Housing & Healthcare Access for Homeless Survivors of Human Trafficking

Health care access

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

In addition to human trafficking disproportionately impacting communities of color, the criminal legal system (CLS) approach, predominant in the anti-trafficking movement, contributes to further systemic racism. However, the CLS approach contributes to over-policing and arrests of survivors and other community members, making them further vulnerable to more trafficking and harming future employment prospects, housing access, and custody proceedings.
In contrast, a public health approach to human trafficking addresses human trafficking prevention and response through reducing risk factors at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. There is growing evidence that survivors are equally if not more likely to interact with healthcare professionals than with the police.
Existing human trafficking healthcare response models largely focus on identification in hospitals, leaving out unhoused communities that are unable to access the formal healthcare system.

This project will expand Cast's Survivor Advocate program to reach unhoused individuals who lack access to formal healthcare systems, in partnership with street-based medicine and harm reduction practitioners. It will disrupt systemic racism in human trafficking prevention and response through a new collaborative model that brings together social services advocates, street-based community health workers, and public health officials in Los Angeles County.
Cast will train Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) at Wellness Equity Alliance (WEA) on supporting survivors of human trafficking. CHWs will then incorporate screening for human trafficking experience into their ongoing street medicine work. Patients identified as potential survivors will be connected with Cast staff for further assessment and support. Those confirmed as survivors will be offered further services within Cast. Cast will also conduct weekly ‘ride-alongs’ with WEA’s street medicine team to provide ongoing, in-person support. Throughout the project, LA County Office for Women's Health staff will provide guidance to ensure that the intervention aligns with the public health model of anti-trafficking work recently adopted by the LA County Board of Supervisors, support with identifying and addressing challenges in project implementation, and lead on developing policy recommendations within and beyond the county/state.

Responding to evidence on healthcare needs and utilization among survivors, as well as the harms of the criminal legal system approach, there has been increasing support for shifting towards a public health model in addressing human trafficking. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion in 2023 for the county to pivot towards a public health approach to human trafficking. Existing human trafficking healthcare response models largely focus on identification in hospitals, leaving out unhoused communities that are unable to access the formal healthcare system. This project will address that gap to reach unhoused individuals who lack access to formal healthcare systems. As a result, policy and practice recommendations will be developed to implement the public health approach to human trafficking in Los Angeles and beyond.