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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1403 |
| Kristi House Commercially Sexually Exploited Children�s (CSEC) Project |
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| Requester: |
Trudy Novicki, Executive Director |
Organization: |
Kristi House, Inc |
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| Project Title: |
Kristi House Commercially Sexually Exploited Children�s (CSEC) Project |
Date Submitted |
1/2/2008 1:52:29 PM |
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| Sponsors: |
Diaz de la Portilla |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| There are 100,000 to 300,000 American children at risk for exploitation in the commercial sex industry each year, and as the country�s second largest hub of human trafficking, there are thousands of children being exploited in prostitution and pornography here in Florida and, especially in Miami. The commercial sexual exploitation of American children is a form of domestic sex trafficking and falls under the authority of both federal law and FL state law 787.06 to punish the traffickers and ensure services for the victims.
FL 787.06 (1)(d) specifically states that �it is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Children and Family Services and other state agencies cooperate with other state and federal agencies to ensure that victims of human trafficking can access social services and benefits to alleviate their plight.� However, ensuring that victims access appropriate services is difficult without the existence of specialized programs.
Establishing a successful program to provide services for victims in Miami is crucial. Miami is the most vulnerable city in Florida to the sex trafficking of children and has been nationally recognized both as a city with high rates of juvenile prostitution and also as one that is strongly connected to trafficking routes that span several other cities in Florida and throughout the Untied States. Because the CSEC Project is the first program in Miami to work on this issue, it addresses a documented need and has received a tremendous amount of community support. If left unchecked CSEC threatens the health and welfare of our youth, as well as striking at the very economic underpinnings of our state, tourism.
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| Recipient: |
Kristi House, Inc |
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Contact: |
Trudy Novicki, Executive Director |
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1265 NW 12th Ave. |
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Contact Phone: |
(305) 547-6836 |
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Miami 33136 |
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Contact email: |
tnovicki@kristihouse.org |
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| Counties: |
Miami-Dade |
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| Gov't Entity: |
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Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
Yes |
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| Project Description: |
| Kristi House has emerged as a local leader in addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Miami-Dade County by becoming the first organization dedicated to preventing the exploitation of children, providing mental health and case coordination services for victims, raising awareness about the reality of children being bought and sold in the local commercial sex industry and building the community capacity to treat and heal victims. The Commercially Sexually Exploited Children�s Project includes the following services: prevention curriculum, outreach presentations, trainings, consultations, case coordination and therapy, and convening the CSEC Working Group.
As Miami-Dade�s only Child Advocacy Center, Kristi House is an integral part of a multidisciplinary team of mental health, medical, legal and law enforcement professionals that provides a healing environment for sexually abused children and their families. In 2006, we provided case coordination services for 819 children and their families at no cost to the families and safety presentations to more than 4,000 children.
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| Is this a project related to a federal or state declared disaster? |
No |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| (1)To coordinate services and strengthen community capacity to serve CSE youth (2)To provide intervention and rehabilitation services to victims (3)To implement a prevention and youth-leadership program for at-risk girls (4)To raise public awareness and inspire action around the issue of CSEC |
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$147,930 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$225,293 |
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| Request has been made to fund: |
Operations |
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| What type of match exists for this project? |
Private |
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Cash Amount |
$77,363 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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No |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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No |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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No |
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| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
No |
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| Is there a documented need for this project? |
Yes |
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Documentation: |
Community Needs Assessment |
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| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
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No |
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| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? |
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No |
