BRAVE Trauma Recovery Center: Expanding Access to Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking

Through this award, Buffalo Rising Against Violence at Erie County Medical Center Trauma Recovery Center (BRAVE TRC) will expand comprehensive services to support the needs of human trafficking survivors and increase community capacity to screen, identify, and appropriately refer survivors for services. BRAVE TRC will utilize project funds to hire personnel dedicated to project activities, expand and strengthen victim services for all forms of human trafficking, develop and expand trauma-informed screening protocols across hospital systems in order to more effectively identify trafficking victims. The project will also increase community collaboration and capacity regarding identification, services, and referral pathways for trafficking survivors, with data-driven decisions guiding outreach, training, and collaboration activities. BRAVE TRC will identify victims of all types of human trafficking and ensure that a comprehensive array of services is readily available to meet the individualized needs of survivors, including foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, male survivors, and those exploited by labor trafficking. Additionally, strategies to ensure accessibility of services for victims who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have limited English proficiency will be implemented and communities especially vulnerable to trafficking and the organizations serving them will be of particular focus for this project.