Child Sex Trafficking (CST) is a crime that is hidden yet in plain sight. First responders are often the first system members to make contact with a CST victim. A CST victim has been heavily groomed for system contact, is fearful of their trafficker, and often not forthcoming about their exploitive situation. Deconstruct the crime of CST and identify common scenarios in which you may come in contact with a CST victim. Discover victim-centered contact practices you can implement which are specific to CST victims. Recognize how to secure vital evidence which may only be available during your initial contact with the victim. Practice group exercises and develop contact and response plans to common scenarios you may encounter.
Take steps toward implementing a successful CART by bringing together a team of experts whose knowledge, skills, and abilities will be beneficial in a child abduction case. Join us to learn how to develop a multidisciplinary CART for responding to endangered, missing, or abducted children. Hear about the impact a child abduction has on the family and learn the fundamentals of developing an effective responsive CART team. Examine incident command considerations, search and canvassing operations, CART activation, and resources to improve the response, investigation, search, and canvass activities associated with missing children investigations.
911 Telecommunicators are the first responders in missing children cases, playing a critical, life-saving role as the link between a missing child and their safe return. This interactive course will equip telecommunicators with the essential skills and resources needed to manage these high-stakes situations. By analyzing real cases, learn to recognize the various types of missing children incidents and how they are reported. Through call analysis and scenario-based learning, explore optimal practices, utilizing NCIC, APCO, and ANSI systems and standards. Additionally, the course focuses on resilience-building strategies to support the telecommunicator’s mental health in these emotionally demanding cases.
Child Protective Services (CPS) case workers encounter child sex trafficking victims during and following missing events in which extensive exploitation is occurring or has occurred. Examine when CPS has jurisdiction and a duty to investigate trafficking cases, along with why and how children go missing from care. Identify vulnerabilities and recognize factors which indicate sex trafficking. Often these recovered missing or abducted children do not disclose their exploitation when recovered or encountered by CPS. Analyze the bond the victim has with the trafficker and discover why disclosing is difficult for children. Identify approaches to protect children when you suspect trafficking but have no disclosure from the victim. Lastly, develop opportunities to collaborate with law enforcement and other professionals to identify and support CST victims.
Child Sex Trafficking victims are a population of missing children that are in desperate need of system-based advocacy. Hear from CST advocacy experts who provide services to CST victims. One is a Law Enforcement based advocate who works alongside law enforcement and can also provide an NGO perspective; the second is a Child Protection Services supervisor with a strong background in fostering advocacy from within the Child Protection system. Listen to their hands-on experiences with CST victims and their promising practices for providing much needed services to these vulnerable victims.
Enhance your agency’s AMBER Alert activations by utilizing new strategies. Examine training requirements and procedures for activating an AMBER Alert and gain an in-depth review of current best practices, trends and analytics, and industry leaders. Explore current abduction trends, laws related to mandatory notifications, yearly statistics, and resources available during an activation.
The AMBER Alert Best Practices – Law Enforcement Field Guide is a companion to the AMBER Alert Best Practices Guide and is aimed at law enforcement agencies and 1st Responders. It is designed to provide administrators with a document on what to expect in the event of an endangered missing or abducted child investigation, as well as provide their personnel with a reference manual to help jump start an effective response and investigation. The webinar will focus on raising awareness of areas that are consistently shown to be relevant and have an operational impact in these types of cases as well as how the guide can assist.
AMBER Alert Essentials for Community Members will enable members of the public to recognize the history and essential components of the AMBER Alert Program. The criteria for an AMBER Alert will be examined as well as how to support law enforcement efforts during an AMBER Alert activation.
Law Enforcement Officers and Police Dispatchers are AMBER Alert First Responders during the critical initial stage of a child abduction. Recognize the criteria for an AMBER Alert and identify tools and resources which enhance first responder’s capabilities in successfully responding to an AMBER Alert and recovering abducted children.
Hear from a long time AMBER Alert Coordinator and Public Information Officer (PIO) with the California Highway Patrol about the challenges associated with being a PIO during one of the most important and time-sensitive law enforcement events that can occur, a child abduction. Hear how PIOs can meet the expectations and challenges modern forms of communication present. Identify the different types of audience members that receive the information during an AMBER Alert and recognize best practices and common missteps which can happen during an AMBER Alert.
