This publication presents recommendations for human trafficking services providers based on a research action study by Brandeis Heller School researchers partnered with Project TRUST (Trauma Response to Uplift Survivors of Trafficking).
This publication by Brandeis’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management/Institute for Economic and Racial Equality (IERE), with the Sanar Institute and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, presents recommendations for providers, organizations, and policymakers to improve the implementation of trauma-informed practice supporting human trafficking survivors. Brandeis researchers partnered with Project TRUST (Trauma Response to Uplift Survivors of Trafficking), a national training and technical assistance (TTA) program funded by the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) that supports agencies as they integrate trauma-informed practices (TIP) into their work. This partnership was designed to understand how human trafficking providers implement TIP and what successful practice looks like. The authors set out to identify the resources and supports providers need to become increasingly trauma-informed through a national survey and in-depth interviews, identifying barriers that make it challenging to effectively implement TIP. This report is organized around three themes: survivor autonomy; representative and culturally responsive organizations; coalitions and collaborations. Providers want to learn from one another what works, how to be successful in TIP implementation, and how to overcome barriers while upholding their professional and organizational missions. This project revealed that human trafficking providers have an overall understanding of the importance of TIP but implementation presents a variety of challenges. Three key findings detail a way forward: (1) there is a discrepancy between theoretical TIP standards and how TIP is implemented, which can compromise survivor autonomy; (2) effective implementation of TIP requires a diverse and culturally responsive workforce; and (3) providers are often the only person in their organization supporting trafficking survivors. Providers working specifically with labor trafficking survivors face an additional lack of general resources, research, and expertise as the field prioritizes responding to sex trafficking.