Ending Human Trafficking

Latest Episodes:

272 – The Cool Aunt, with Rachel Thomas Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Rachel Thomas discuss a new curriculum developed as a resource for parents, social work agencies, after school programs, and more. The Cool Aunt Series is an online prevention course developed for youth that will guide them through understanding human trafficking and provide resources and support throughout and after the curriculum.

Rachel Thomas

A graduate of UCLA with a Masters in Education and a personal survivor of human trafficking, Rachel has extensive experience teaching, training, curriculum writing, public speaking and mentoring. As the founder of Sowers Education Group and the lead author of Ending The Game and The Cool Aunt, she has educated and inspired a wide range of audiences including teens, social service providers, churches, teachers, college students, and law enforcement. Sowers’ intervention curriculum Ending The Game is being used by over 1,000 facilitators in 36 states and helps survivors break the bonds of attachment to traffickers and the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation. Since 2012, Rachel and the Sowers Team have reached over 150,000 live audience members and millions more through numerous media outlets including New Day Morning Show on CNN, Inside with Chris Cuomo: Anyone’s Daughter on HLN, The T.D. Jakes Show, The New York Times Upfront Magazine and ABC’s Newsmakers. Rachel was not only honored by Congressman Ed Royce of California’s 39th district and Los Angeles Supervisor Don Knabe for her leadership and trafficking prevention efforts, but was also nominated and appointed to the White House Advisory Council on Human Trafficking for 2020-2022 term.

Key Points

They are moving beyond awareness and focusing on education so youth fully understand what human trafficking is, who it happens, who perpetrates it, why it happens, and the resources available.
The Cool Aunt series is developed to be a resource for parents, after-school programs, social service agencies, etc. that can be done online.
S.T.R.E.A.M.S. of Influence
- S – Survival
- T – Trafficker
- R – Recruiter
- E – Environment
- A – Abuse
- M – Media
- S – Solicitation

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 272, The Cool Aunt, with Rachel Thomas.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:33] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie and I are so glad to have Rachel Thomas back on the show today. If you didn’t listen to our prior conversation with her, I’m so glad to introduce Rachel to you. She is a graduate of UCLA with a master’s in education and a personal survivor of human trafficking. Rachel has extensive experience teaching, training, curriculum writing, public speaking, and mentoring. As the founder of Sowers Education Group and the lead author of Ending The Game and The Cool Aunt. She has educated and inspired a wide range of audiences, including teens, social service providers, churches, teachers, college students, and law enforcement. Her intervention curriculum, Ending The Game, is being used by over a thousand facilitators in 36 states and helps survivors break the bonds of attachment to traffickers and the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation. Since 2012, Rachel and the Sowers team have reached over 150,000 live audience members and millions more through numerous media outlets. She was also nominated and appointed to the White House Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. Rachel, we’re so glad to have you back on the show.

Rachel [00:01:55] I am so blessed and honored to be here. Thank you for having me, Dave and Dr. Sandie.

Sandie [00:02:01] Well, Rachel, I have to tell you, episode 196 when you really opened up Ending The Game, the goals, and breaking that attachment to the traffickers, that has become a really popular tool among people trying to understand coercion. It is, it’s the most frequently cited for hearing about coercion. So thank you so much for contributing your insight there.

Rachel [00:02:33] ...

271 – Using Stress to Your Advantage, with Jeanette Morgan Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dr. Jeanette Morgan discuss how our perception of stress changes our physiological response to stress. They look at how we can relearn what stress means to us, how we model a healthy response to stress to kids, and why its important to understand why we get stressed to begin with.

Jeanette Morgan, PsyD

Jeanette Morgan, PsyD, earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Azusa Pacific University. She provides individual therapy utilizing evidence-based treatments to children, adolescents, and adults who struggle with anxiety, panic, OCD, tic disorders, trauma, grief and loss, relationship problems, singleness, self-esteem, and behavioral problems. In addition to her therapy work, Dr. Morgan is also a licensed educational psychologist with almost 20 years of special education experience, first as a Special Education Teacher and then as a School Psychologist. Dr. Morgan’s warm, compassionate, and optimistic style encourages those she works with to connect, feel seen and heard, and feel hopeful. She believes that everyone is doing the best that they can with what they know, and that expanding what they know through discovering their personal patterns and learning new skills is empowering and builds resilience.

Key Points

Understanding that stress is helpful for our body shifts how our body and hormones respond.
When we are stressed, we release oxytocin which encourages us to reach out and connect with people we care about.
We teach kids that stress is a positive response from our body by modeling it and talking to them about stress.

Resources

JLM Psychological Services

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 271, Using Stress to Your Advantage, with Jeanette Morgan.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, on most episodes we get one Dr. Morgan. On this episode today we get double the Dr. Morgan’s. I’m so glad to welcome our expert guest today, someone you know well, Jeanette Morgan. Jeanette earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at Azusa Pacific University. She provides individual therapy using evidence based treatments to children, adolescents, and adults who struggle with anxiety, panic, OCD, tic disorders, trauma, grief and loss, relationship problems, singleness, self-esteem, and behavioral problems. In addition to her therapy work, Jeanette is also a licensed educational psychologist with almost 20 years of special education experience, first as a special education teacher and then as a school psychologist. Her warm, compassionate and optimistic style encourages those who work with her to feel connected, heard and feel hopeful. She believes that everyone is doing the best they can with what they know, and that expanding what they know through discovery in their personal patterns and learning new skills is empowering and builds resilience. And Sandie, unlike many of our guests, I’ve had a chance to know Jeanie for many years and I can say she is all of those things. Jeanie, so glad to have you here on the show.

Jeanette [00:01:58] Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Sandie [00:02:00] Well, not any more excited than I am. And just for our listeners, there is a stronger connection here. Dr. Jeanie Morgan is my daughter and I have followed her career in just amazement and wonder at her persistence and perseverance and excellence in everything she does. I recently asked her to come and speak to my interns at Vanguard because with COVID and boomeranging back and forth, in-person zoom, so much stress, almost every conversation starts with, “I’m so stressed.” So, I ask her to come. It was an amazing conversation, and so I ask her to come on the Ending Human Trafficking podcast with us because everyone’s talking about how stressed our kids are, the mental health challenges. And so, Jeanie, thank you for joining me and let’s talk about kids and stress.

Jeanette [00:03:12] Sounds good.

Sandie [00:03:13] Tell us what is the secret to finding the stress advantage?

Jeanette [00:03:21] The secret is changing our relationship with stress. So, we have heard all of these messages for so long that stress is detrimental, detrimental to our health. You’re going to die. It’s detrimental to relationships because you’re going to be irritable. All of those different things. When in reality, our stress response was actually designed to be helpful for us, to keep us safe. To help us meet the challenges that we have in life and thrive. So changing how we talk to kids and helping them to not view it as this horrible thing that needs to be managed and instead kind of make it their friend and use it is really the change that we need to do in talking with our kids.

Sandie [00:04:12] So you’re talking about our perceptions in our relationship to stress?

Jeanette [00:04:18] Absolutely. Absolutely. How we view stress actually changes, not just how we relate to it, but it actually...

270 – How Can Parents Defend Children? Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Brooke Istook from Thorn to discuss how parents can protect their children through equipping themselves with knowledge and resources. They dive into research on child sexual abuse materials and look at studies demonstrating the difficulties youth are having navigating in an increasing digital environment.

Brooke Istook

Brooke Istook is Vice President of Youth and Communities at Thorn, a tech non-profit and global leader in fighting online child sexual abuse. She leads Thorn’s education and behavior change work to prevent online child sexual abuse. Brooke and her team use child-centered research and digital interventions to empower youth and families with knowledge and tools to navigate the digital world safely. Brooke joined Thorn in 2014 to lead the launch of Spotlight, a sex trafficking investigation tool and has also led critical strategic and operational initiatives across the organization to support their strategy to eliminate child sexual abuse material from the internet. Prior to joining Thorn, Brooke spent over 12 years working in tech consulting, operations, and program management, supporting Fortune 500 clients in telecommunications and entertainment.

Key Points

Thorn develops programming that focuses on equipping parents to have conversations with their children, even when a digital divide exists from lack of experience and knowledge.

In 2020, over 65 million images and videos of child sexual abuse material were reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Research has demonstrated that for tweens and teens, age gaps become more blurry and difficult to navigate in an online space compared to in-person.

Thorn research showed that one in five 9 to 12-year-olds that were surveyed had had a sexual interaction with someone they believed to be an adult.

Thorn for Parents has developed toolkits and conversation guides for parents on how to have conversations with their child(ren) about digital safety, privacy, and red flags.

Resources

NoFiltr TikTok campaign

Thorn for Parents – Be Your Kid’s Safety Net

Thorn’s Research and Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 270, How Can Parents Defend Children? with Thorns Brooke Istook.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] My name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, today we’re glad to welcome another expert with us, Brooke Istook. She is vice president of youth and communities at Thorn, a tech nonprofit and global leader in fighting online child sexual abuse. She leads Thorn’s education and behavior change work to prevent online child sexual abuse. Brooke and her team use child centered research and digital interventions to empower youth and families with knowledge and tools to navigate the digital world safely. Brooke, we’re so glad to have you on the show today.

Brooke [00:01:17] Oh, thank you for having me. I’m really excited to be here.

Sandie [00:01:21] I’ve already had a couple of conversations by phone and email, and I’m so excited about the content of our conversation today. I’ve been following Thorn for a long time and Thorn’s work has leveraged technology in ways that are innovative, including building software to help both law enforcement and tech companies stop online child sexual abuse and trafficking. And recently, you guys have increased your upstream efforts to prevent abuse from happening in the first place, and that’s where my heart is, as our listeners know. So tell us about your role at Thorn, Brooke.

Brooke [00:02:08] Yes. So I’ve actually been a Thorn for a while. It’s been almost eight years now, and I’ve played a variety of different roles over the years. But my role now is leading our youth and communities team, which is our prevention work or prevention pillar at Thorn. And that’s where we’re focused on using in-depth research with kids, and we built educational tools to help kids and families prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse and to enjoy safer online experiences. We’ve conducted a bunch of research over the last three years with nine to 17-year-olds across the United States really trying to understand their experiences, understand the vulnerabilities that might be at work and various online dangerous situations, and really try to get at the root of what’s going on so we can prevent these situations from happening.

Sandie [00:03:04] Let’s talk a little bit about what that research does for parents. My understanding so, I mean, I grew up my kids didn’t have digital access until they were adults, and a lot of parents don’t really know how to have these kinds of conversations. And the biggest challenge that I’ve discovered talking to parents is they used to feel like they could talk to their kids based on their own experiences when they were that age. The...

269 – Empowering Businesses to Create a Slave Free World, with Matt Friedman Feb 07, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Matt Friedman and they discuss how businesses play a role in combatting human trafficking by auditing their supply chains, educating corporate executives, and developing tools for businesses.

Matt Friedman

Matt Friedman is an international human trafficking expert. From 2006 to 2012, Matt was the Regional Project Manager of the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) in Thailand, an inter-agency coordinating body that links the United Nations system with governments and civil society groups in China, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. From 1991-2006, Matt worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Thailand, Bangladesh and Nepal. For over a decade, he worked passionately to design and manage both domestic and regional human trafficking programs. He also helped establish a counter-trafficking regional training centre, participated in resource mobilization, and produced two award-winning international films about sex trafficking. Matt is a technical advisor to numerous governments. He is frequently cited in the news media, has been invited to speak at major conferences around the world, and is the author of nine books.

Key Points

About 0.2% victims of human trafficking receive any assistance.
Business can be a catalyst for change due to the presence of labor trafficking in supply chains and the consequences of neglecting to address it.
“Rescuing” a victim involves understanding the desperation that brought them to exploitation and the opportunities they have access to after.
In order for change to happen, corporate executives need to understand the problem and their own company’s supply chain and recruitment methods.

Resources

The Mekong Club
Where Were You? A Profile of Modern Slavery by Matthew S. Friedman
Ep. 247 – Perspectives on Transformation in Labor Trafficking with Ben Skinner
Ep. 73 – Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern Child Slave
Apprise App
Ep. 267 – The Intersection of Business and Human Rights, with John Cotton Richmond

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 269 Empowering Businesses to Create a Slave Free World, with Matt Friedman.

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, we have had so many conversations over the years about the importance of partnerships and the importance of working closely with businesses, of course. And we’ve many times had a conversation that involves the word “global”. It’s even in the name of the Global Center for Women and Justice. Today, I know that Matt is going to really help us with some wonderful perspective on both, of looking at things through the lens of business, but also to be able to look at our world as we really need to in almost every context through a global lens. I’m so glad to welcome Matt Friedman to the show. He’s an international human trafficking expert and CEO of the Mekong Club. He has served the United Nations and Thailand linking civil society and governments in Asia. His work also includes more than a decade of working with USAID, which is the United States Agency for International Development in Thailand, Bangladesh and Nepal. He worked passionately to design and manage both domestic and regional human trafficking programs. He’s also helped establish a counter trafficking regional training center, participated in resource mobilization, and produced two award-winning international films about sex trafficking. Matt is a technical adviser to numerous governments and is frequently cited in the news media, and has been invited to speak at major conferences around the world, and is the author of nine books. Matt, what an impressive resume you bring to us. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Matt [00:02:14] Thank you for the opportunity. I’m thrilled to be here.

Sandie [00:02:17] So I met you recently, Matt, and we’ve got a big time difference, but we found a ways to connect, and I’m learning so much about what it takes for businesses to be part of our collaborat...

268 – Rebuilding the Brain, with Dr. Anne Light Jan 24, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Dr. Anne Light to discuss the ways we can rebuild the brain, including meditation, cognitive and behavioral therapy, and medications.

Dr. Anne Light Dr. Anne Light, MD Dr. Anne Light is a pediatrician specializing in childhood trauma. She earned her MD from Harvard Medical School (2005) and completed residency training in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital (2008) with a focus in trauma and emergency care. Until 2015 she worked as pediatric provider within the Massachusetts General/Partners system and led several multidisciplinary collaborations to improve patient care and trauma outcomes. In addition, from 2008-2011 Dr. Light served as the Executive Director of a nonprofit to optimize early learning in children aged zero to three. In 2015 she joined the Orange County Social Services Agency, where she serves as the Medical Director and is working to create interdisciplinary programs to support children and families. She is currently leading and developing the WE CAN Coalition: Working to End Child Abuse and Neglect. This group has more than 150 members from across Orange County organized into 9 task forces in order to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of maltreatment in children, families and communities.

Key Points

ACE, adverse childhood events, studies have highlighted the effects of neglect on child development.

Trauma can neurologically affect brain development in youth by putting more emphasis on the fight-flight-freeze response, and less emphasis on the development of stop, think, solve.

The neuroplasticity of the brain allows individuals to continuously grow, no matter the age.

Meditation can help rebalance the blood flow in your brain and allow underdeveloped regions grow.

Two great therapies for trauma:

Trauma–Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Resources

WE CAN Coalition

Neuroscience of Maltreatment, Dr. Annie Light — Ensure Justice Conference 2018

Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking Project
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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 268, Rebuilding the Brain, with Dr. Anne Light

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:33] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I’m so glad for us to have today, again, another expert with us is going to help us to really think about things so proactively and to look at things from a standpoint of research and in today’s case, of course, a bit on health care and medicine. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Anne Light to the show today. She is a pediatrician specializing in childhood trauma. She earned her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and completed residency training in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital with a focus in trauma and emergency care. Until 2015, she worked as a pediatric provider within the Massachusetts General Partner System and led several multidisciplinary collaborations to improve patient care and trauma outcomes. In addition, she served as the executive director of a nonprofit to optimize early learning in children aged zero to three. In 2015, she joined the Orange County Social Services Agency, where she serves as the medical director and is working to create interdisciplinary programs to support children and families. She is currently leading and developing the WE CAN Coalition: Working to End Child Abuse and Neglect. This group has more than 150 members from across Orange County organized into nine task forces in order to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of maltreatment in children, families, and communities. Annem we’re so glad to have you on the show today.

Anne [00:02:06] I’m thrilled to be here. Thank you.

Sandie [00:02:08] I remember when I first met you at the first meeting of the WE CAN Coalition and you had my heart at the very beginning because with a background in pediatric nursing, prevention is always my preference. So I’ve been so privileged to be able to be at least on the edges of what you’re doing here in Orange County, and I appreciate you so much.

Anne [00:02:36] Well, thank you, Sandie. I’ve been thrilled to have your partnership. You’ve done some amazing work and I’ve been privileged to be a part ...

267 – The Intersection of Business and Human Rights, with John Cotton Richmond Jan 11, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Ambassador John Cotton Richmond to discuss the intersection of business and human rights. Together they look at how the conversations in board rooms is shifting to discussions on their supply chains, exploitation, and other impacts that their business has on the communities around them.

John Cotton Richmond

Ambassador Richmond is an attorney and diplomat focused on ethical business, human rights, democracy, and rule of law. He served in the country’s highest position dedicated to combating human trafficking as a U.S. Ambassador where he led U.S. foreign policy in the global fight for freedom. As a Partner at Dentons, Ambassador Richmond helps companies keep their supply chains and workforces free of human trafficking. He was named one of the federal “Prosecutors of the Year,” after a decade successfully trying complex police misconduct, cross-burning, neo-Nazi hate crimes, forced labor, and sex trafficking cases across the country. Ambassador Richmond is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, frequent expert for the United Nations, and frequent speaker on justice, freedom, leadership, faith, and vocation.

Key Points

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) – corporations paying more attention to how their supply chain affects people
Disclosure requirements and public awareness is shifting the conversation in corporate boardrooms to look more closely at their sourcing.
Business can address global poverty because a well run business that pays fair wages leads to economic prosperity for families and communities.
Addressing poverty as we emerge from the pandemic:
- investing in surrounding communities that were most damaged
- improving the rule of law
- developing programs that provide tailored services for survivors
Consumers play a part through how we vote with our wallet and putting pressure on companies for ethical sourcing.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 267, The Intersection of Business and Human Rights with John Cotton Richmond.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, today we have with us not only an expert, but a dear friend in the work that we’ve been doing to end human trafficking. I’m so glad to welcome John Cotton Richmond back to the show. His career has taken him to the front lines in the global battle against human trafficking as a partner at Denton’s, the world’s largest law firm. He focuses on the intersection between business and human rights. John advises companies on how to keep their supply chains free of forced labor and their workforces free of sex trafficking. Before joining Denton’s, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed John, and he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons from 2018 to 2021, serving in the nation’s highest ranking position dedicated to human trafficking. John led U.S. foreign policy related to modern slavery and coordinated the U.S. government’s response to the crime. Mr. Ambassador, always a pleasure to have you on the show. Welcome back.

John [00:01:41] Thank you. It’s great to be with you.

Sandie [00:01:43] I’m really excited about this conversation today, ambassador, because a lot has changed since the last time we had a conversation. And I want to kind of start right there. You’ve transitioned from public service to the private sector, and I want to understand how that changes your perspective and especially the kinds of ...

266 – Rescuing Boys Labor Trafficked in the Fishing Industry, with Chris Field Jan 10, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Chris Field from Mercy Project in Ghana, an organization that works with the community through education and empowerment to combat labor trafficking and build stronger communities.

Chris Field

Chris Field is the Founder and Executive Director of Mercy Project. He traveled to Ghana for the first time in August 2009 and has since been on a mission to bring new life to children in slavery as well as empower those around him to make the world a better place. Chris and his wife Stacey have five children He is the author of Disrupting for Good and A Billion Hours of Good.

Key Points

Redefining the word “rescue” to become about empowerment and new opportunities.
Holistic, community-centered approach to rescuing children from labor trafficking and reuniting them with family.
On the ground staff are Ghanaians that understand and have relationships with their communities.
Empowering and developing sustainable solutions for the community and families to build stronger safety networks for the children.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 266, Rescuing Boys Labor Trafficked in the Fishing Industry with Chris Field.

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I’m so looking forward to this conversation today, like I am for for so many of our conversations because I learn something new and one thing I realized in preparation for today’s conversation about the fishing industry is I know very little about this industry. And of course, as we’ve talked about so often on the show, there’s so many different aspects of trafficking and it touches, unfortunately, every industry in some way. Today, we’re going to study the issues even more so we can ultimately be a voice and make a difference in all the work that we’re doing. And I’m so glad to welcome Chris Field to the show today. He is the founder and executive director of Mercy Project. He traveled to Ghana for the first time in August 2009 and has since been on a mission to bring new life to children in slavery, as well as empower those around him to make the world a better place. Chris and his wife, Stacey, have five children, and he is the author of Disrupting for Good and a Billion Hours of Good. Chris, we’re so glad to have you on the show today.

Chris [00:01:51] Dave, Sandie, thank you guys so much for having me. It’s truly an honor to be with you.

Sandie [00:01:56] Well, Dave, I already had one conversation with Chris and we couldn’t fit it all into a half an hour, so we’re going to dive right in and do our best today. Let’s start by reframing the word rescue. Chris, typically I imagine people running out of a burning house and the fireman running in to rescue any other occupants. But your definition is a little different. Can you expand on that?

Chris [00:02:31] Yeah, of course. I mean, first, let me say we’ve had as a community and as an organization, we’ve had dozens of hours of conversation around this word because we don’t want it to connote this savior complex of some sort and we’ve really struggled over the word. Is there a better word to explain what it is that happens in a community when children who have been bought for 20, 30, 40 dollars and fish 12, 13, 14 hours a day when they’re able to go back to their families and their source communities, their original community and begin going to school? How do we explain that in a different way? And because it’s not that dramatic fire burning and it’s not us, you know, showing up with our hands on our hips like, behold, give us your children. I mean, it’s like we’ve struggle with that word. And where we’ve eventually landed on this topic is when you think about where the children are today or where they have been, the ones that we’ve already helped in Ghana, they really do have the opportunity to be rescued from a certain life. And I think what’s beautiful about this is we’re not the ones doing the rescue. We are there and we are part of the process. But because of our community empowerment, it’s really the community that they’re working in that actually at the minimum gets to join arms with us and be part of rescuing those children out of this child labor and this child trafficking into the life that they deserve. And so that’s really how we look at that word; where are they and now, where do they get to go? And that’s what they’re really being rescued from, is a life with no hope and a life with no future into one where education and family and reunification and empowerment are the key elements instead of working all day on a fishing boat.

Sandie [00:04:53] Okay, so let’s start at the beginning of that very holistic process. And what’s the first thing that you do? Because obviously you don’t go scoop the kids?<...

265 – Sustainable Housing, Aftercare, and Existing Resources with AVODAH Collective Dec 27, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by three speakers from the AVODAH Collective, an organization that is partnering with churches to create space for women survivors of sex trafficking, young people, and families to find restoration through trauma-informed aftercare. They all discuss ingredients of the “secret sauce” to sustainable housing and aftercare.

Speakers

Deb O’Hara-Rusckowski, RN, MBA, MTS

Delegate and Special Advisor to the Ambassador on Human Trafficking for the Order of Malta to the United Nations

Co-Founder of Global Strategic Operatives

Deb is a critical care nurse by training with a BSN, MBA and a Master’s in Theology with a concentration in bioethics. After working in healthcare and the private sector for 30+ years, she now concentrates in public, non-profit organizations, and philanthropy. She works in areas where she can combine her passion for healthcare, business and faith.

Keenan Fitzpatrick

Co-founder of the AVODAH Collective

Keenan and his wife, Brianna, live in Denver, Colorado with four children and a fifth on its way. After spending 8 years of fundraising work for catholic initiatives, including anti-human trafficking, Keenan and Brianna founded a 501c3, The AVODAH Collective, by acquiring land through impact investment to build its first location for care modeled after the Metanoia Manor of trauma informed care.

Sister Mary Anthony

Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Order in Lagos, Nigeria

Key Points

Shortage of beds makes long term housing and safe placement difficult for aftercare.
AVODAH Collective works with churches in the community to repurpose unused buildings as safe homes for survivors.
Churches are positioned in ideal locations with access to public transportation and safe communities.
Reintegration involves:
- 12 to 24 month long-term housing
- sustainable staff
- free child care
- stage 2, long-term independent housing

Resources

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 265 Sustainable Housing, Aftercare, and Existing Resources with AVODAH Collective.

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, today we have such a wonderful panel with us that is going to, I know, illuminate so many wonderful things that are happening with AVODAH and I’m so glad to introduce. We have three guests today, so I’m going to jump right in and actually share a bit about our guests. First of all, so glad to welcome Deb O’Hara-Rusckowski. Deb is a critical care nurse by training. After working in health care and the private sector for over 30 years, she now concentrates in public, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropy. She works in areas where she can combine her passion for health care, business, and faith. She’s the special advisor to the ambassador on human trafficking for the Order of Malta to the United Nations. I’m also glad to welcome Keenan Fitzpatrick to the show. Keenan and his wife, Brianna, live in Denver, Colorado, with four children, a fifth on the way. After spending eight years in fundraising work for anti-sex trafficking, Keenan and Brianna founded a 501(c)3, the AVODAH Collective, by acquiring land through impact investment to build its first location for care, modeled after the Metanoia Manor of trauma informed care. And I’m also so thrilled to welcome Sister Mary Anthony from the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Order in Lagos, Nigeria. Welcome to all three of you to the show.

Deb [00:02:05] Thank you, Dave.

Sandie [00:02:06] Really good to have you here. And anybody who knows me knows collaboration is my favorite thing to talk about. So doing a panel from a collective seems like a dream. So I’m very excited. We’re going to start. I met Deb more than a decade ago doing a health care training out in New Hampshire, and Deb and I have stayed connected and collaborated as often as possible, so we share a unique concern about some of the challenges. So, Deb, what are the biggest obstacles in providing long-term housing and care?

Deb [00:02:56] Well, that’s a great question, Sandie. And what we learned after training so many health care providers–and their purpose was to train them how to identify potential victims and take appropriate action–was that once they were identified, there was what Homeland Security always said:...

264 – How Are All The Children? Dec 13, 2021

Show notes

Co-hosts, Dr. Sandra Morgan and Dr. Dave Stachowiak, discuss the wellbeing of all our children. The emphasize the need to provide access to education and access to social services in order to see that all the children are fine, which will lead to a strong community.

Key Points

High percentage of youth who have been identified as CSEC were also previously identified by Social Services for prior abuse.
ACEs screening tests serve as a preventative tool to provide resources to youth who are vulnerable.
From 2019-2020, child labor increased for the first time in two decades.
Corporations and consumers play a role in demanding fair labor.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 264, How Are All the Children?

Production Credits [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, in our last episode, we talked to Stephan Lambert about all of the current issues with substance abuse going on with kids and teens right now. It’s a fascinating and difficult conversation, but such an important one. I hope folks will go revisit if they haven’t already heard it. And it’s a great lead-in to today’s conversation, isn’t it? How are all the children?

Sandie [00:01:11] Oh my goodness. Yeah. The timing couldn’t have been better, really. And back at Vanguard, our students are back in person and it’s a very different environment, and anxiety and stress responses are different. But I was inspired by a school superintendent from Long Beach a few months ago who mentioned there is an African greeting that says, How are the children? And I thought, that’s pretty interesting. So I dug into it and spent a few hours on the internet reading and discovered that there is a Maasai warrior greeting. And the key here, Dave, is warrior. The key word. And I think sometimes we think the frontline in human trafficking is raiding brothels. But over and over again, I come back to prevention and that starts in childhood. So these warriors greet each other and Maasai warriors are very tall and very strong, and they look intimidating. And so when they greet each other with how are all the children, the correct response if you’re protecting your village is all the children are fine. So Dave, you’re a Maasai warrior. I’m a Maasai warrior. How are all the children, Dave?

Dave [00:02:53] All the children are fine. Or, are they not are?

Sandie [00:02:58] Ah, and I was telling this story at Priceless and Judge Maria Hernandez and Judge Joanne Motoike, who have worked with our children CSEC survivors for years, both said at the same time, all the children are not fine. And that’s why I believe that we need to reframe prevention as the front line. And if you start thinking about what that looks like, we aren’t going to have the number of victims further on down the road if we do prevention. Look what happened when America decided enough with lung cancer and they got on track for prevention to stop smoking? Did we end smoking? We did not. But did we reduce smoking? I haven’t been to a restaurant where they allow smoking in a really long time, and it wasn’t in California. So you can have impact with prevention. We just have to think about what that looks like. So when I started thinking about this Maasai warrior greeting, it energized me to be just a little stronger in my approach to prevention. I want to see myself as a prevention warrior.

Dave [00:04:33] When you think about that distinction between doing what you were doing before and being a prevention warrior, what’s different about your thinking or actions that you’re now taking?

Sandie [00:04:46] Well, I think I want to begin to frame the front line in terms of the battles that are going on. So for instance, right here in Orange Cou...

263 – Substance Use Prevention in Schools with Stephan Lambert Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Stephan Lambert, the Prevention Coordinator with OCDE. Together, they discuss the prevalence of substance use amongst youth, prevention strategies, and intervention to teach youth about the harms of substance use and the signs of withdrawals, addiction, and mental health disorders.

Stephan Lambert Stephan Lambert is the Prevention Coordinator at the Orange County Department of Education. He has fourteen years of experience in substance abuse prevention, positive youth development, family and community engagement, and developmental asset building. In his role at OCDE, he supports schools and districts with training and technical assistance around alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention.

Key Points

Orange County fentanyl overdoses have significantly increased

Substance use prevention strategies:

Start conversations around health, safety, and poison control

Cultivating a warm and supportive relationship

Be a role model

Knowing the risk factors

Know their friends

Monitoring, supervising and setting boundaries

Have conversations with youth to help them understand the signs of addiction and mental health disorders so they know when to seek help.

Building a healthy and caring relationship with youth so they understand they have safe place to turn for help.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 263, Substance Use Prevention in Schools with Stephan Lambert.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, we’ve had so many conversations over the years about partnership, and of course, schools have come up in these conversations often. Today, I’m so glad for us to be able to welcome an expert that will help us to look at this issue through the lens of school. And of course, some of the current things that are happening right now that’ll help us all to be better educated and to be able to take the next steps. I’m so pleased to welcome Stephan Lambert to the show today. He is the prevention coordinator at the Orange County Department of Education. His 14 years of experience and substance abuse prevention, positive youth development, family and community engagement and developmental asset building. In his role at OCDE, he supports schools and districts with training and technical assistance around alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention. Stephan, we’re so glad to have you on the show.

Stephan [00:01:37] Thank you. So glad to be here.

Sandie [00:01:39] Well, I’m excited to have this conversation. Every time I have the opportunity to learn from you I walk away shocked, sometimes a little overwhelmed, but definitely better equipped to deal with what our kids are facing and how I can help other parents know exactly what to do. So I thought of you recently because I’ve read yet another story in our Orange County newspaper of a fentanyl overdose death. Can you describe what’s happening with this very disturbing trend and why it’s happening?

Stephan

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Neuroscience of Maltreatment, Dr. Annie Light — Ensure Justice Conference 2018

Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking Project
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