The field lacks a comprehensive understanding of federally funded human trafficking task forces. 

In 2010, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) launched the Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Forces to Combat Human Trafficking Program with the goal of bringing together law enforcement and prosecutors at the local, state, and federal level with service providers, mental health professionals, and labor professionals in a coordinated and sustainable partnership. In 2023, over 50 ECM task forces are funded across the U.S. at the city, county, and state level to support a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach to the investigation and prosecution of traffickers and service provision for U.S. and foreign born (children and adult) survivors of human trafficking, including labor and sex trafficking. Yet, we lack good data on how task forces are interacting with their communities, and how they impact criminal justice and survivor outcomes.

A rigorous, survivor- and community-informed study of human trafficking task forces.

In response to the need for a comprehensive study of ECM task forces, NORC at the University of Chicago is partnering with THE WHY, ICF, AEquitas, and the National Survivor Network, to conduct a survivor- and community-informed study of ECM task forces. Key data collection activities include partnering with six ECM task forces across the U.S. to conduct:

• interviews with task force stakeholders, community members, and survivors of human trafficking who interact with task forces;
• interviews with human trafficking survivors who have not interacted with task forces; 
• a study of the outcomes associated with each task force, including criminal justice and survivor outcomes.