The Annual Utah Trafficking in Persons (UTIP) Conference, a collaboration between the Utah Attorney General’s Office, the University of Utah’s SJ Quinney College of Law, the Asian Association of Utah and the Utah Trafficking in Persons Task Force will be held virtually on January 26 from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. MST and January 27 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. MST.

National and local experts will present on topics such as human trafficking 101, identifying and responding to labor trafficking, investigating illicit massage businesses, trauma bonding, the behaviors of online predators and many others.

 

This event is only being hosted live and will not be recorded.

General continuing education available (not Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit).

Wednesday, January 26
Total: 5 hours (4.5 Continuing Education Credit Hours)

Thursday, January 27
Total: 3.5 hours (3 Continuing Education Credit Hours)

 

Agenda

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

9:00 am – Conference Opening – Utah Solicitor General Melissa A. Holyoak

9:30-11:00 am – KEYNOTE: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work – Presenters: North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force

• Emily Schwartz, Director, North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force
• Supervisory Special Agent/ICAC Commander, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations
• Western Navigator/Victim Service Specialist, North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force/North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations

Collaborative work with multi-disciplinary teams can be both exciting and exhausting.  Many task forces have struggled and found successes in building relationships between disciplines, including the North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force (NDHTTF).  The presenters will outline the structure and local protocols of the NDHTTF, share lessons learned, and identify collaborative practices in urban and rural communities.  

11:15 am – 12:30 pm Breakout Sessions

• Human Trafficking 101: A Trauma Informed Victim Centered Approach
  • Kapono Barton, Trainer III, Department of Human Services, Division of Child and Family Services
  • Debora Wawro, Trainer III, Department of Human Services, Juvenile Justice Services

Provides participants with an overview of human trafficking, assists them to identify indicators of human trafficking for the purpose of providing a victim centered approach, and provides ways they can aid in the fight to bring perpetrators to justice. 

• Human Smuggling in International Adoptions
  
  • Daniel Strong, Former Assistant Attorney General, Utah Attorney General’s Office
  • Special Agent, SECURE Strike Force, Utah Attorney General’s Office

A case study of State v. Paul Petersen, who used coercion and fraud to smuggle over 40 pregnant Marshallese women into the United States in order to place their children for adoption with American families. Presenters will explain the origins of this case, explore the investigation and legal strategies that brought it to fruition, and help attendees understand how to recognize and report similar types of crime in their communities.

• Labor Trafficking 101: A Multidisciplinary Approach
  
  • Stephen Glassford, Outreach Specialist, United States Department of Labor, WHD
  • Andrea Sherman, Trafficking in Persons Director, Asian Association of Utah

This presentation will provide an overview of labor trafficking and how Utah is addressing it through a multidisciplinary approach. When attendees complete this session, they will be able to define labor trafficking, recognize potential indicators of trafficking, summarize risk factors for victimization and describe dynamics of control. Attendees also will learn how members of the Utah Trafficking in Persons (UTIP) Taskforce, local, and federal partners are combatting labor trafficking. The United States Department of Labor will discuss their strategies for combating labor trafficking such as investigating wage claims in low-wage industries, protecting employees’ rights and participating in local human trafficking task forces.

• Investigating Illicit Massage Businesses Part 1 **Restricted Access – see registration
  • Presenters: Human Trafficking Division, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office

This presentation explores how to effectively navigate an Illicit Massage Business (IMB) Human Trafficking case from investigation though prosecution utilizing a multi-disciplinary victim-centered approach. The prosecutor, law enforcement officer, victim witness advocate and financial investigator who give this presentation successfully investigated and tried the first two IMB cases ever tried in the state of Massachusetts. They will talk about the considerations for each discipline through all stages of the investigation and legal process and will share strategies that have worked; those that have not worked; and lessons learned along the way.

12:45 pm – 2:00 pm Breakout Sessions

• Understanding, Identifying, and Responding to Labor Trafficking
  • Renan Salgado, Human Trafficking Director, Worker Justice Center of New York

This presentation will focus on the definition, history, and current status of labor trafficking in the United States, with a further focus on labor trafficking in agriculture. The presentation will address ways in which to access workers, investigate and identify potential cases, as well as response mechanisms and networking resources for effectively assisting persons who have been trafficked in the State of Utah. This is an intermediate level presentation aimed at amplifying the understanding of labor trafficking, particularly for law enforcement and victim services providers.

• 5 Types of Sustainable Self-Care
  • Niki Olsen, LCMHC, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Utah Navajo Health Systems

Self-Care is an essential component to be effective. Without self-care that is sustainable, stress, burnout and professional impairment can become a daily occurrence. However, just having a toolbox of self-care strategies might not be helpful. Using a wellness model, participants will look at five areas of their life to determine where self-care is needed. They will identify five areas of need for self-care, examine sustainable self-care strategies in each area and set up a sustainable self-care plan.

• Immigration Options Available to Victims of Human Trafficking
  
  • Roxanna Garcia, Policy Analyst, Office of Policy and Strategy, Humanitarian Affairs Division, Victim Protection Branch, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
  • Jennifer Macaulay, Policy Analyst, Office of Policy and Strategy, Humanitarian Affairs Division, Victim Protection Branch, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Human trafficking victims are often reluctant to report their victimization to law enforcement due to their nationality, immigration status and fear of removal from the United States. Recognizing the need for better protections for victims of trafficking and other serious crimes, Congress created specific immigration benefits for this population, including T nonimmigrant status (also known as the “T visa”) and U nonimmigrant status also known as the “U visa”). The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the federal agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adjudicates immigration and citizenship benefit requests for human trafficking victims. This presentation will provide an overview of potential immigration relief options available to this population, focusing on T and U visas.

• Investigating Illicit Massage Businesses Part 2 **Restricted Access – MUST attend “Part 1” at 11:15am

2:00 pm – Day 1 Concludes

 

Thursday, January 27, 2022

9:00-10:45 am PANEL – Trauma informed and Victim Centered: What It Looks Like in Practice

• Moderator: Rachelle Hill, Training Coordinator, Utah Office for Victims of Crime

Panelists:

• Ryan Holtan, Section Director, Human Trafficking & SECURE Strike Force, Utah Attorney General’s Office
• Special Agent, SECURE Strike Force, Utah Attorney General’s Office
• Vicki Bushman, State Victim Advocate Liaison, Utah Office for Victims of Crime
• Crystal Powell, Victims’ Rights Attorney, Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic
• Camden Caifa, MSN- Forensic Nursing, SANE Educator/Program Director, Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault/Southwest Forensic Healthcare

This panel is a multi-disciplinary group discussing the different perspectives and professional approaches to victim centered and trauma informed human trafficking issues.

11:00 am – 12:15 pm Breakout Sessions

• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s Response to Child Sex Trafficking & Recovery
  • Courtney Desilet, Resources Specialist II, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
  • Jessica Konecke, Case Manager II, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

In 2020, 1 out of 6 missing children reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), who had run away, were likely victims of child sex trafficking (CST). Many of these cases involved children missing from the care of child welfare. It’s clear that child welfare professionals are increasingly on the front lines of coordinating care, services and emergency response for survivors of CST. With the significant levels of trauma experienced by CST victims, advanced recovery planning and specialized response can mitigate challenges, streamline resources and allow for coordinated, trauma-informed interventions. This presentation will provide an overview of NCMEC’s response to child sex trafficking, followed by practical lessons learned in developing proactive recovery and response plans that are focused on increasing rapport, youth engagement, and reducing running behavior for missing children who are being sex trafficked.

• Trauma Bonding and its Relationship to Human Trafficking
  
  • Kathy Franchek-Roa, Associate Professor University of Utah School of Medicine, MD

Trauma-coerced attachment (also known as ‘trauma bonding’) is the development of a powerful, emotional attachment to one’s abuser. Similar dynamics of victims’ attachment to their abusers are seen in many controlling, abusive relationships, including human trafficking. This presentation will provide the audience with the ability to 1) Describe the development of trauma-coerced attachment in these abuse situations; 2) Apply this knowledge when describing the coercive methods that traffickers use to recruit and control their victims; and 3) Propose prevention strategies to decrease this form of abuse.

• Behaviors of Online Predators: Grooming
  • Michelle Busch-Upwall, Internet Crimes Against Children Education Specialist, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Utah Attorney General’s Office
  • Special Agent, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Utah Attorney General’s Office

Grooming is the process during which a child sexual offender draws a child in by gaining his or her trust in order to sexually abuse the child and maintain secrecy. The process of grooming may last months or even years to break through a child’s defenses and build the child’s trust. In this presentation, we will examine the stages of grooming and how predators gain control of their victims.

• Healthcare Response: A Patient-Centered Approach
  • Lindsay Broadbent, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Christian Center Park City
  • Camden Caifa, MSN- Forensic Nursing, SANE Educator/Program Director, Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault/Southwest Forensic Healthcare

This presentation focuses on the situation in which a survivor of human trafficking seeks medical services and discloses. We will offer training, tips, and response scenarios on how healthcare providers can respond in a patient centered way to encourage further engagement with responding organizations and resources.

12:30 pm Event Concludes

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