January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. While the term human trafficking has gained much more awareness in the past few years, there is still confusion around the term and many people aren’t aware of the growing statistics happening right here in the U.S. and Texas. According to the U.S. Department of State, “trafficking in persons,” “human trafficking,” and “modern slavery” are umbrella terms – often used interchangeably – to refer to a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex. The two primary forms of human trafficking in the United States are forced labor and sex trafficking. Research from The University of Texas at Austin reveals that at least 79,000 youth in Texas have been victims of sex trafficking.

The Mission to Combine a Lived Experience with Service

Rhonda’s inspiring journey in anti-child trafficking advocacy began many years ago when she experienced domestic violence and sexual abuse as a young child. Between the ages of ten and twelve years old, she was forced into the hands of a four-time convicted child sex trafficker and taken on weekend trips where she eventually was put into a child pornography ring in Lubbock, TX. Years later, after the abuse had ended, Rhonda began to understand the depth of what happened to her. 

Mark Your Calendar for the 2024 Texas CASA Conference

Our full 3-day Texas CASA Conference is back on October 23-25, 2024, in Galveston. This year’s theme All Aboard: Mapping Uncharted Waters focuses on how we can learn to ride the waves of the changing child welfare system as a team. We encourage CASA staff, board members, and volunteers as well as anyone involved in the child welfare system to attend. Registration opens August 14, 2024. For questions, please email Lindsey Lee at llee@texascasa.org. 

Federal Lawsuit Updates and Next Hearing Information

In November, the plaintiffs representing Texas children filed this motion asking the court to hold the state in contempt, sanction officials and consider putting parts of the foster-care system under federal receivership. Last week, Judge Janis Jack heard three days of witness testimony and arguments regarding whether the State of Texas has made progress in protecting and caring for children in care and whether the state should be held in contempt for a third time.

New Report from the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services 

Four of the Single Source Continuum Contractors (Belong, 2INgage, Saint Francis, and OCOK) utilized funding appropriated by the 87th Legislature in collaboration with Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services to design and implement a joint Community-Based Care (CBC) capacity building plan to address inadequate placement capacity for children in care. The goal of this report is to highlight ways to build quality capacity, strengthen the system, and advance the goals of CBC. Read the full report here.

New Episode of The Fix Featuring Candice Dosman

On this episode of The Fix, Advocacy Initiatives Director Candice Dosman shares the importance of engaging, finding and working with family members and fictive kin in the creation and development of a lifetime network for young people in the foster care system. Dosman explains how Texas CASA adopted and spread the Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE) approach across the state and how it has evolved into a collaboration between various child welfare organizations and the CASA network.

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