Allies Against Slavery is a nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas that harnesses the power of technology, data, and partnerships to protect freedom and dignity. For information about Allies, visit https://alliesagainstslavery.org/

Lighthouse is an innovative software platform used by organizations and groups to identify victims of human trafficking, coordinate their care, and understand trends. Lighthouse makes it easy and efficient to complete CSE-IT screenings, manage client information, and gain insight from the data that is collected. Lighthouse has collaborative features that enable organizations to share data in order to improve outcomes for victims. Contact Allies at lighthouse@alliesagainstslavery.org to access these features. For information about Lighthouse, visit https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse/

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), first passed in 2000, defines sex trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for a commercial sex act, in which the act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.

A prevalence study published by the University of Texas in 2016 (1) estimates that there are over 300,000 victims of trafficking in Texas, with approximately 79,000 minor and youth victims of sex trafficking, costing the state ~$6.6B.

First, complete a software license agreement. This is a standard agreement that addresses terms of use and data protection. Click here to get started. This step only needs to be done once by a person in the organization with authority to sign agreements; if the license agreement is already in place, go to the next step.  

Second, register users to access Lighthouse. Request access for yourself and others in your organization by completing this form. Be sure to register with work email addresses, not personal emails.

Once you are registered as a user, login at https://lighthouse.alliesagainstslavery.org/login

Lighthouse is available at no charge to organizations who use it for CSE-IT screenings, including case management and dashboard features. 

Lighthouse has collaborative features that enable organizations to work together in groups and share data to coordinate care for their clients. Pricing is based on the number of locations, programs and groups, with a discount for members of Care Coordination teams who complete their license agreements at the same time. Contact Allies for details.  

All Lighthouse licenses include basic setup, support and training, for up to 100 users. Customized configuration, support or training are available for a fee; contact Allies for more information. 

Watch this webinar series: https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-support-webinars/ 

Visit the Lighthouse support page: https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-support/

Contact us: lighthouse@alliesagainstslavery.org

WestCoast Children’s Clinic (WestCoast) is a child psychology clinic based in Oakland, California. WestCoast developed the CSE-IT, or Commercial Sex Exploitation - Identification Tool, a validated human trafficking screening tool used by many agencies in Texas. For information about WestCoast and CSE-IT, visit https://www.westcoastcc.org/cse-it/

Allies, WestCoast, and the Office of the Texas Governor Child Sex Trafficking Team (CSTT) have a common goal to combat modern slavery. Allies has partnered with WestCoast to integrate CSE-IT within Lighthouse, enabling users to complete screenings easily and securely and access their CSE-IT data at any time. 

Allies is partnering with the CSTT to analyze state-wide data to combat human trafficking. Lighthouse will aggregate CSE-IT data with other sources to visualize demographics and trends. Stakeholders will be able to use the analytical capabilities of Lighthouse to discover previously unseen connections in the data, and help Texas build the collective intelligence necessary to create effective, data-driven solutions to trafficking. 

For information about the CSTT, go to https://gov.texas.gov/organization/cjd/childsextrafficking.  Read about the Lighthouse data initiative at https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-data-initiative/

To learn more about these partnerships, watch parts 1 and 2 of the webinar series: https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-support-webinars/ 

CSE-IT training is required before you use the CSE-IT with Lighthouse. This education is available in Texas through trainers who have been certified by WestCoast. Contact CSTT@gov.texas.gov to request CSE-IT training. 

Lighthouse uses person records to manage client information. Think of Lighthouse as a filing cabinet, and the person record as an individual case file. This is where client data is stored securely. 

Within the person record, you can enter a client’s biographical information, view and complete CSE-IT screenings, and add supplemental information and case notes. Other authorized users can access Lighthouse to add their notes and screenings to the person record, enabling teams to work together more efficiently.

Follow your organization’s protocols to determine what information to enter in the person record; for example, you may choose to enter initials instead of first and last name, and store the person’s full name in another system. You can also leave fields blank.

CSE-IT screenings are stored within the person record. It’s a good habit to search existing records before creating a new record. Go to the client dashboard, type the person’s name into the Search field, and click on their case number. You do not need to re-enter the biographical data to start a new screening.  

1. If the person record doesn’t exist, click Add New Person from the client dashboard, complete the biographical information, and click Submit.
2. Within the person record, click Add CSE-IT on the right side of the screen. 
3. Complete the Pre-CSE-IT Assessment on the Introduction tab, then click Next to go to the Questionnaire tab.  
4. Score the indicators in each section of the CSE-IT form. Click Next after completing each section, or click on the tabs to navigate between sections; your score will be calculated automatically as you proceed. You must complete all indicator fields and all sections. 
5. On the Exploitation tab, click on Calculate Overall Score. This goes to the Score tab, which displays a summary of the scores for each section and the overall score. 
6. Fill in the Post-CSE-IT Assessment and click Update to complete the CSE-IT. Note that the Pre- and Post-Assessments are for information purposes and do not affect the score.
7. When you return to the person record, you can see all completed CSE-IT screenings in the CSE-IT section on the right. Icons show the concern level at a glance:
   • A red triangle with an exclamation point indicates clear concern
   • A yellow circle with an exclamation point indicates possible concern
   • No icon indicates no concern

For more instructions and a demo of how to use CSE-IT within Lighthouse, watch Part 3 of the webinar series: https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-support-webinars/

CSE-IT screenings are accessible at any time within the person record. To view a screening, click the blue text within the CSE-IT section. This opens the CSE-IT summary on the Score tab. Click the Questionnaire tab to view the scores for each section and corresponding indicators.

From the Score tab, click the Print button at the bottom of the screen to print the completed CSE-IT form.

Once a CSE-IT screening has been submitted, it cannot be edited.  It can be viewed or printed at any time, as noted above.

You can create and access multiple screenings for the same person; this is recommended as you learn more about a client’s situation over time. 

Per WestCoast guidelines, the CSE-IT is designed to be used with all youth age 10 and up and should be administered every 6 months.  It is suggested you administer the tool when a youth returns from a period of being away from care.

There is no need to re-enter client data; simply locate the existing person record and follow the instructions above to enter a new screening.

Organizations need to complete a Lighthouse software license agreement.  This takes the place of the MOU that was used by WestCoast. You also need to register users to access Lighthouse. See the steps under How do I access Lighthouse? to get started.

The CSE-IT in Qualtrics and Lighthouse are the same tool. Both forms have identical pre- and post-assessments, sections and indicators, and the scoring methodology is the same. The format of CSE-IT in Lighthouse is slightly different from Qualtrics, with added benefits for the user. Where Qualtrics uses a scrolling feature, Lighthouse uses a tabbed format to allow for auto-calculation of each section of the form. The overall score is also automatically calculated by Lighthouse, and presented on a summary page.  

When you submit CSE-IT screenings in Lighthouse, the data is automatically sent to WestCoast.  You no longer need to enter the screening data into Qualtrics. 

In Qualtrics, you create an identifier consisting of the person’s initials and birth year. You do not need to do this in Lighthouse - the identifier is generated automatically as the data is submitted to WestCoast.   

To keep a copy of a screening in Qualtrics, you have to print the completed form or save it as a PDF file. With Lighthouse, you can access screenings at any time. Lighthouse also has a dashboard to visualize screening results across your organization.

Lighthouse collects the aggregate information for all person records in the organization and presents this data in a dashboard, so you can get insight about the clients you are screening and what indicators are prevalent at each level of concern. These trends can help you anticipate client needs and enhance services for those at risk. 

To access the data dashboard, click Data then Statistics in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. The first tab shows the overall demographics for the organization, the second tab shows CSE-IT results overall and by concern level, and the third tab shows the Lighthouse indicators (an additional screening method).

Data can be visualized and filtered using different criteria.  View screenings over a period of time, such as month or year.  Filter CSE-IT results by demographic categories such as age, gender, and ethnicity.  View data by concern level; quickly identify clients with “clear concern” CSE-IT scores to take action on their behalf.  The CSE-IT indicator bar graph shows the prevalence of each indicator in each category. For more details on the data dashboard, watch Part 3 of the webinar series: https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-support-webinars/

Data privacy and security are very important to Allies and our partners.  Lighthouse is a web-based software application, and all data is encrypted and stored securely in a virtual private cloud. Users are authorized to access Lighthouse using a unique email address and password. User permissions determine what data is visible and what actions can be performed by each individual.

Refer to the Allies Lighthouse Data Protection FAQ at https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-support/

Lighthouse is a secure platform which can only be accessed by authorized users and organizations. This ensures the data for your organization remains private.  

Data is visible only to a single organization within Lighthouse, unless you are using the collaborative features. These features enable person records and screenings to be shared and transferred among groups of organizations, such as Care Coordination teams. These groups must have data sharing agreements in place among participating members, and each organization is required to have a Lighthouse license. Group sharing is configured within Lighthouse according to the protocols set by the participating organizations. Contact Allies for more information about the collaborative features.

The Lighthouse data initiative (referenced above) will analyze and visualize information about human trafficking across Texas. By collecting this data, Lighthouse will illuminate the problem so that we better understand the experiences of victims and survivors, deliver effective trauma-informed care, and learn from trends to proactively disrupt exploitation across the state. All data (including CSE-IT screenings) will be de-identified - i.e., personally identifiable information, such as name or date of birth, will be removed from records. Your organization’s data may be included in the aggregate dashboards, but users will not be able to view screening results for individual clients.  Read about the Lighthouse data initiative at https://alliesagainstslavery.org/lighthouse-data-initiative/.

An innovative software platform that helps identify victims, coordinate care, and recognize trends of human trafficking; platform to complete CSE-IT screenings.

The validated screening tool developed by WestCoast Children’s Clinic; the primary screening tool used by agencies in the state of Texas.

The view of all the person records created by the organization within Lighthouse.

The visualization of an organization’s Lighthouse data in graphical format, providing insights into demographics and trends. 

The profile where individual client information is stored, including biographical data, screenings and case notes.

• Clear Concern: Many risk factors and vulnerabilities constitute a high likelihood the client is being commercially sexually exploited or is at high risk. 
• Possible Concern: The youth may be at risk for or experiencing sexual exploitation, but it is not able to be determined with certitude at the time of screening. 
• No Concern: There is not enough information to determine victim status, or the indicators selected do not suggest the individual is being commercially sexually exploited.