Credit: Sea Star Arts Photograpy
Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center was this month awarded a competitive grant by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) for its Improving Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Address Child Trafficking (IMPACT) Program. This marks the 3rd time Dee Norton has received this competitive grant, recognizing the organization as a leading expert in the field of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) – commonly referred to as child sex trafficking.
Since 2015, reported cases of child trafficking have grown by more than 12 times across the Lowcountry. In 2021, Dee Norton's IMPACT Program coordinated the response for 63 suspected and/or verified youth impacted by sex trafficking. In the first half of 2022, our IMPACT Program helped 70 youth; our center found that 26 of those youth met the federal definition for sex trafficking.
“The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children happens right here in our Lowcountry community every day. Based on the tremendous need for services in our community, we plan to deliver services to at least 200 youth over the next three-years with this funding,” says Beverly Hutchison, Executive Director of the Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center. “We will also utilize this funding to apply a cultural equity lens to improve services and equity in access to care among minority/marginalized youth from the point of referrals to emotional support and safety services.”
The grant will also allow Dee Norton to provide trainings for more than 150 professionals in how to identify those most at risk. Dee Norton seeks to support child safety and healing by concentrating on a team approach. We rely on our 30 community partner agencies as integral members of our work in helping youth at risk of and experiencing trafficking.
To find more resources about child abuse and CSEC for parents, children and families, visit www.deenortoncenter.org.
