This award will fund the continuation of legal aid chicago's trafficking survivors assistance project (tsap), which has provided specialized services to survivors

This $800,000 project grant from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Victims of Crime will fund the continuation of Legal Aid Chicago's Trafficking Survivors Assistance Project (TSAP) under the Services for Victims of Trafficking program (CFDA 16.320). TSAP provides specialized civil legal services to survivors of human trafficking from vulnerable populations including H-2A agricultural workers, low-wage workers, domestic workers, and survivors of domestic violence. The project delivers free legal aid in areas such as immigration, housing, public benefits, domestic relations, employment, consumer rights, education, and survivorship issues. It will expand services through further integration of social work support and employment-related remedies for survivors, including know-your-rights education and post-trafficking job counseling. In addition to direct legal services, TSAP conducts training and outreach to professionals and communities to improve identification and referral of survivors. The overall goal is to enable survivor independence and stability through emotional, economic, and legal means.

Tsap's primary objectives are to address the individualized civil legal needs of trafficking victims from four highly vulnerable populations: h-2A agricultural workers, low-wage workers, domestic workers, and survivors of domestic violence. Tsap provides free, high-quality legal services in civil (non-criminal) matters throughout the state of illinois, including services related to immigration, housing, public benefits, domestic relations, employment, consumer rights, education, and trafficking survivorship. Additionally, tsap intends to expand its services by further integrating an experienced social worker into the project, to address the significant non-legal needs of survivors. These social services will fill gaps that cannot currently be addressed and will help survivors stabilize more quickly. Finally, tsap will expand its work in the area of employment responses, seeking work-related remedies for survivors. This effort will involve know-your-rights education and post-trafficking employment counseling, which will establish a solid foundation for survivors, helping them avoid exploitation and find good, fulfilling work. In addition to providing direct legal services, tsap works in collaboration with federal, state, and local law enforcement, local social service providers, and community- and faith-based organizations to ensure trafficking survivors are identified and referred for additional services in other areas of need. Tsap will conduct training and public awareness activities for professionals and community members in order to improve their knowledge of human trafficking and their ability to identify, respond to, and refer survivors. Tsap's ultimate goal is to enable trafficking survivors to achieve emotional, economic, and legal independence so they can live stable, self-sufficient lives, free from trafficking and abuse.