Human Trafficking

Researchers recommend:

 building foundational infrastructure for virtual and in-person policies and practices  designing, implementing, and evaluating an incentive program to improve culture and climate  developing and implementing communication flows to improve important relationships with the system and with external stakeholders. Next Steps The Institute has been involved in several projects in which the impacts of COVID-19 on health and human services and the child welfare system in particular. In addition to the present project, the FSPSF team previously explored COVID-19 workforce impacts (Examining the Health, Economic, and Professional Impacts of COVID-19 on Health and Human Service Workers). COVID-19 service impacts also emerged in the most recent evaluation of Florida’s Early Childhood Courts. In Fall 2021, the Institute plans to establish an affiliate workgroup to triangulate findings and consider potential implications for policy and practice.

Human Trafficking

The Institute began collaborating with DCF to validate the Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST, Tool) in 2017. In Summer 2019, our team completed psychometric testing with the HTST using a non-random sample of 248 completed assessments from disparate areas of Florida. Ultimately, the Tool was unable to be validated due to lack of reliability. We suggested that with additional screener training, subsequent data collection, and new analyses, validation is possible. With that, in 2020, we collected qualitative data to explore screeners’ interpretation and implementation of the Tool. Interviews were completed in Spring and Summer 2020. Focus groups were conducted in early Fall 2020.

Preliminary Findings Qualitative data analyses are in progress. Anecdotally, in both interview and focus groups, participants shared similar critique of several items—primarily around sexual maltreatment. Participants also shared the different ways in which they use the Tool to contextualize their responses, which may help us uncover why some screeners would respond “yes” to an item while another would say “no.” These are areas we will explore further in nuanced analyses. These preliminary findings, as well as an update on project progress, were shared with the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability in May 2021.

Next Steps Although progress on this project has been slower than anticipated, the Institute is committed to the investigation of this important topic. Once data analyses are completed, a report will be provided to both the Department of Children and Families as well as the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.

At this time, given the promising psychometrics of the Tool, we anticipate our recommendations will be primarily training-related, with a suggested course of action for follow-up data collection and analysis to re-assess reliability.