** ACCESSIBILITY: If the online format is difficult for you to complete, you can access a fillable PDF and submit via email. If you would like to do the application verbally, please email our task force director at Anna.pastor@usc.salvationarmy.org to set up a call **

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS FILLABLE PDF

The Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force (CCHTTF) is a multi-disciplinary task force that brings advocates, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, social service, and legal service agencies together to address human trafficking. The Task Force is a joint project of the Salvation Army STOP-IT program and the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

Each year, the Task Force hosts a human trafficking conference to inform, educate and strengthen anti-trafficking efforts in Cook County and the Northern District of IL. The conference generally features two full days of presentations on innovative work from local and national experts on human trafficking. This year, the conference will include a virtual introductory presentation a week prior to the conference, for newly engaged stakeholders who seek to build their skills and incorporate strategies for trauma-informed support for survivors of human trafficking. Date to be announced.

 FAQ

If invited to present, speakers will recieve complimentary registration. Out of town speakers are elligible for Per Diem reimbursement and complimentary hotel accomodation. Local speaker may be elligble for milage reimbursement.

 From Theory to Action: Practical Tools to Advance Anti-Trafficking Practices

The 2025 conference will highlight practical approaches and techincal skills to combat human trafficking. Our theme will focus on the various needs of underserved populations, for example, men and boys, survivors with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ survivors, and labor trafficking, among others. Anti-trafficking work does not happen in a silo, and requires many providers, investigators, and those with lived experience working together on present-day events, such as:

• Outreach strategies and interventions for labor trafficking cases
• Continuation of missing and murdered BIPOC girls and women
• Services and resources for immigrant survivors
• Investigation and prosecution techniques labor trafficking cases
• Shifting trends within the field of anti-trafficking youth advocacy 

This list is not exhaustive, but preference will be given to proposals that cover the following topic areas:

• Evidence-Based Prosecutions
• Impact of Recent Policies and Legislation on Survivors
• New Resources for Survivors 
• Promising Practices in Policing for Human Trafficking Response
• Using Digital Evidence as an investigative Tool
• Drugs as Coercion: Human Trafficking and Toxicology
• Racial Equity in Anti-Human Trafficking Work
• The Intersection of Labor Trafficking and Domestic Violence
• Lessons Learned: Case Study involving a Multidisciplinary Team
• Key Policy Change and Advocacy from the Worker’s Rights Movement
• Housing Advocacy
• Addressing Collective Trauma among BIPOC Survivors
• Providing Services to Underserved Populations: Male-identified survivors, LGBTQ survivors, Survivors with Disabilities, etc.
• Barriers to Verifying Identify in Labor Trafficking Cases
• Centering lived experience experts in anti-trafficking work
• The Intersection of Immigration Practices and Increased Vulnerabilities to Trafficking
• The Use of Online Platforms to Recruit and Exploit Minors
• Ethical Outreach and Engagement Strategies
• The Continuum of Child Labor Exploitation and Trafficking

The Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force Conference Planning Committee will evaluate the proposals out of 100. The following are the merit-based criteria for evaluation:

The committee takes into account lived experience and non-traditional work experience in the Qualifications and Expertise cateogry.

Please note that all presentations must be trauma-informed, respect the privacy of survivors, get consent before sharing survivor narratives, protect confidentiality, and strategically change any names or redact identifying information when referencing specific cases. Presentations should not utilize stereotypical imagery, perpetuate extreme narratives of human trafficking, or employ sensationalist messaging such as “modern day slavery” and/or “abolition” to describe the crime of human trafficking and anti-trafficking work. Any presentations that are not aligned with these standards will not be considered for the conference.

MISSION

The mission of the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force is to:

• Combat human trafficking through seamless collaboration between law enforcement and social service providers;
• Use a victim-centered approach in proactively investigating and prosecuting human trafficking crimes; and
• Provide comprehensive, high-quality social services to all
  victims of human trafficking.

VISION

The Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force envisions:

• A swift and coordinated criminal justice response to human trafficking, in which perpetrators are held accountable and in which the rights of victims of trafficking under Illinois and federal law are protected;
• A comprehensive network of high-quality services for victims of trafficking that all victims can access as soon as they are identified in the community or by law enforcement; and
• Systemic collaboration between service providers and law enforcement towards the common goal of combating human trafficking in our community.