Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: The overall purpose of this survey is to gain a better understanding of human trafficking and other victimization experiences among youth who have recently been involved in the child welfare system. The Survey of Youth Transitioning from Foster Care (SYTFC) is being conducted by RTI International through a contract from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with ACF’s Children’s Bureau. The SYTFC is being implemented as part of the Domestic Human Trafficking and the Child Welfare Population project. OPRE’s webpage about the project is located here: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/research/project/domestic-human-trafficking-and-the-child welfare population. Child welfare agencies in two to three participating states will provide administrative data from which the survey sample will be drawn. Youth at increased risk of trafficking victimization will be oversampled, based on the maltreatment experiences, out-of-home placements, and missing from care episodes recorded in child welfare administrative data. The survey will be administered to up to 780 youth aged 18 and 19 years who were in foster care during their 17th year. These youth may have remained in foster care after their 18th birthday, be living with relatives, or be living independently. With youth consent, survey data will be combined with child welfare administrative data to gain a better understanding of the intersections among youth characteristics, child welfare placements and services, and human trafficking victimization. The SYTFC is designed to address several research questions, including: (1) How many youth report having experienced sex trafficking before age 18, sex trafficking after age 18, and/or labor trafficking? (2) How do the number and characteristics of youth who self-reported trafficking experiences compare with those whose trafficking was identified by the child welfare agency? (3) Based on known characteristics of the study population, what is the estimated prevalence of trafficking among older youth in foster care? (4) What factors differentiate youth who report trafficking experiences from other youth? These may exist at the individual level (e.g., sexual orientation/gender identity, risk behaviors), system level (e.g., juvenile justice involvement), community level (e.g., extended foster care), or social support level (e.g., adequacy of support system). (5) What factors appear to precede trafficking victimization? (6) Among factors associated with self-reported trafficking experiences, which are potentially modifiable through resource and policy measures? (7) Did trafficking occur while the youth was in a child welfare or juvenile justice placement? (8) Did another person arrange or profit from the youth’s sex trafficking? If so, what was the youth’s relationship to that person? Do facilitator roles vary by age at which trafficking occurs? (9) Did any acute events precede the trafficking experience (e.g., running away or being kicked out of home)? Do precipitating events vary by age at which trafficking occurs? (10) What contextual factors (i.e., trafficking during missing-from-care episodes may be more likely to be identified) affect whether trafficking was identified by the child welfare agency? (11) What services or supports, like extended foster care, social support, or material resources are associated with a reduced susceptibility to trafficking? The SYTFC includes both interviewer–administered items conducted by telephone and self-administered items completed via a web survey. The interviewer-administered portion of the SYTFC includes questions on demographic characteristics, child welfare system involvement, runaway episodes and being kicked of home and foster care placements, social support, human trafficking experiences, and juvenile and criminal justice system involvement. The self-administered, web portion of the SYTFC includes questions on internal and external assets, community services needed and received, mental health, victimization and trafficking-related risks, substance abuse, sexual experiences, and relationship violence. Analysis of the SYTFC data will provide information not otherwise available on the prevalence of human trafficking among youth transitioning from foster care; modifiable risk and protective factors associated with increased or decreased risk of trafficking victimization, respectively; and the context surrounding victimization among youth. Project findings are intended to support the development of effective strategies to prevent, identify, and respond to human trafficking while youth are in foster care and as they exit foster care in young adulthood.   The main page for the study’s approved Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) package is here: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAOMBHistory?ombControlNumber=0970-0546. Under "View Supporting Statement and Other Documents," you can access information about the project, including respondent forms and data collection instruments.