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Human Trafficking Collaborative

Collaborating Across Schools and Communities to Stop Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking Collaborative illustration showing one hand pulling another above a group of silhouetted people.

The mission of the Texas Tech University Health Science Center (Ï㽶ֱ²¥) Human Trafficking Collaborative (HTC) is to combat human trafficking in Texas communities and help those directly impacted by human trafficking through education, research, and advocacy by collaborative involvement of partners with diverse expertise. 

 

Outline of Texas displaying the number 1,080.

The United States reported 11,500 cases of human trafficking in 2019, according to the . Texas made up 1,080 of those cases, but not all cases get reported. 

Collaborative Vision

End human trafficking in Texas and help those coming out of human trafficking recover and thrive through centralizing efforts with community partners.

  • Numerous organizations have formed in the fight against Human Trafficking in Texas. Additionally, the state of Texas also has a few initiatives. The names of these organizations, initiatives, and links to these resources are listed below. 

    • Office of the Texas Governor – Child Sex Trafficking Team:
       
    • Attorney General of Texas:
       
    • Office on Trafficking in Persons, an office of the Administration of Children and Families:  *This is from the Department of Health and Human Services and is housed out of Washington, D.C.
       
    • National Human Trafficking Hotline:  Call: 1-888-373-7888 Text: HELP to BEFREE (233733) or Email:
       
    • National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
       
    • International Rescue Committee (IRC):
       
    • In addition, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has partnered with Shared Hope International to help Texas congregations learn how to protect their youth and give them tools to protect their community. Learn more by emailing: humantrafficking@dfps.state.tx.us
       
    • Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST) – multiple organizations throughout Texas; available information on both the Texas Governor’s website as well as the Attorney General of Texas
       
    • Texas Department of Health and Human Services: * This website is responsible for posting the approved training for healthcare providers in compliance with HB 2059.
       
    • Texas Department of Family and Protective Services website:
      a. There are links to other organizations via this website for National, Statewide, and Local resources including the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Blue Campaign:  
       
    • Related legislation:
      a.HB 2059:  ,
      b.Human Trafficking has now been declared a public health concern: ,  
  • Illustration of bound hands with a barcode tag representing human trafficking.

    Work Group Responsibilities & Roles:

    • Gather & disseminate research related to human trafficking 
    • Provide education and training related to human trafficking 
    • Students, providers, faculty, staff, policy makers, community members
    • Increase public awareness
    • Advocate for policy change
    • Strengthen collaborative partnerships in the community and state
    • Develop opportunities for training and research through grant opportunities
    • Serve as a resource for anti-human trafficking efforts

    The Human Trafficking & Social Justice Collaborative has four work groups. For more information or to join a work group, please contact one of the chairs/co-chairs.

    Education and Interprofessional Education

    Services and Mental Health

    Research, Policy and Advocacy

    Prevention

  • Collaborative Background

    A group of faculty and community partners in Abilene had been working together to address human trafficking in the Big Country (along with the Big Country Human Trafficking Coalition). HB 2095, effective Sept. 1, 2019, requires all patient care providers to have HT training as provided by Governor Abbott. The group in Abilene began receiving calls about HB2095. The work group reached out to the state and others at Ï㽶ֱ²¥ to explore efforts related to human trafficking within Ï㽶ֱ²¥. In February 2020, the TTUSHC President’s Office and Council of Deans appointed a Human Trafficking Initiative (HTI) Work Group with representatives across all schools and campuses and includes community partners. The HTI work group was tasked to develop recommendations on how to collaboratively address the social injustice of Human/Sex Trafficking and the growing need for human trafficking awareness and intervention in Texas.  As the #2 state in the nation in human trafficking incidences and the #1 state in number of reported cases, Texas has a unique opportunity to join the fight against human trafficking. In September 2020, the work group proposed Ï㽶ֱ²¥ form the Human Trafficking Collaborative that includes all faculty, staff, students, and community stakeholders who are working to stop human trafficking. The HTC meets quarterly. 

    Collaborative Members

     

    Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

    School of Health Professions

    • Donna Ables
      Lead Advisor
      Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences (Lubbock)
      donna.ables@ttuhsc.edu
    • Itxia Acevedo, MPAS, PA-C
      Assistant Professor
      Physician Assistant Program (Midland)
      Itxia.Acevedo@ttuhsc.edu
      (432) 620-1131
    • Sarah Stringer, MPAS, PA-C
      Assistant Professor
      Physician Assistant Program (Midland)
      Sarah.Stringer@ttuhsc.edu
    • Debra Flores, PhD, M.A., CCHWI
      Assistant Professor, Program Director
      Dept. of Healthcare Management & Leadership, MSHA (Lubbock)
      debra.flores@ttuhsc.edu
    • DJ Gililland, Jr. EdD, ATC, LAT
      Assistant Professor
      Master of Athletic Training program, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (Lubbock)
      DJ.Gililland@ttuhsc.edu
    • Rebecca Sametz, PhD, CRC, LPC, VRT
      Director of Clinical Rehabilitation/Director of Veterans Certificate Program/Assistant Professor
      Dept. of Clinical Counseling & Mental Health, Clinical Rehab. Counseling Program (Lubbock)
      Rebecca.Sametz@ttuhsc.edu

    School of Medicine

    School of Nursing

    School of Pharmacy

    TTU

    Managed Care (TDCJ)

    Community Partners

  • Julie St. John, DrPH, MPH, MA, CHWI

    HTC Chair
    Associate Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
    Associate Professor, Julia Jones Matthews Department of Public Health
    Abilene Campus, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

    julie.st-john@ttuhsc.edu

    Heather Guest PhD, RN

    HTC Co-chair
    Regional Dean
    TTHUSC School of Nursing, Traditional Undergraduate Program

    heather.guest@ttuhsc.edu

    Kelli White, RNFA, MSN, FNP-BC

    Local Nurse Practitioner, Neurosurgery Associates of West Texas
    Founder of Beyond Trafficking
    Researcher - West Texas Human Trafficking Research Collaborative as appointed by Governor Greg Abbott

    krwhite0509@gmail.com