,279 people – with 1,569,926 or 51% of its population living in rural Mississippi. Among the 82 MS counties, 17 (20.7%) are classified as metropolitan (urban) and 65 (79.3%) are classified as non-metropolitan (rural), based on 2020 NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme. Additionally, the MS Band of Choctaw Indians (the only federally recognized Indian Tribe in MS) with 10,000 members and 35,000 acres of land are included. The work of the Mississippi Human Trafficking Council (TASK FORCE) will benefit the entire state. The relevant state and federal agencies and services providers are in this area. (FY2022) The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), Mississippi Department of Public Safety (MDPS) is requesting funding in the amount of $750,000.00 under Category Purpose Area 2 (Competitive ID: C-OVC-2022-00009-PROD) and the Office Against Interpersonal Violence (OAIV), Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is the service provider applicant requesting funding in the amount of $750,000.00.
Human Trafficking Investigation and Prosecutions
MBI
Cases
New Investigations
Active Investigations
Number Arrested for HT Incident
Confirmed Juvenile
Victims
Confirmed Adult Victims
MBI Database
Tips
MBI HT & related prosecutions
2019
167
Hired Agents
2020
115
63
43
33
12
227
1
2021
255
137
30
10
66
278
6
Total
370
200
73
43
78
672
7
Human Trafficking Victims Served
The Center for Violence Prevention
Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence
Children’s Advocacy of Mississippi
Year
Victims Served
2019
47
7
31
2020
92
14
87
2021
121
29
127
Total
260
50
245
OAIV subgrantee1, Center for Violence Prevention (CVP), The Tower Shelter for HT victims responded in-person to 186 suspected victims of HT since January 1, 2021, assisted with 270 tips for reports of possible trafficking of children. Ninety-eight of those individuals enrolled in outreach services.
In 2021, the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence a vetted OAIV provider of HT services, provided services to 28 survivors. Due to confidentiality, we are unable to determine which victims are overlapping.