Stop the Traffic
March 2017 Issue
BCAT 2017 MEETING LOCATION & TIME CHANGE!

BCAT members, please note that 2017 meetings will now start at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at NOVA's main offices at 2370 York Road, Suite B1, Jamison PA 18929. We hope the later time and more central location will enable more to attend! Below are the 2017 meeting dates:

April 12: Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub and Detective Matthew Tobie of Bensalem Police are the featured presenters. Don't miss this one!
July 12: Presenter to be announced
October 11: Presenter to be announced
Meet a BCAT Member Corner   - Reneé Calhoun

Too often, drug abuse and human trafficking go hand in hand. That's why Reneé Calhoun got involved in BCAT over a year ago.

Reneé is Approval of Care Clinical Supervisor for the Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Commission, Inc. which is the state and locally designated Single County Authority (SCA) for alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. This agency works continuously to ensure the provision of a comprehensive and balanced continuum of quality prevention, intervention and treatment services for the county. Her department helps connect resources and provides funding for people who don't have insurance for drug and alcohol treatment. As such, she comes in contact every day with potential and current clients who may very well be addicted to drugs via human trafficking-or who are being held prisoner to trafficking by their addition to drugs. Reneé was made aware of the prevalence of human trafficking when she heard a presentation two years ago about the relationship between drug abuse and trafficking.

"For me, red flags popped up and I realized how often I'd missed them before," she remembers. "I saw all the signs of human trafficking among clients: multiple 'boyfriends,' hotels, fancy phones, and more. More than three quarters of girls and women who are being trafficked for sex are also drug and/or alcohol abusers. Most girls and women are already addicted or who come out of foster care, are young, and are prone to being victimized.

"Many women are trapped into sex trafficking because traffickers get the victims addicted to drugs and then are told that if they don't prostitute themselves, the traffickers and pimps will withhold heroin from them," she explained. "The girls and women don't want to get sick from withdrawal so they're stuck."

After hearing her first presentation about sex trafficking, Reneé said, "I recognized that I had missed many opportunities to have conversations with clients about whether or not they were victims of sex trafficking."

That recognition led Reneé to join the Victim Focus subcommittee. "In fact, at my very first BCAT meeting I made a presentation on the link between addiction and trafficking," she said. Providing education to first responders and drug and alcohol counselors on the link between addiction and trafficking is an ongoing focus for Reneé, and she arranges for NOVA staff to help with that educational effort. She said her agency is actively working to connect local addiction providers involved with BCAT. Kathy Bennett and Mandy Mundy of NOVA/BCAT provide valuable education and awareness building among addiction providers in Bucks County.
 
Getting first responders educated on human trafficking is so critical, Reneé noted, because most of the girls and women who come through the drug and alcohol system have been arrested for prostitution. And Reneé believes another educational opportunity is among drug and alcohol counselors in the prison system. "I don't know if people in the local jail and youth center have been trained, and that's a real need," she said.
 
Reneé said everyone in Bucks County should consider her organization to be a resource.
 
  "I want community members top know they can call our officer if they have any drug and alcohol issues among their client groups or within their families. We can provide information and NARCAN (the heroin-overdose antidote) to community members and community organizations." Desperate parents whose children struggle with addiction and who have questions about Act 53-which involves the involuntary commitment of a minor to drug and alcohol treatment-can call her office at 215-773-9643 if they'd like information about Act 53 emailed to them.
 
  "Human trafficking is in a silo," she said. "So many professionals across the spectrum of treatment, counseling, and the judicial and disciplinary fields come in contact with these victims every day. We all have to know what the signs of trafficking are and to be open to looking for it.
 
"Most of all, I want people to know that recovery is possible from both human trafficking and substance abuse," she said.

HT Awareness Month Reaches Many

NOVA and BCAT commemorated National Human Trafficking Month with a series of activities in January. The Bucks County Board of Commissioners proclaimed January 11 Human Trafficking Awareness Day for the county at the Board's meeting. Buck County District Attorney Mathew Weintraub offered words of support for victims and survivors of trafficking.

During the evening of Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11th BCAT hosted a screening of the feature-length documentary "Sex and Money: A National Search for Human Worth "at the Newtown Theater. An audience comprised all ages, from students to seniors, viewed the movie and participated in an engaged and informal discussion afterward. Thank you to all who came out in support! 
Art and Awareness Meet in Perkasie

"Bucks for Freedom" was the theme of a fun evening of fundraising January 20 at Chimayo Gallery in Perkasie. Alix Stoll and Priscilla Gray-Stoll of Chimayo played host to a great crowd of BCAT supporters and friends, who participated in a silent auction, got henna tattoos, shiatsu, made jewelry and candles, and won door prizes. All proceeds from the evening are for the work of BCAT in combatting human trafficking and raising public awareness in Bucks County. Artists generously donated materials and expertise for the fun art activities as well as art pieces for auctioning and for door prizes. CB West Key Club volunteers were on hand to serve as greeters and to help with door prize tickets. SistersU donated their time in bartending for the event.
Awards

Kathy Bennett, Co-chair of BCAT and Associate Director at NOVA and BCAT received special awards at the Soroptimists International of Indian Rock "Making A Difference for Women Recognition Awards" on March 1st at the Spring Mill Country Club.

Kathy received "The Women Helping Women Award" which honors women who consistently and effectively use their resources, talents and influence to help other women achieve their potential for the improvement of women's status in society. 

The Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking received "The Advancing the Status of Women Award" which recognizes and honors businesses and organizations that have been particularly active and successful in advancing the status of women through employment policies, scholarship and grants in support of women, or advocacy on behalf of the improvement of women's status.  Congratulations to ALL of our members who work so hard in our efforts to eradicate human trafficking in Bucks County! This is YOUR award!

BCAT and Kathy are honored to receive recognition from an organization such as Soroptimists of Indian Rock whose members volunteer to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. We thank you.
PA Ranks 13th in HT Cases for 2016

Polaris.com's annual survey of human trafficking by state shows that Pennsylvania had 151 reported cases of human trafficking in 2016, a 40-percent increase over 2015. The commonwealth ranked 13th among the 50 US states/commonwealths in the number of HT cases. For more information on the report, go to https://polarisproject.org/
In the News...
Representative Marguerite Quinn of the 143rd legislative district wrote in her January email news, Human Trafficking Awareness: "The House unanimously passed House Resolution 22, which I introduced this week and declares January "Human Trafficking Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania. When we hear "human trafficking," we often think it's something that occurs in far-off countries, but this is not the case. Human trafficking is a global epidemic, and is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world, estimated to be as high as a $1 billion industry.

The timing of this resolution is no coincidence. As we look at plans for the Super Bowl, which will be played within the next two weeks, we see an event that is ripe for this type of horrific activity. The large crowd, the partying, the transient customers, and basically an over indulgent atmosphere will make this a magnet for sex trafficking. In fact, leading up to the 2015 Super Bowl in Arizona, the FBI and local law enforcement arrested 68 traffickers and recovered 30 juvenile victims. Operation Cross Country, which has now been conducted 10 times yielded 239 arrests of traffickers and associates and the rescue of 82 children. At least 15 of those arrests came from Pennsylvania.

It is our responsibility, morally and constitutionally, to protect the victims of this insidious crime. Raising awareness is a first step."
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