SAFE AND STAY RESPONDER PROGRAM
What is a SAFE AND STAY Responder?
We are there to give compassion to a child who has been traumatized and victimized.
We are not the police or there to do the job of a caseworker. The Safe and Stay Responder does not ask what happened but is there to support the child and walk with them through all of the medical and psychiatric exams they will go through.
The Maryland State Senate passed Senate Bill 220, requiring the state to incorporate sex trafficking training into police academics. Officers encounter potential victims of trafficking in different circumstances: while on patrol, when executing a warrant for another matter, seeing a child out late in the evening in a known area for prostitution, and at planned operations at a hotel.
Children who are victims of commercial sex trafficking have suffered extreme trauma and violence and can be triggered emotionally through interactions with authorities like law enforcement. The role of the Safe and Stay Responders can make a difference in these children’s lives.
How the Safe and Stay Responder Program Works
A Safe and Stay Responder is at the child’s staging sight within 90 minutes. Once a child has been identified as a victim of sex trafficking the child is taken to a staging site, such as the ER, the street, or a restaurant. The Responder stays with the child, which could be for up to 72 hours. Better outcomes have shown when a child engages with a Responder within 90 minutes of being identified as a victim. In Los Angeles, nearly sixty percent of the children identified through the Protocol remained stable.
The Responder is there for the child and to explain what will happen in the intake process. The Safe and Stay Responder is not in any way taking over the role of law enforcement or social services. The responder is there for emotional support for the child, not to ask about what has happened.
These children tend to distrust child-serving agencies so the use of special trained advocate not embedded within a public agency has shown to break down those barriers.The Responder provides the child with a GOOD BAG filled with basic needs. The GOOD BAG contains items such as a change of clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, which helps the child begin to feel cared for and comforted.
The Responder is there for medical evaluations, sexual and physical abuse screenings, and testing for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.
If possible or appropriate the Safe and Stay Responder can accompany the child to meetings for other advocacy services.
The Responder, with the help of the other task forces, can assist in getting the child to a safe place.
If you are interested in volunteering to become a Safe and Stay Responder, click here.
Completed forms can be emailed to marirose@safeseatinthemoonlight.org