Beacon: AI/AN

The Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 created a 5% set-aside to improve crime victim services in Indian country in the Crime Victims Fund receipts that the Office for Victims of Crime used to make grant awards in Fiscal Year 2019. Project Beacon: Increasing Services to Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Victims of Sex Trafficking (Project Beacon) furthers the goals of the set-aside funding by increasing the quantity and quality of holistic, victim-centered services available to assist American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking in urban areas. By bridging the divide between American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking and nonprofit, nongovernmental programs that serve American Indians and Alaska Natives, Project Beacon aims to provide these victims with access to services that meet their cultural, linguistic, and spiritual needs.

The Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB) is a nonprofit community health program that provides comprehensive healthcare to about 6,000 patients annually in Seattle and King County, Washington. Founded in the 1970, SIHB’s mission is to promote health improvement for urban American Indians and Alaska Natives in King County, and nationally. SIHB offers its patients access to primary medical care, dental services, behavioral health counseling, a 65 bed residential substance abuse treatment program, maternal health care, and a Diabetes education and management program that are all rooted in traditional medicine.

SIHB will use the funds from this program to: (1) hire a 1.0 FTE Community Engagement Coordinator, a .50 FTE Traditional Indian Medicine Practitioner, and a .75 FTE Intensive Case Manager to staff the proposed project; (2) develop a plan to deliver comprehensive services to meet the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking; (3) execute memoranda of understanding with key collaborative partners in order to create a seamless referral network for victims of sex trafficking; (4) conduct community education and outreach activities to increase the community’s awareness of how sex trafficking impacts American Indian and Alaska Native victims; and (5) provide training to a multidisciplinary audience of professionals who are responsible for responding to incidents of sex trafficking in order to promote a culturally appropriate, victim-centered response to Native victims of sex trafficking.

CA/NCF