Expansion of successful mentoring program for Child Victims of Sexual Exploitation.

The Mentoring for Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Initiative supports efforts of community service organizations to respond to the needs of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic sex trafficking (CSE/DST), including children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. Project sites will develop or enhance their mentoring capacity, facilitate outreach efforts, and increase the availability of direct services for child victims of CSE/DST. OJJDP expects project sites to integrate promising practices and proven principles into their mentoring service models; develop strategies to recruit, train, support, and maintain mentors; and provide a comprehensive array of support services to empower girls, boys, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth to move past their experiences with victimization to develop their full potential.

This program is authorized by Department of Justice Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 113-76, 128 Stat. 5, 64.

Motivating, Inspiring, Serving and Supporting Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY) will utilize this funding to continue their existing mentoring program for child victims of CSE/DST while increasing and enhancing services it provides to boys. The application identified the difficulties in providing outreach to and identification of exploited boys and detailed activities designed to address these issues. As a current FY 2011 CSEC Mentoring Initiative grantee, MISSSEY has demonstrated its ability to serve child victims of CSE/DST and implement a project of this scope thus strongly suggesting future success in enhancing its outreach and services to boys.

CA/NCF