A Statewide Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking

The Louisiana Governor’s Office of Human Trafficking Prevention (OHTP) was established in 2021 to coordinate and implement strategies to combat human trafficking in Louisiana. From its inception, the OHTP has taken a survivor-centered, data driven approach to prevent exploitation, increase the identification of victims and improve their outcomes. The OHTP and the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund have awarded annual grants to Allies Against Slavery since 2021 to leverage Lighthouse as a powerful tool in the state’s strategy to prevent human trafficking and address the needs of survivors.

Multi-Disciplinary Partnerships

Louisiana has had a long-standing commitment to address human trafficking, leveraging multi-disciplinary partnerships among government, law enforcement, child welfare, direct service providers and advocates to support survivors and bring justice. The OHTP provides leadership and oversight of the Louisiana Human Trafficking Prevention Commission and Advisory Board, and works closely with partners through the Louisiana Child and Youth Trafficking Collaborative (LCYTC) to support and resource public-private entities that provide services for human trafficking victims. Funding from the US Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime and the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund has accelerated Louisiana’s capacity to protect victims, build a statewide care coordination network, and enhance data collection.

Multi-disciplinary partners use Lighthouse to achieve multiple objectives:

• Screen youth for sex and labor trafficking

• Connect trafficking victims to services and track metrics for annual reporting

• Submit quarterly measures and analyze results for care coordination

• Visualize aggregate data to understand and respond to trafficking across the state.

Legislative Requirements for Reporting

The OHTP uses Lighthouse to automate the collection and visualization of data from service providers, and publishes this data in an annual report to state legislators. Mandated reporting is often a significant burden for organizations who must track and submit data, and for those tasked with synthesizing the data to report key findings. With Lighthouse, the OHTP has significantly improved the efficiency of this process, moving from an onerous manual data collection effort with spreadsheets to a streamlined, user-friendly approach that yields high quality data more quickly and effectively. The annual report contains visualizations that enable stakeholders to see multi-year trends and progress across the state, and make data-driven decisions about resource allocation, program priorities and future legislation. Organizations can access this data in real time throughout the year to track their progress and fine tune their programs.

Looking Forward

Louisiana has demonstrated strong and consistent leadership in the fight against human trafficking, and recognizes the value of using technology and data to accelerate progress. Allies is honored to work alongside the OHTP and its partners to innovate together, use data to inform decision-making, and ultimately achieve better outcomes for survivors.