2018 Report

Report Sections

Executive Summary

This section provides an overview of content featured in the Annual Report. Download the Executive Summary (PDF).

Section 1: Year in Review

The Year in Review section summarizes the themes and topics the Council tackled in 2018. It showcases the Council's implementation plan for a statewide public awareness campaign, highlighting the Council's goals for such a campaign and the strategies to accomplish these goals. The Year in Review  section also discusses the joint Colorado Department of Human Services and Colorado Department of Public Safety project funded by the U.S. Department of Justice to strengthen regional service capacity to serve child/youth victims of human trafficking in Colorado. The project sets out to establish a network of regional human trafficking specialist based on a recommendation in the Council's 2015 Annual Report, as well as looks to use Council standards and guidelines for organizations serving human trafficking survivors. Finally, the Year in Review  section provides a summary of federal and state laws enacted in 2018 that address human trafficking.  Download the Year in Review (PDF).

Section 2: Collecting Data on Human Trafficking in Colorado

This section provides an annual account of human trafficking incidence based on Colorado law enforcement, judicial, hotline and victim service provider reporting for 2015-2017. New to the Council's 2018 Annual Report is the inclusion of human trafficking data from the state's child welfare system.  Data featured from child welfare includes calls to the state's Child Abuse Hotline that references sex trafficking; the number of child/youth sex trafficking allegations assessed by county departments of human services; the number of founded cases of child/youth sex trafficking; and the number of high risk for human trafficking screenings that were conducted. Download the Collecting Data on Human Trafficking in Colorado section (PDF).

Section 3: Human Trafficking Training Outcomes

This section provides an overview of the dissemination of the Council's human trafficking training curricula across Colorado. It provides data on the total number of professionals trained throughout Colorado as a result of the efforts of Division of Criminal Justice staff and regional facilitators educated through the Council’s Train-the-Trainer program. It additionally highlights the development of the Council's training curriculum for service providers and the roll-out of the Council’s law enforcement training program. Download the Human Trafficking Training Outcomes section (PDF).

Section 4: Addressing Labor Trafficking in Colorado 

Labor trafficking is an issue in Colorado. This section of the report makes recommendations for lawmakers, government agencies, and other professionals that would help to better protect populations vulnerable to labor trafficking, support survivors, and punish labor traffickers. The Council's eleven labor trafficking recommendations fall into three categories: Protections | Legal Tools | Training and Awareness that represent a three-pronged approach to addressing this issue.

To view all eleven of the Council's recommendations, visit the Addressing Labor Trafficking in Colorado (PDF) section.

Section 5: Identifying Human Trafficking Prevention Strategies

One of the mandates set forth by the legislature to the Council is to, "Identify best practices for the prevention of human trafficking, particularly for the prevention of child sex trafficking." In response to this mandate, the Council developed a four-step framework to recommend as a promising practice for the identification of effective human trafficking prevention strategies. These four steps include:

1. A focus on primary prevention. 

2. A focus on risk/protective factors instead of an emphasis on human-trafficking specific prevention strategies.

3. A selection of core criteria that aid in the identification of effective strategies that could easily be sustained while recognizing and supporting those with past trauma.

4. An outline of broad criteria to use when reviewing groups of strategies—these criteria are inclusive of all potential human trafficking victims.

For more information about this framework, as well as some example programs that fit the Council's criteria, read the Identifying Effective Human Trafficking Prevention Strategies (PDF) section.