Dignity Health Human Trafficking Victim Response Hospital Pilot - Bakersfield

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is committed to enhancing the nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and provide leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. The OVC FY 2018 Advancing Hospital-Based Victim Services Demonstration Initiative seeks to improve linkages between the victim services field and hospitals and other medical facilities to increase support for victims of crime, improve victim outcomes, reduce chances of further victimization, and provide dedicated technical assistance resources to support these efforts.

With this award, the Dignity Health Foundation will improve support offered through their Human Trafficking Medical Safe Haven Clinic to survivors of labor and sex trafficking in three hospitals in Bakersfield, CA. OVC funding will enhance their efforts to develop this hospital-based human trafficking response model as evidence-based practice by validating the screening tool used by health care professionals in the clinics, implement procedures and staff training on trauma-informed care, and build a coordinated clinical-community response to aid in the physical and emotional recovery of trafficking survivors. CA/NCF