A Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) is a group of professionals from distinct disciplines that collaborates from the point of referral and throughout a child and family’s involvement with the CAC. MDTs coordinate interventions to minimize potential trauma to children and families and enhance overall services, while preserving and respecting the rights, mandates, and obligations of each agency. The Collaborative builds on the MDT model to more effectively address the immediate and long-term needs of exploited children and youth.

*This definition is based on the 2017 NCA Accreditation Standards for Members.

THE ROLE OF THE COORDINATOR

Each Regional Care Coordinator plays a crucial role in implementing The Collaborative. These positions are located within Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) throughout the state. They serve as liaisons between law enforcement, judicial partners, and victim service organizations in their regions, working to strengthen and enhance the multi-disciplinary response to child and youth trafficking. Acting as central points of contact for various agencies, the Regional Care Coordinators contribute to a more cohesive and effective system response. Additionally, they provide training and outreach efforts to build up community infrastructure and capacity.

Unbound Now and BCFS Common Thread offer vital crisis response and advocacy services tailored to youth of all genders, aged 17 and younger. These services specifically cater to individuals who have been confirmed as victims of human trafficking or who exhibit significant risk factors as identified by the Commercial Sexual Exploitation Identification Tool (CSE-IT). Through comprehensive support and advocacy, these organizations strive to empower vulnerable youth, ensuring they receive the care and resources they need to reclaim their lives and futures.

ADVOCACY ROLE IN CARE COORDINATION:

For more information regarding Advocacy partners, please visit their websites at:

Common Thread: https://bcfstrafficking.org/programs_posts/common-thread/

Unbound Now: https://unboundnow.org

The Advocacy providers utilize the Commercial Sexual Exploitation Identification Tool (CSE-IT tool) created by Westcoast Children’s Clinic to screen and improve early identification of sex trafficking of youth. This tool is narrative-based, meaning that it does not require interviews or direct questions asked to the youth. This minimizes the trauma of retelling their story. This tool is designed to be cross-sector and is used by CACs, service providers, juvenile services, and other partner agencies across Louisiana to improve community screening and identification of potential victims.

The Regional Care Coordinators provide complimentary human trafficking training to community partners within their service areas. Similarly, The Collaborative offers free training and outreach across communities throughout Louisiana. These initiatives target community events, at-risk populations, and professionals who engage with these vulnerable groups. The training programs have been crafted, reviewed, and endorsed by experts at local, state, and national levels, including input from survivors, to guarantee high-quality material. The following training sessions are available upon request:

• Human Trafficking 101: Human Trafficking Awareness and Reporting Curriculum
• HT 102: Labor Trafficking
• HT103: Familial Trafficking
• Statewide Response to Human Trafficking

Additional Training:

• Updated Mandatory Reporter Training
• HT 101 Mandatory for all Child Welfare Staff every 3 years
• Responding to Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking
  • 8 modules including Safety Planning, Addressing Runaway Behaviors, Motivational Interviewing, and De-Escalation
• Virtual Live Training
  • Intermediate and Advanced Caseworker HT training
  • Caretaker HT Training

For state-level training inquiries, please contact us at training@lacacs.org.