To: Board of Supervisors
From: Marla Stuart, Employment and Human Services Director
Report Title: Proclaim January 2025 as Human Trafficking Prevention Month
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ADOPT a resolution declaring January 2025 as Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Contra Costa County as recommended by the Employment and Human Services Director.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No fiscal impact for this action.
BACKGROUND:
January is designated as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the widespread and devastating issue of human trafficking since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000.
National Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January 2025 will continue to raise awareness about the scope and complexity of human trafficking prevention. During this month, organizations, government agencies, and advocacy groups focus on educating communities about the signs of trafficking, offering support services to survivors, and strengthening prevention measures. The observance underscores the ongoing need for a coordinated response at local, national, and global levels to combat trafficking, increase victim identification, and improve survivor rehabilitation and legal protections.
The theme for Human Trafficking Prevention Month 2025 is Connecting the Dots. Strengthening Communities. Preventing Trafficking. This theme highlights the importance of a holistic approach to preventing human trafficking, recognizing its intersection with other forms of violence and social issues.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
None.
CHILDREN’S IMPACT STATEMENT
This resolution supports all five of Contra Costa County’s community outcomes of the Children’s Report Card: (1) "Children Ready for and Succeeding in School"; (2) "Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood"; (3)"Families that are Economically Self-Sufficient"; (4) "Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing"; and (5)"Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life for Children and Families.”
The Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County, California
IN THE MATTER OF proclaiming January 2025 as Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Contra Costa County:
WHEREAS, human trafficking is a form of interpersonal violence and a crime in which force, fraud, coercion or similar means is used to compel victims into commercial sexual and labor exploitation, affecting individuals of all genders, citizenship status, ages and backgrounds; and
WHEREAS, human trafficking can happen to anyone, certain populations are at greater risk, including people affected by abuse, violence, poverty, unstable living situations, or social disconnection, as well as those systemically marginalized and underserved; and
WHEREAS, human trafficking requires a coordinated, community-wide response engaging diverse stakeholders including survivors, community members, educators, advocates, law enforcement, social workers, and professionals from a broad range of disciplines, agencies, and expertise, among others; and
WHEREAS, the 40 partners to the Contra Costa Human Trafficking Task Force strive to identify and provide services to survivors, investigate and prosecute all forms of human trafficking, and build their and the community’s capacity to respond to and prevent human trafficking; and
WHEREAS, in the first eleven months of 2024, Community Violence Solutions, the lead victim services provider in the Task Force, provided comprehensive, trauma-informed services to 183 victims of human trafficking, including crisis intervention, case management, advocacy, emergency housing assistance and linkage to resources; and
WHEREAS, in 2024, law enforcement agencies investigated 79 cases of sex and labor trafficking and identified 123 potential victims who were connected to services, and the District Attorney, the lead law enforcement agency in the Task Force, filed 18 cases of human trafficking and related crimes; and
WHEREAS, the Contra Costa Alliance to End Abuse recognizes human trafficking as a public health issue that is preventable by building individual, community, and societal understanding and resilience, eliminating social and historical inequities, and improving the environmental conditions where people are born, learn, live, work, play, age, and worship.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Contra Costa County does hereby proclaim January 2025 as Human Trafficking Prevention Month and urges all residents to take collective action to strengthen communities by reducing the conditions that contribute to exploitation, building resilience, and creating environments where people are protected from human trafficking and other forms of violence. During this month, we recognize the survivors of human trafficking and commit to building a future in which no person is deprived of human dignity or denied their inherent human rights of liberty, security, and access to justice. Let us make it known that human trafficking has no place in this city, this county, this nation, or this world.