CARE 18
Project Dates: July 2014 - December 2017
The CARE 18 Project came about through a donation to Bedrock Creek seeking to establish an 18-month project-based collaborative task force for the purpose of addressing service gaps and moving the needle toward success in eradicating human trafficking in Southern California.
The name CARE 18 was an acronym standing for the four foci of the task force, those being Communication, Advocacy, Recovery, and Engagement. The 18 in the name had a double meaning; one for the amount of time in months the task force was intended, the other a nod to the focus on the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), or those 18 years old and under.
CARE 18 ended up being renewed, funded for a second round of work from July 2016 until December 2017.
The primary products of the CARE-18 task force were the establishment of MSAT, the Anti-Human Trafficking Speaker’s Bureau, and FIAT-LA. Secondarily, there were key partnerships and relationships formed through the monthly strategy meetings, many of which continue to this day, including but not limited to the Long Beach Regional Human Trafficking Task Force and the LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force.
Men Standing Against Trafficking (MSAT), was an idea born from trying to engage men in the fight against human trafficking, an issue that has historically been disproportionately championed by women. The concept was to gather men on a monthly basis to hotspots of human trafficking and to stand on corners of strategic intersections to highlight the issue and raise awareness to people in the community that trafficking was happening in their own neighborhood. The goal was also to serve as an onramp to further engage men in the fight against human trafficking, starting with MSAT, but leading into volunteering with an anti-HT agency, being an anti-HT champion in their own circle of influence (church, work, family, community service organization, etc.), educating themselves on the issue, and working towards prevention, that is, eliminating the demand side of trafficking.
The first MSAT was held near downtown Los Angeles on June 18, 2015. It took place once a month in different locations around LA County for the next 6 months, spanning South Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hollywood, Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Santa Ana and Pomona. It then began to multiply into different areas on the same night, being adopted by different churches and men’s service organizations, continuing to this day.
The Speaker’s Bureau was a solution to the opportunity of churches, community service organizations, and schools asking the CARE 18 task force and our affiliate organizations for people to come educate their constituents about the realities, dynamics, horrors, and action steps they could take around human trafficking. The idea was to have a common bank of language, statistics, steps, and communication points so our efforts would be aligned, branded, and vetted.
FIAT, or the Faith Initiative to Abolish Trafficking, can be learned about by clicking on the next button below.