Riverside county is the fourth largest county in california in population size and geographical landmass and the 10TH largest county in the nation

The County of Riverside, California was awarded a $749,940 Cooperative Agreement from the Department of Justice's Services for Trafficking Victims program (CFDA 16.320) to establish an anti-human trafficking task force. The funding will create five key positions, including a task force coordinator, lived experience advisory board, bilingual outreach worker, and response team advocates. The goals are to expand the task force's intelligence network to increase the identification of labor and sex trafficking victims and provide comprehensive services to assist them towards survivorship. Since October 2019, the task force has served over 574 human trafficking victims and worked on over 473 investigations, resulting in 46 criminal prosecutions of traffickers. The award aims to further enhance the task force's victim-centered, multi-pronged approach to training, outreach, and service delivery across Riverside County, which covers over 7,300 square miles and serves a population of 2.5 million.

Human trafficking, both for labor and SEX, is a complex and pervasive issue that poses significant challenges for identifying, investigating, and prosecuting cases in riverside county. Barbara sinatra childrens center at eisenhower (BSCC) and the riverside county sheriffs department (RCSD) are located in riverside county, california. Rcaht is seeking $750,000 on behalf of the riverside county sheriffs department, the lead law enforcement agency, and $750,000 on behalf of the barbara sinatra childrens center at eisenhower, the lead victim service provider. Of the approximately 400 tips to the riverside county anti human trafficking taskforce annually, only three percent are reports of labor trafficking. Victims of human trafficking often are afraid to come forward. Members of rcaht have the passion, dedication, and capability to investigate incidents of labor trafficking. The challenge lies in identifying incidents throughout the vast geography of riverside county. Victim service providers have served over 574 human trafficking victims since october 2019, while rcaht investigative personnel have worked on over 473 labor trafficking and SEX trafficking investigations, with 46 criminal prosecutions of traffickers. Rcaht believes a victim-centered approach puts the survivors needs and interests at the center of all we do as a task force. This includes avoiding the arrest, charge, or prosecution of human trafficking victims for any offense that is the direct result of their victimization. Rcaht will never require a victim of human trafficking to collaborate with law enforcement as a condition of access to comprehensive victim services. Rcaht acknowledges the need to apply a diversified, multi-pronged approach related to training and outreach to increase the identification and reporting of human trafficking in all its forms. This proposal creates five coordinated positions as sub-recipients: a task force coordinator, lived experience advisory board, a bilingual outreach worker, and rcaht response team advocates. This grant proposal seeks to expand rcahts intelligence network to increase the identification of labor trafficking and SEX trafficking victims and assist them towards survivorship.