We were lucky to catch up with Amy LaGesse recently and have shared our conversation below.
Amy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?
When I started anti-human trafficking work in 2014, I did not know much about it; what it was, what was happening in my area. I had heard of human trafficking, but thought it was something that happened in other countries. One of my best friends was the Co-Chair of the local anti-human trafficking Coalition, and said, “Hey Amy, you know a lot about grants. The Coalition applied for and received a state-wide grant, and we need someone to implement it. Are you interested?”
I thanked my friend for the kind words but said I don’t know anything about human trafficking. She said we can teach you that, we need someone to implement this grant. I have always worked in roles that were controversial; HIV/AIDS locally, STD Prevention for the state of Ohio, family planning with Planned Parenthood across Ohio. This topic seemed to go hand in hand with the other controversial topics I had fought for in my past. That was it, I was interested. I applied and interviewed for the position of Regional Grant Coordinator and served in that role proudly for 6 years until the funding was over. I was passionate and dedicated to teaching others about human trafficking, participating in community events to make our community aware of trafficking and always helping others to get involved. I built partnerships with surrounding communities to ensure Coalitions in my part of the state were working together.
As this grant came to an end, I was asked if I was interested in working with the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute on a new grant helping youth. Once again, I was off and running and still today work with community partners to find youth that are at risk for trafficking and/or have likely been trafficked. By the way, I am also one of the current Co-Chairs for the local anti-human trafficking Coalition in my region.
Amy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Amy LaGesse and I have been working in the anti-human trafficking field for almost 10 years. Before that I directed the STD Prevention Program in Ohio, I have worked for Planned Parenthood across Ohio, I worked at Bowling Green State University under a grant for the Ohio Department of Health and I have served my local community as the HIV Coordinator for the local health department. My work has always been edgy, and helping others has always been the theme.
I am a proud Mom of 2 grown Sons and I have 4 beautiful grandchildren. I am also very lucky to be in a long-term relationship with the love of my life. What makes me standout in life and my work is my passion for life, my passion to educate people about the signs and indicators of human trafficking and my dedication to serving populations others do not.
All my human trafficking work has centered around building relationships with people. Being sure that all parties are treated fairly and with integrity and never forgetting the mission: combat human trafficking. Whether I am encouraging agencies to participate in the local Coalition or I am asking agencies to use evidence-based tools to identify trafficked individuals, it is always about the mission.
In my current position at the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute, I serve as the Program Manager of both the FOCUS on Runaways Project and the PATH Project.
The FOCUS on Runaways Project was developed because the local anti-human trafficking Coalition conducted a Needs Assessment and determined that as a Coalition, not enough was being done to provide services to trafficked youth. Key stakeholders in the community including the local Sheriff’s Office, the Police Department, community agencies that serve youth, the local transit authority, the local school district, mental health providers, substance use disorder providers, HT survivors, community members, Juvenile Court Judges and other court staff started meeting together to discuss what could be done. The Governor’s Office, local political leaders and Ohio State Representatives all worked together to provide funding for the first year of the FOCUS Project. A screening tool was developed and is evidence-based and validated. Agencies that work with youth, ages 11-17 years of age, have committed to using the screener to determine if a youth is at risk of being trafficked or has already been trafficked.
The PATH Project’s (Partners Against Trafficking in Humans) main objective is to provide services to trafficked youth and adults. PATH receives referrals from community partners who have identified youth that have been trafficked and need individualized, long-term case management. PATH is based on the Pathways model which was used in Ohio to assist with low infant mortality rates. The PATH Project trains community partners to implement the PATH Project which includes incentives for survivors to earn while they participate in needed services. Survivors can participate in PATH up to 3 years. Education, assessments and referrals are made, and all activities are tracked. Clients are then re-evaluated in 6 months to determine progress.
My passion to assist in the fight against human trafficking has boiled over into a Human Trafficking Consultant role. I work with anti-human trafficking Coalitions across the country to get a Coalition started, improve the work a local Coalition is already doing and/or assist in the strategic development with Coalitions.
I am most proud of the connections I have cultivated locally, across the state and nationally. I am always happy to share tools and policies and strategies with others to improve the overall reach of anti-human trafficking work. I am someone who loves what they do so it never feels like work.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The first year of the FOCUS on Runaways Project included working with the local Sheriff’s Office to build relationships between Sheriff Deputies and runaways and at-risk youth. The Institute wanted to model FOCUS and broadly follow the DART (Drug Abuse Response Team) which partners Sheriff Deputies and social workers to get drug users into drug treatment programs. The Institute envisioned Sheriff Deputies and social workers partnering in order to assess youth and determine if the youth were being trafficked or were likely trafficked. The Institute discovered that at risk youth and runaways did not respond well to this collaboration and year two of FOCUS was a complete re-start. The Institute pivoted to partnerships with agencies already serving youth ages 11-17 to use the FOCUS Youth screener and then youth could be referred to PATH. Much better results and for the first-time trafficked youth were being identified and referred to services.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Success in anti-human trafficking work is at least twofold; 1) Survivors need to be involved in the work. Survivors should be invited to attend Coalition meetings; any materials developed to educate or raise awareness about trafficking should be vetted by those that have lived experiences. 2) Anti-human trafficking work cannot be done well in a vacuum. Communities need to work together and collaborate to provide many different types of services for human trafficking survivors.
