This Evaluation of the Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) to Combat Human Trafficking study was the first federally funded, multisite, mixed-methods evaluation to specifically assess the impact of ECM human trafficking task forces on the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking crimes and on identifying and assisting survivors.
In 2010, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) launched the Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking Program to help communities develop multidisciplinary task forces that employ victim-centered approaches to identify survivors, provide services, and investigate and prosecute all forms of human trafficking. This report documents the evaluation’s methodology and major findings from the evaluation identified from three major data sources: (1) in-depth, semistructured interviews with task force stakeholders, (2) closed case files of law enforcement investigations into potential human trafficking, and (3) quarterly administrative performance metrics data from the BJA Performance Measurement Tool (PMT) and the OVC Trafficking Information Management System (TIMS) data. Most of the ECM task forces evaluated for this study are focused on identifying and investigating sex trafficking. The most common investigative method used for identifying sex trafficking is undercover sting operations for prostitution. Most investigations into suspected sex trafficking resulted in arrest (95 percent) and prosecution (77 percent), but only 33 percent of these cases were prosecuted using human trafficking charges. Nearly all ECM task forces are struggling with their response to labor trafficking. Collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders are crucial for task forces to be effective. Extensive tables and figures
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