Specialized Services and Mentoring for Child and Youth Victims of Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation through the Devereux DELTA program

The FY 2019 Specialized Services and Mentoring for Child and Youth Victims of Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Category 1 supports efforts of eligible applicant organizations to increase the availability of direct support services for children and youth who are victims of sexual exploitation/domestic sex trafficking (SE/DST), develop or enhance their mentoring capacity, and facilitate outreach efforts to identify these youth. Under this category, OJJDP expects successful applicants to provide mentoring and other needed support services to these youth, develop or enhance mentoring service models and mentor training based on best practices to focus on the needs of youth who are at risk for or are victims of SE/DST, and develop or update strategies to recruit and maintain mentors to serve these youth.This program is authorized by Pub. L. No. 116–6, 133 Stat. 13, 115; Pub. L. No. 115-141, 132 Stat. 348, 423.

The Devereux Florida DELTA Program is a youth-centered, community-based program within the Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Florida continuum of care, providing services to youth under the age of 18 who are at risk for or are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The project will provide therapeutic mentoring and other support services to vulnerable youth through a relationship-based connection with supportive adults who help each individual set goals for themselves regarding safety, healing, and independence. This will include advocacy, service connection, life skills, supportive mentoring, and therapeutic processing by an assigned case manager and/or trauma therapist who have intensive training in trauma and exploitation. Project staff will conduct intakes; coordinate assessments of the youth’s strengths, needs, trauma symptoms, and behaviors; and produce youth- and family-directed service plans to address those needs. They will coordinate, advocate for, and develop services identified and outlined in the plan; monitor the youth’s progress; and evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of services. The project’s goals are to increase individual strengths and reduce individual risks for incidences of exploitation in their life. Specifically, the supportive adults assigned to work with identified youth will help to increase life skills and social connection and reduce trauma symptoms and behaviors by psycho-education, service connection, and therapeutic processing. CA/NCF