Services for children and youth who have been the victims of human trafficking, or are in danger of becoming victims, will be getting a significant upgrade starting this spring.
Newmarket-based Cedar Centre is receiving $1.38 million from the provincial government for the next four years to create and staff a dedicated rapid-response program for kids and youth in danger of being trafficked or recovering from it.
Executive director Allison Peck said that the Cedar Centre has provided services for children who have suffered from all kinds of interpersonal violence for years, but they have never had a program entirely dedicated to addressing under-aged human trafficking until now.
"We need a dedicated (help) line because the prevalence in our region is very significant. One-third of all human trafficking cases within Canada are coming from the province of Ontario," she said.
"Disproportionately, we have children in care and other youth in those numbers. So our desire is to work with our partners in the prevention and recovery of this experience.
"So we are taking our existing programs and fine-tuning them (to be) a little bit more accessible and responsive."
Instead of asking youth and their caregivers to come in for family programs every week, the Cedar Centre's new program will change focus and have its social workers go out to meet them in the community.
This will be done with in-person meetings, said Peck, and also through the use of technology, which might be even more effective.
"Regardless of their needs, many of these kids have access to technology ... and many of them prefer and show up regularly to virtual appointments. So the program has been costed as a combination virtual and on-the-road program," she said.
"When it is safe enough again, we envision our workers being out in the community meeting them in local coffee shops, their group care homes, or other settings we would normally not be going into to provide access to these youth."
Part of the funds will go toward hiring two full-time-equivalent staff members, who they expect to have in place by the late spring. Those two staff members will be designated to handle human trafficking cases, which Peck expects will considerably shorten response times.
"That way, if we get a referral about human trafficking, it's not coming in ... and sitting on a waitlist. It will come in, and there will a designated response," she said.
The fact that the province has decided to fund that designated response for the next four years, said Peck, means they have the time and money needed to make a real impact without worrying about getting the funds renewed.
