Receive Occupational Training and counselling. Good afternoon. Id like to thank everyone for being here. The scourge of Human Trafficking is the modern day equivalent of slavery. Eradicating this horrific crime and helping its victims have been a top priority for president Trumps Administration and for the department of justice. I thank the president for his steadfast commitment to this issue, and i thank ivanka for her leadership and for hosting this meeting today. I also thank all the survivors and their advocates here for their courage and determination to end this evil scourge. In late january, a number of us were here for the white houses summit on Human Trafficking. We noted this year marks the 20th anniversary of the trafficking victims protection act, a law thats enabled great progress in this fight. I promise that the Justice Department would do everything in our power to stop Human Trafficking and to help survivors, and today im pleased to announce an important step in keeping that promise. The Justice Department is awarding more than 35 Million Dollars in grants to support housing for victims of Human Trafficking, the largest ever federal investment of this kind. These funds will help 73 organizations in 34 states to film an urgent need of to fill an urgent need of trafficking victims. When survivors are eliminated from the nightmare of trafficking, they face a new challenge, nowhere to live. Tragically the trauma from trafficking can give way to new dangers, with homelessness and result in revictimization by predators. No one should have to endure that heart break. Thanks to the funds awarded today and to the devoted organizations including many faithbased organizations, using them, survivors of Human Trafficking will be able to count on a safe place to stay and a real chance to restart their lives. The funds shall support multiple forms of shortterm Housing Assistance, including helping survivors make rent payments, covering utility bills, or security deposits or paying moving expenses. The three inspiring organizations represented here today will use their grants to help more than a hundred people, and the total number helped across the nation will be in the thousands. These grants, the first ever federal program dedicated exclusively to providing housing for survivors of Human Trafficking are part of approximately 100 Million Dollars in total grants that the Department Anticipates awarding this year to combat Human Trafficking. Aside from financial support, the department will continue to use the full force of our laws and our Law Enforcement resources to investigate, prosecute, and punish the people behind this cruel and criminal scourge. I thank all of you for your commitment to this righteous cause, and i look forward to hearing from you today. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Attorney general. We all appreciate how passionately youve championed this cause and been a true warrior for the survivors of Human Trafficking and for vulnerable populations across the country. Just last week, i was with your co chair of the missing and murdered cold cases that k force for miss Cold Case Task force for missing and murdered native americans, as we opened the first of seven offices. Today the second of the seven is being opened in grand rapids, south dakota. Thank you for your work in advocacy on behalf of those individuals as well. The president stated very early in the administration, it was only weeks after he had come to the white house, that he would put the full force and weight of this government behind ending Human Trafficking, arguably the gravest of human rights violations. Since then, the president has signed nine pieces of legislation into law to do exactly that. Funds have also been allocated and really show that this government is prioritizing and putting funds where it matters in the hands of those on the front lines, so just in this past year, in addition to the grants that well be talking about today, 70 million was added for enhanced prosecutions and 123 million for supporting the state and local governments as they further this work. All of this was over and above what congress had appropriated in the year prior. Doj Housing Assistance grants are absolutely critical, and the attorney general outlined some of the ways in which these grants will be used by the Great Organization that convened around this table in addition to 73 from numerous states across the country, a total after 35 Million Dollars in grants, and that really being just the beginning. But six to 24 months of housing support, including rent, utilities, critically counselling services, vocational education, and job training services, so many of the wraparound support items necessary to ensure that victims, survivors, can take their place back in society and resume resume their lives in the most supportive fashion possible. The Human Trafficking hotline has articulated the fact that Housing Assistance is the number one need, the Number One Service requested in all of these Human Traffickingrelated crisis cases. So this is targeting a specific need that has been highlighted for the department of justice. I think covid made the need all the more urgent. In many cases, victims find themselves sheltering in place, with their traffickers, without another option. So like with so many other things, covid has really underscored urgent [no audio] [inaudible] ivanka trump, thank you very much. Attorney general barr, thank you. My name is brooke rollins. I have the incredible blessing of working alongside ivanka and general barr and most importantly this president every single day as we work to lift all americans to a real shot at the american dream. This president from day one talked about he was coming to washington, most unlikely and unexpected president having never run for office as a private businessman from new york city to fight for all americans, but especially the forgotten men and women of this country, forgotten no more. And as we move forward, i think theres no doubt all of you ladies sitting around the table, and general barr, but all of you ladies sitting around the table, were standing on your shoulders. The work that you have done and continue to do in your homes, back in your states, in your cities, youre the real heroes here, and its just such an inspiring place to be at this white house, where we can work alongside you, work alongside ivanka with her leadership, general barr, and again this president , to really focus on those americans who need our help the most. When i look at the numbers, im astonished, 25 Million People around the world living in modern day slavery, 25,000 in america, the United States of america, most of those women and children since shelter in place, the calls to the hotlines have gone up 40 . This is a crisis, but it is a crisis that is solvable because of all of you who are here with us today. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know on behalf of this president and our Vice President and our entire administration, this issue doesnt drive the headlines. Other issues do. But im not sure there is a more important one than this, as we continue to fight for this country, but especially for people who cant fight for themselves and just need a leg up. So im so proud and so grateful to my colleague, heather fisher, who will say a couple of words. I believe this is right, but were the First White House to have a full time person working on Human Trafficking, republican or democrat. So kudos to our boss, the president. Kudos to heather for giving up another career to come in and join us to fight, again as general barr side, this righteous cause and ultimately to help thousands upon thousands and around the world millions of women and children and men who are caught in this terrible issue. With that, heather, please go ahead. Thank you all. im grateful to you all for prioritizing our efforts to address this monumental problem. A special advisor for Human Trafficking and im privileged he was invited as president and his administration in this room to be the first to assumethis role within the whitehouse. This year we celebrate 20 years of putting freedom first. Through the signing of the protocol and passage of the victims protection act of 2000, together we accomplished much in the antitrafficking field but we have much more to do. Mike carswell is a domestic policy to work across the various white house interagencies to continue driving forward the actions laid out in the present executive order on combating Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation in the United States. The president signed this executive order january 30, 2020 and housing for survivors of humantrafficking is outlined as a priority area in this executive order. In 2018 i participated in a nationwide Justice Sector initiative designed to increase Human Trafficking investigations and prosecutions. We contacted stakeholders in rural, suburban and urban areas all consistently identified housing for victims and survivors as a top need and gap. Stable and safe housing for survivors is a crucial component to overall stability for individuals who are aggressively reclaiming their lives after a trafficking experience. Often the lack of adequate housing puts survivors of Human Trafficking at risk of reexploitation. The efforts of the department of justice to fund housing for survivors of Human Trafficking addresses a significant gap in services. Today as ivanka said we celebrate leaders and ngos as the doj announces the grant recipients. During my 10 year combating Human Trafficking ive witnessed amazing accomplishments that survivors go on to achieve when they are provided with the appropriate services these housings so deserve. From survivor leaders to Victim Service providers Law Enforcement unity leaders, healthcare providers, educators, faithbased organizations and government officials we all have an important part to play in combating Human Trafficking. This is truly an all hands on deck strategic effort and the collaboration is key. Now id like to transition to our ngo providers and survivor leaders you see around the table for some of their remarks and id like to ask lawson from the Jordan CommunityResearch Center in Greater Cleveland to share about their work to provide transitional housing to women in their community. Greetings everyone. I feel honored and privileged today to serve and advocate for women who have been trafficked exploited and muted. I myself being trafficked as a young adult understand the trauma and shame associated with how you are viewed and sometimes not supported due to false perceptions of who and what you are. Many people ask me where the name jordan comes from. In this context jordan symbolizes the river people had to cross over to get to canaan which represented prosperity and freedom and whats more interesting is the stronger ones had to prepare the way for the others before they can possess their own inheritance. Jordan crc provides Holistic Service as a means for transformation with love. I accept this grant on behalf of women who are in need of housing, treatment and spiritualsupport to recover, stabilize and heal not just for themselves but their children. You are creating a social enterprise that will not only provide shelter but jobs and opportunities for advancement. I am grateful and honored to participate in this roundtable with advisor trump , attorney general barr and others are here to represent theircause. The ub inspired to affect change by remembering the others who may not know that they have a voice. I tell the ladies i today, passion will provide a platform and with god all things are possible to those who believe. 19 for this opportunity and the other opportunities to come. Thank you for your efforts, 16 years ofsustained efforts in this area and we are so grateful for your leadership. Next ill turn to the joint Community Resource center, if you would mind providing a few remarks as well. [inaudible] im not only here for myself but im also here to represent many voices and many faces. I am a victim of Human Trafficking. I was dehumanized, depraved, tortured, beaten, starved, threatened by knifepoint. If i did not do what they commanded me to do. I wasgiven drugs and became addicted. The fear and shame of my addiction kept me separated from my family and children. I was in a cycle of hopelessness, living on the streets, homeless and addicted and lost hope of receiving my life back. I was admitted into Human Trafficking court. This is where my life began to show hope. I asked to go to the jordan house for recovery. I was amazed that i received so much more. I received love and compassion. In a safe, stable environment where i could build myself from my foundation to an example of what jordan had to offer. I became a senior here to guide and love. The other ones coming up after me. I have a peers support certificate. I am studying to be amentor for the court system. I have a degree in services and i am grateful for this opportunity. Thank you cc for your hard work supporting other women in the cleveland area. We are grateful for sharing your time here today. We also welcome julia thomas, ceo for alternatives for schools for detroit michigan. We look forward to hearing more about your program to provide stable housing, counseling,educational opportunities , job readiness and life skills turning to homeless women ageof 15 to 22 and their children and i turn it over to you. Alternatives for girls were committed to helping homeless girls and women avoid violence and exploitation. Were helping them to explore and access resources, supports and opportunitiesto grow strong and to make positive choices for their life. We do this through three areas of service. Outreach,shelter and prevention. In 2019 alternatives for girls served almost 6000 girls and women who are street based outreach and the other services. We participate with Law Enforcement and Human Trafficking and then provide services to girls and women who are liberated in those areas. We provide Domestic Violence intervention, safety, counseling and a range of services to runaways and Homeless Youth as well as working with highrisk girls in the school age levels to help them to stay in school to provide leadership and support to their peers and to aim for college and careers that will stay ahead of the times. Michigan has a population of over 9 Million People and almost seven percent of them live in detroit. 52 percent of detroiters are women and 25 percent of them are youth under the age of 18. Last year just under 2000 detroiters were counted as experiencing homelessness and across michigan a total of 364 cases of Human Trafficking werereported. We know thats an underreported count. We absolutely know that. We also know that metropolitan detroit is an epicenter both in michigan and the midwest for Human Trafficking. Especially sex trafficking. We recognize there are intersections between homelessness and Human Trafficking. Our experience demonstrates that Affordable Housing along with a range of other supports are key components for strengthening the numbers of girls and women overcoming not just the trauma of sex trafficking but also the full range of challenges that we face in our detroit community. We are grateful to you sir attorney general barr and to advisor trump for your work in this area. We are tremendously grateful for this award from the Us Department of Justice Office of victims of crime and this funding will allow afc to house many girls and women who have experienced Human Trafficking and provide powerful support that will help them get on the path to healing, thriving and becoming. Leaders themselves. And contributing numbers to our community. We will use this funding well and it will have a tremendous impact on vulnerable girls and women in detroit who need us. We appreciate all your efforts for focusing on so many areas of this work, not only housing. Next id like to ask helga fernandez to share about her work in miami and areas for a number of years and you wouldnt mind giving us a few comments, wed appreciate it. I want to echo the gratitude to be invited around the table to have an opportunity to share with jordan and certainly all these courageous survivors around the table about the experience of serving and impacting community of people. We have been offering housing and services for 60 years. We provide on a daily basis to 1100 men, women and Children Residential Services from emergency housing, transitional treatment all the way to permanent housing. Among the special populations we serve include veterans, unaccompanied homelessyouth, youth aging out of foster care and in particular the survivors of Human Trafficking. Florida ranks third in the nation of Human Trafficking cases and in Miamidade County where we lived is the biggest trafficking hub in florida. Probably not surprisingly because we are a tourism base and tourism drives a lot of Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation and in particular because we have a lot of great events like the super bowl thatbrings a lot of movement in our community. The camilla house phoenix project offers a 16 bed Residential Treatment Program for adult victims of Human Trafficking. We know that adult victims of Human Trafficking are more often than not minor who are human late traffic and eventually became adult and tragically continue to be trafficked in horrible circumstances. Our clients come from referrals but the most frequent referrals we serve come from Law Enforcement and Homeland Security, they come from the state attorneys office. And other state agencies. They provide a, we provide a resource for Law Enforcement to provide safe shelter to many survivors are also going to be victims witnesses. Trying to stop the cycle by taking the courageous act of actually testifying against their traffickers. A very scary situation for many of the women we serve, extremely frightening. In fact it was through Law Enforcement that we had one of our leaders, one of our wonderful survivors aj came to us, 33 years old referred by the stateattorneys office. Childhood two common among survivors, she was in and out of foster care offering from depression, cocaine addiction as a result of being exploited in several states since the age of 18. She reported being repeatedly physically abused by her trafficker. Incentive management, Supportive Services today she is clean, graduated from a Culinary Arts Program we provide on our campus and is currently a manager in training at a local restaurant. Were excited about that and importantly after 17 months of Supportive Services through our rapidly Housing Program she was placed in permanent housing in the community. Like aj there are numerous stories among survivors we have served. We see they trafficked for two yearswith a minimum quota to make 500 per night or else. The trafficker repeatedly also physically abused her and by the time she arrived to a referral from Homeland Security in addition to her opioid addiction she suffered from ptsd, post Traumatic Stress disorder. After seven months with us getting clean obtaining her ged, getting a job she was able to move into her own apartment. 70 percent of the survivors will go through the phoenix project since theyve open to open our doors in 2015 have moved into stable housing. Phoenix is a Program Designed to meet the needs of the survivors and sometimes as simple as letting them sleep believe it or not. Or often helping them overcome the trauma theyve experienced. Our survivors come to us suffering from ptsd, Anxiety Disorders and substance abuse. They have no place to go and many times and very sadly going home is not an option. I can tell you more about the evidencebased models that we use, the therapeutic activities that we offer, everything from yoga to zumba but at the end of the day the act ofproviding the survivors a safe shelter is the most important thing we can do. Especially for those that are victim witnesses who need a safe place to stay while they wait to go tocourt and face there trafficker. You are immensely grateful for the support of the department of justice who will allow us to provide services. We appreciate the opportunity to join this roundtable with ag barr and advisor trump to learn about the other programs and certainly to hear the courageous stories of our survivors and we thank you very much for miami survivors we will be helping in the future. Thank you hilda and i want to thank you for your collaboration with the Us Attorneys Office and Homeland Security investigation especially in these charged offices to make a difference the work the task force is doing so youre doing more than working handinhand with Law Enforcement to make sure traffickers are suggested and we appreciate that. Next id like to introduce my Dear Colleague tonya gould and its so grateful you can be here today as a member of the Us Advisory Council and a founder of identifiable needs. We welcome your commentsas well. Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you to the white house, advisor trump and the Us Department of justice, attorney general barr for inviting me to speak and hosting this roundtable or your attention to the important issues of Housing Assistance for survivors of Human Trafficking. I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to this administration or continuing to support the United StatesAdvisory Council on Human Trafficking. As you know the council is composed of Human Trafficking survivors will advise the federal government on ways to improve antitrafficking programs and policies. We as a council are grateful for the partnerships forged with federal agencies and to put it simply a meaningful and actionable conversations we have been able to have those agencies that make up the president s Interagency Task force to monitor and combat trafficking in persons. So this is my second time on the council. In the last two years this administration has listenedto us , asked Great Questions and put into practice what we have made recommendations to do. So thank you again to the white house and to this administration or hearing, for honoring and for empowering survivors voices. Throw out my lived experience my voice held no value. I wasnt protected as a young person should be. My hope, my aspirations, my personal vision for my future was of no concern to my trafficker. So personally this experience to be heard and to feel valued has helped me advanced on my own path and i am forever grateful. Your ongoing support for this council provides a model to the world on how to be victims centered and talk about austin what it means to be victims centered. Trauma informed and survivor lead. Thank you. So about housing. I want to take you just for a quick moment into my shoes. I actually was here in bc when a buyer kidnapped me. And i was able to get away from him and when i got away from him i had no support, no one to turn to. I was on my own and all Law Enforcement officer picked me up and paid my way home. And i was on the bus and i remember passing this house in a rural area and im on the bus and i would look out to my right and theres just all this green grass and trees and white house that was abandoned and i remember thinking i wish there was a place i could just go to just rest, learn about myself and start over again area and at that thought i said i promise that if i get out of this situation i will do something about it. So sitting here today and being a part of this is evidently a 360. Thank you so much. Thank you so much tonya. Housing as you can imagine is an enormous relief for survivors of all colors and ages. Immediately following our trafficking experience, we need a safe moment to be in a place where no one needs anything from us the cost so much has been taken. In the days, weeks and months following we need homes and assistants that provide holistic approaches to care, expect approaches to expand consideration not only in longterm Housing Needs of Mental Health and dependency needs as well. We need homes that do not just focus on jobs and quick turnarounds but give us as faithbased, safe space and time to learn, to heal and rebuildand understand our selfworth , value and focus in life. We need homes and support with trained staff and trauma to help reverse what the traffickers and buyers did to us. In the council 20 20 report we called on federal agencies to prioritize the Housing Needs of not only survivors but also their family as part of a two generation approach for survivors who have experienced trafficking and have children they are raising. We called upon federal agencies to increase services and assistance to underserved and underreporting populations such as those who identify as lgbt queue communities and are black and brown communities. These survivors face additional hurdles even and have even more limited access to services and Housing Assistance. Housing assistance and services are not targeted enough or individualized to them and their specific needs. They are often misconceptions about housing and access to services as well as sigma associated with them. And the truth is many survivors feel unseen, unheard and misunderstood. We hide. We hide from those who harmed us. We also died from those who are committed to help us. We call on agencies to understand and address these complexities, to promote trauma informed practices in Housing Assistance initiatives and commit resources to ensure accessibility to all survivors of trafficking. Thank you again or including the council to this roundtable. Thank you for your continued support of the council and listening to our recommendations onHousing Assistance for survivors. Thank you so much for your courageous leadership and were so pleased to be able to partner with you and the other Council Members as we continue to drive forward our administrations priorities on Human Trafficking so with that ill turn it over to ag barr to close us out. Id just like to thank all of you for participating in this session this afternoon area you, im very grateful for your leadership in tackling this critical issue. Its leaders like you who do so much for victims frankly inspire us and inspire us at the Justice Department to redouble our efforts and move forward with shoulder to shoulder with partners like you so once again you for coming and telling us about your organization and the importance of this issue. The importance of this grant money and of providing housing for victims and survivors. And we look forward to continuing this fight together. Thank you mister attorney general and thank you i think the whole theme of the Justice Department for the tremendous work beingdone on this front. Anisha had mentioned that victims are trafficked, theyre exploited but theyre also muted. This president said he would be the voice for the voiceless and the work thats being done by so many including incredible survivors and so thank you so much jennifer for sharing a bitabout your story. It gives a voice to many and you represent a beacon of hope for so many as well. This is a great day in that these grants will undoubtedly when we hear the stories of the organizations and how many people theyve assisted and such meaningful and tangible ways these funds will undoubtedly be used very well to uplift many across this nation and this really is the beginning because this president , the department of justice, the white house, all administrations are fully committed to ending trafficking in modernday slavery once and for all so thank you for lending your important voice and perspective to this discussion and we look forward to being with you all again in the future as we take steps forward so thank you so much and thank you heather. My greatcolleague is doing an amazing job for us at the dpc. Thank you all. [inaudible] engine watch book tv this summer. Today at 8 pm eastern settle in and watch several hours of your favorite authors. Saturday we are featuring books written by former first ladies including rosalynn carter, barbara bush, hillary clinton, laura bush and Michelle Obama and watch next saturday as we feature the late nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning authortori toni morrison. Watch book tv all summer on cspan2. Book tv on cspan2 has taught nonfiction books and authors everyweekend. Coming up sunday, msnbc analyst is early in a maxwell with her book the end of white politics on identity politics and how to create a more inclusive democratic party. Interviewed by latino ceo and founding president maria kumar. And at 10 40 5 pm maryland republican Governorlarry Hogan on his life and career with his book still standing. Watch book tv on cspan2 this weekend. The perjury case against president from former National Security adviser Michael Michael flynn will be reheard by the full us court of appeals for the dc circuit on tuesday. The battle of 10 judges will decide whether a Federal District court judge must dismiss the charges against Michael Flynn as recommended by the Justice Department. Here the case live tuesday at 9 30 eastern on cspan and cspan. Org orlisten live with the free cspan radio app. Up next, emilys list hosts a conversation on women in politics democratic president ial candidate joe biden and governor Michelle Grisham book at this forum which washeld by videoconference. Happy 35th anniversary. Happy 35th. What was i doing in 1985 . I was just getting toward myself. It was the year i ran my First Campaign and i wa