Researchers at the 最新天美传媒 are playing a role in helping sex-trafficking victims turn their lives around through a court program that offers housing, job training, counseling and other services. The researchers鈥 work could become a model for similar programs around the country.
Fawn Ngo, associate professor
The researchers, all from USF鈥檚 Trafficking in Persons 鈥 Risk to Resilience Research (TiP) Lab, are working with Sarasota-based nonprofit Selah Freedom to evaluate the organization鈥檚 Turn Your Life Around (TYLA) court diversion program for survivors of human trafficking and exploitation.
Criminologist Associate Professor Fawn Ngo of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus is leading the study, which involves professors from the USF St. Petersburg and Tampa campuses and two graduate assistants and an undergraduate student, all from 最新天美传媒 in Tampa.
Selah Freedom and court officials in Sarasota have granted the researchers special access to the TYLA program, enabling them to view the court鈥檚 diversionary proceedings live and interview the program鈥檚 participants later to understand how they became entrapped in the commercial sex industry, often for years.
鈥淲hat you see when you explore this issue is that sex-trafficking victims frequently have many underlying problems,鈥 said Ngo. 鈥淢any have been exploited at a young age, some by family members and repeatedly, and they鈥檝e suffered deep psychological trauma as a result of these occurrences.鈥
Selah Freedom began working with Sarasota Police and the court system in 2014 to create TYLA. The program was extended to Bradenton in 2018. Women in TYLA receive services from counseling and emergency housing to drug and alcohol treatment, education and job training. Program graduates can have their court records expunged and receive opportunities for job placement and educational services. Many obtain their GED and, in some cases, enroll in college.
TYLA boasts a remarkable track record with a majority of the program鈥檚 graduates successfully turning their lives around. Despite these milestones, the program hasn鈥檛 been evaluated independently to determine whether some areas are more effective than others and how they can be improved.
It鈥檚 hoped that the researchers鈥 efforts will lay the groundwork for the program鈥檚 expansion while also assisting new intervention programs nationwide by creating 鈥渁 blueprint鈥 for agencies to follow.
鈥淥ur program has proven to be very successful, and with USF鈥檚 assistance we鈥檒l be able to take the next step forward to become even better,鈥 Selah Freedom Executive Director Efaw said.
Nicole Dolack, outreach coordinator for Selah Freedom, is taking the lead on the project, interacting with Ngo, the other researchers and the students.
鈥淚 have seen the success firsthand from TYLA graduates and I look forward to having data to support the program,鈥 Dolack said. 鈥淒r. Ngo and her team are working diligently鈥痶o gather all of the necessary鈥痠nformation for such a complex court diversion program in order to properly evaluate best practices and potential future recommendations for success.鈥濃
Meanwhile, the graduate assistants say they鈥檙e thrilled to be involved in the study, which launched in mid-December.
鈥淚 feel very fortunate to be a part of this, to hear the stories of these women and learn how they鈥檙e being helped,鈥 second-year public health major Emily Walsh said. 鈥淚 think what strikes me the most is that many of these women were abused at an early age and that everything in their lives had been affected by that.鈥
For now, the students are observing the TYLA proceedings and researching prior evaluations of treatment courts, including drug and veterans鈥 courts. Unlike traditional court hearings, TYLA proceedings are not adversarial. Counselors and attorneys from each side work together to focus on helping the women, who are free either to enter the program or pursue their cases in court.
However, what may seem like an easy decision to avoid jail time isn鈥檛 always simple and can be complicated by family demands, addiction and psychological trauma. Many of the women find themselves at a crossroads, weighing whether the timing is right to enter TYLA.
If they lose their cases in court or accept a plea deal and go to jail, that could put them on the street in less than a year, or even after a few months. But if they enter the TYLA program, that might translate into a lengthy stay at a drug-treatment facility followed by placement in a supervised home for a year or longer.
Sometimes, the decision comes down to how much time away from family 鈥 and their children 鈥 the women can endure in order to make a clean and lasting break from their past lives.
Emily Walsh
Emily Walker
Rebecca Ruiz
鈥淭hese are heartbreaking stories,鈥 criminology PhD candidate Emily Walker said. 鈥淏ut the reward is great in the end, and most of these women come out of the program able to move forward with their lives. It makes me feel grateful to be a part of this project to see how these women can be helped.鈥
For now, the proceedings are held virtually, but eventually they鈥檒l return to an in-person format. In addition to observing the meetings, the students are looking forward in coming months to holding one-on-one interviews with both the program participants and the facilitators.
The students offered various reasons for assisting in the study. Walker said she wants to explore racial and ethnic differences in the participants鈥 perceived needs and services. She also appreciates that their work might eventually influence policies connected to similar diversion programs around the country.
Walsh said she鈥檚 curious about the program鈥檚 long-term effects and overall public health impact. Graduate student Rebecca Ruiz said she wants to learn more about the sexual exploitation of recently arrived immigrants.
鈥淚 also like that this is community-based,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hat we are doing could have a direct impact on these communities. I like that we鈥檙e conducting research that can make a real and lasting difference.鈥
Ngo said the study will take about a year and that the students will be involved in gathering data and writing the final report. Afterward, they may present their findings at criminology conferences.
鈥淭his is very exciting for them,鈥 Ngo said. 鈥淭hat is one of the things I like about this, that we are able to involve students very deeply in a research project. This isn鈥檛 something they鈥檙e doing in the classroom. They鈥檙e actively participating in actual field research.鈥
Also assisting in the study are Assistant Professor of Criminology Mateus Renn贸 Santos and Associate Professor of Criminology Joan Reid, director of the TiP Lab.
For more about the Trafficking in Persons 鈥 Risk to Resilience Lab, visit .