Combating Child Sexual Exploitation

Connecting children who have been commercially sexually exploited to resources and advocacy

Every day in Washington State, there are hundreds of children and youth who experience commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). Sexual and physical abuse at home, mental health issues, or homelessness contribute to a youth’s vulnerability to exploitation. All too often, these children continue to slip through the cracks because service providers lack the tools and training needed to recognize it is happening. Without a specific response to CSE and robust resources for survivors, children go without critical services and are sent back to the streets, and to their abusers—or are traumatized by a justice system that treats them like criminals, instead of victims of a crime.

What We’re Doing:

Implementing a statewide protocol to reduce child exploitation. CCYJ’s Project Respect coordinates implementation of the WA State Model Protocol for CSEC which was developed with over 200 partners across the state.
Building a victim/survivor-centered response network to support children. We’re creating a statewide, victim-centered response network for commercially sexually exploited children to identify and help them recover from the exploitation and coercion they have endured.
Supporting community-based CSEC and Human Trafficking Task Forces in 10 counties across Washington State. 73% of Washington State’s total population resides in these 10 counties, and these Task Forces work within their own communities to provide a local response to CSE.
Building relationships and expertise through providing training and technical assistance. CCYJ provides this support at the local level through working with regional CSE and Human Trafficking Task Forces to support their efforts.
Facilitating, in partnership with community organizations and agencies, learning and connection opportunities to Task Force communities across the state. These trainings include a CSEC 101 to ensure providers and stakeholders know the basics of identification and response, and a training focused on supporting LGBTQ+ young people who have experienced CSE. Historically, CCYJ has also convened 5 statewide CSEC conferences to increase multi-system coordination and collaboration, and currently hosts a yearly Task Force Lead Workshop to support the regional Task Force leadership for shared learning and networking.
Convening the CSEC Statewide Coordinating Committee per SB 6006 to work towards a statewide comprehensive response to CSEC and human trafficking. Currently, over 50 stakeholders attend this meeting, including leads from each county Task Force, survivor leaders, and high-level staff from state agencies such as the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and elected officials.

What We’ve Done:

Creating and Implementing the CSEC Task Force Report and Toolkit

CCYJ partnered with the University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs Student Consulting Lab to better understand how Washington State task forces responding to commercially sexually exploited children function, how they view success, and what tools and policies enable their success.

These findings led to the development of a detailed report and a toolkit of best practices that current and future task forces can use to better support CSEC systemically in their local communities and regions. Designed for ease of use, the toolkit provides practical guidance on nine components of a task force.

If you have questions about the toolkit or report, or would like additional information on task forces, please contact Becca Guest at bguest@ccyj.org.

At CCYJ, we have a zero-tolerance to youth and adult human trafficking and are committed to acting ethically, transparently and with integrity in all our business dealings, transactions and relationships. Our Youth Human Trafficking work reflects our commitment to enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure youth human trafficking is not taking place within our organization or in any of our business relationships. CCYJ’s centers the importance of collaboration, advocacy, education, law, and public policy in the fight against youth human trafficking,