The Kent County Sheriff’s Office hopes an anonymous donation will help provide better support to human trafficking victims and hold more perpetrators accountable.
Last Thursday, the Kent County Board of Commissioners accepted and appropriated $135,000 given to KCSO to support its Human Trafficking Task Force .
Kent Co. Sheriff’s Office says Human Trafficking Task Force making a difference
The donor, who requested anonymity, specified the agency use $125,000 to hire an additional, full-time human trafficking investigator and $10,000 to the needs of victims during an emergency response according to a copy of the resolution obtained by FOX17.
KCSO formed the task force in 2022. In partnership with three victim service providers, Safe Haven Ministries , Crisis Aid International , and Sacred Beginnings , it aims to take a trauma-informed approach that helps victims get needed care and prosecute exploiters.
“We’ve really worked to try to make sure we’re not just looking for one thing, that we’re working for numbers of things, and that we’re doing it in many places so that people can be identified and helped,” said KCSO Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young. “That help looks different. Sometimes it’s an investigation, sometimes it’s hotel money for the night with a dinner and a meeting with Safe Haven or another program locally, that will give them more long term direction.”