Survivors of human trafficking should be at the center of any response to human trafficking. All victims deserve to feel safe and supported. Quality care, compassionate responses, and essential services are needed to help survivors recover from their victimization. Creating conditions of trust and respect will help victims reclaim their lives and help them move toward self-sufficiency and independence.

Trafficking victims typically need numerous types of emergency and long-term services. These include, but are not limited to, intensive case management, victim advocacy, housing, food, medical and dental care, mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, support groups, interpretation/translation services, immigration and other legal assistance, education, and employment and training services.

No one agency can respond to all aspects of the crime of human trafficking and the individualized needs of every victim. A coordinated, community-wide and multidisciplinary response is needed.

Everyone has a role! Victims of human trafficking are regularly identified and served by individuals working in child welfare systems, runaway and homeless youth programs, immigrant and refugee service programs, sexual assault programs, and domestic violence shelters.

You do not need to be a specialized human trafficking service provider in order to provide quality services for victims of human trafficking. However, it is critically important that when you do engage with victims, you should know what resources are available within your community and provide services that are trauma-informed, victim-centered, and tailored to the specific needs of trafficking victims.

OVC offers resources to support your efforts and those of your partners to respond to sex and labor trafficking, including—

• funding opportunities,
• training and technical assistance, and
• publications, videos, research, and statistics.

You can also connect with resources in your state or local community by—

• Visiting the services and task forces map, which offers information about OVC-funded human trafficking programs and OVC-funded task forces with whom you can network.
• Calling the National Human Trafficking Hotline, a multilingual, toll free, 24-hour anti-trafficking hotline, at 888-373-7888 to connect with anti-trafficking services in your area.
• Searching OVC’s Directory of Crime Victim Services, an online database designed to help service providers and individuals locate victim services in the United States and other countries.

Depending on their eligibility, trafficking victims may have access to—

• CareerOneStop (employment, training, and career resources)
• Children’s Health Insurance Program
• Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program
• Refugee Resettlement Benefits
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Recovery and Support Programs
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
• Supplemental Security Income Benefits
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Find additional information about available services on the Office for Trafficking in Persons, Services Available to Survivors of Trafficking web page.