Human Trafficking Intervention Initiatives

Enhance the Continuum of Care

In March 2014, DJJ and the Department of Children and Families created two working groups to assess the tools available to identify victims of human trafficking and the services available to help them heal. These workgroups provided recommendations to the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Families in 2014 on how to improve victim identification and enhance the continuum of services available to victims in Florida.

View the workgroup's recommendations

Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST)

DJJ launched a three-county pilot project in August 2012, making Florida the first state in the US to attempt to identify victims immediately upon arrest.
In March 2015, DJJ expanded this initiative statewide, putting an improved victim identification tool in all of Florida’s Juvenile Assessment Centers and intake facilities.
This Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST), jointly developed by the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Families, screens for both labor trafficking and sex trafficking and is utilized with male or female youth that are identified as potential trafficking victims.
Allows DJJ to serve as a safety net for children who may be experiencing exploitation but were not identified by law enforcement as potential victims at the time of arrest. This is important because from July 2009-January 2013, only 3% of suspected victims entered the juvenile justice system on prostitution charges. Most enter on battery or theft charges.
As of October 2016, individuals under 18 years old cannot be arrested for prostitution charges in Florida.

Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST) - 2020 Updates

DJJ updated the Human Trafficking Screening Tool in 2019 to include a PreScreening, designed to flag some of the most common historical factors and behavioral indicators of a person who has experienced trafficking. DJJ Juvenile Probation Officers and others involved the intake screening process use the HTST PreScreening to help determine whether a full HTST interview and screening needs to be completed.
In 2020, DJJ incorporated the Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST) PreScreening into the larger HTST in the DJJ electronic case management system in order to help DJJ Juvenile Probation Officers and others involved the intake process move seamlessly between the HTST PreScreening and the full HTST.
For more information about the HTST and human trafficking screening processes, contact the DJJ Human Trafficking team via email here:

Interagency Collaboration

DJJ’s Secretary serves on the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking. The 15-member Council chaired by Attorney General Moody, builds on existing state and local partnerships working to combat human trafficking. Members include law enforcement officers, prosecutors, legislators, as well as experts in the fields of health, education and social services. The Council was created through legislation passed and signed into law in 2014. The Statewide Council on Human Trafficking was created for the purpose of enhancing the development and coordination of state and local law enforcement and social services responses to fight all forms of human trafficking and to support victims. Statewide Council meetings are public meetings, subject to Florida’s Sunshine laws. Any individual is welcome to attend Statewide Council meetings.

Learn more about the Statewide Council here.

Each year, the Statewide Council hosts the Human Trafficking Summit. Florida’s Human Trafficking Summit brings together local, state, and national leaders working to eradicate all forms of trafficking. The Human Trafficking Summit sessions will allow Florida to continue working to protect victims, prevent trafficking, and prosecute traffickers.

Learn more about the 2024 Human Trafficking Summit here.

Human Trafficking Research

The Department of Juvenile Justice has an active Office of Research and Data Innovation and partners with academics from universities across the globe on topics related to juvenile justice. If you are interested in human trafficking-related research with FDJJ, contact the DJJ Human Trafficking Intervention Director by calling (850) 717-2714 or via email here.

All research must be reviewed and approved by the DJJ Institutional Review Board (IRB) within the Office of Research and Data Innovation. Learn more about the FDJJ Institutional Review Board here.