Abstract:
This report grows out of a conference held on March 12, 2013, that was hosted by Georgetown Law’s
Center on Poverty and Inequality; the Human Rights Project for Girls; and The National Crittenton Foundation.
The conference, “Critical Connections: A Multi-Systems Approach to the Domestic Sex Trafficking of
Girls,” gathered survivors, direct service providers, advocates, and state and federal government officials
to discuss the challenges of addressing the domestic sex trafficking of children and the importance of
working collaboratively to help identify and support survivors.
The first half of this report identifies the core components of a comprehensive and collaborative approach
to the domestic sex trafficking of girls.4 This approach, often referred to as “cross-system” or “multidisciplinary,”
requires cooperative work by relevant agencies and experts to identify and assess survivors’
needs and provide the treatment and tools the girls require to heal and to succeed.
The second half of this report describes how three jurisdictions have created a multidisciplinary response
to the sex trafficking of children, each from a different system perspective: groundbreaking work was
initiated in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, by a child advocacy center; in Los Angeles County,
by the juvenile justice system; and in Connecticut, by the child welfare system.