On May 22-25, 2017, the Minnesota Judicial Branch, with support from SJI, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, hosted a statewide training: Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation 102: Engagement Strategies for Working with Sexually Exploited Children.

Judges from each of Minnesota’s ten judicial districts and one United States District Court judge each selected a team of systems professionals to represent their district in this training, which focused on building an effective systems response to sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. In all, 21 judges and 71 systems professionals, including Minnesota Safe Harbor Regional Navigators, community-based advocates, law enforcement, prosecution, victim services, child protection, and probation, participated in this two and a half-day training.

Following the program, a report was prepared, containing a summary of major themes from the training and recommendations for next steps in building an effective systems response to sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.

These recommendations include:

• Utilizing the influence of judges on the systems response and in the community;
• Developing a comprehensive response;
• Leveraging existing resources;
• Adhering to the Minnesota Safe Harbor Protocol Guidelines;
• Working towards systems change;
• Ensuring a culturally-responsive systems response; and,
• Incorporating the youth/survivor perspective.

The full report is available online. In addition to the elements above, a report-back on the district-specific multidisciplinary team activities is featured.