Advocates urge expanded youth advocacy and highlight gaps in adult survivor housing

Speakers representing youth advocacy programs and statewide victim services outlined how coordinated care and relational advocacy are used to reach and retain commercially exploited youth and described gaps in services for adult survivors.

Holly Tupper of Unbound Now and Debbie Solcher of BCFS HHS described 'relational advocacy' that builds trust over time, uses trust-based relational intervention (TBRI) and motivational interviewing, and provides care coordination with DCFS for minors. Solcher said both Unbound Now and BCFS serve as contracted child-and-youth trafficking professionals and maintain crisis response capacity; Tupper said their teams can respond to hospitals and schools within 90 minutes and provide rotating advocates when needed.

Speakers said most juvenile trafficking cases in Louisiana involve familial traffickers and stressed the need for sustained relational supports. The panel noted Act 662 (a prior law establishing statewide juvenile trafficking response) as the basis for the current coordination model.

Several members raised the transition gap when youth turn 18: advocacy contracts and funding generally end at the 18th birthday, leaving few statewide adult-focused crisis services; presenters and legislators discussed the importance of extending advocacy services to age 21. A member reported that Eden Centers provides up to eight beds that can house male survivors but emphasized that statewide male housing is limited.

Public commenter Charity Trahan (Altus) described a QR-code-based Just-in-Time health-care response tool and a statewide training portal piloted in Mississippi that identified 20 victims and connected them to services within 30 days; she offered technical support for Louisiana pilot projects.

Task-force members agreed these lessons should inform the statewide protocol, in particular to ensure the protocol accounts for care-coordination, crisis-response timelines, and continuity-of-care for older teens and adults transitioning from youth services.