The Los Angeles County Probation Department continues to confront human sex trafficking, providing rehabilitative services for sexually exploited victims, specifically youth.

The probation department is now recognizing National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11 although the entire month of January has been dedicated to shining a much-needed light on this epidemic, according to the department.

In 2012, the department created the Child Trafficking Unit (CTU), focusing on the efforts and resources of providing these services to the victims.

“Restoration is important because they’ve experienced so much trauma and they need a safe place to talk about that,” said Vickie McCoy, director of aftercare for ZOE International in Santa Clarita. “We need to give them love and instill hope in these kids that there’s more outside of the life of being trafficked and walk out of this journey with them with love and truth.”

The CTU is an effort between the department and the courts to support efforts and priorities to confront sex trafficking.

Since 2012, the unit’s director, Michelle Guymon, has worked on numerous programs, trainings and initiatives aimed at assisting Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) with getting out of “the life,” according to a news release.

Related: College Of The Canyons Human Trafficking Conference Gives Testimonies, Resources (VIDEO)

“Shifting our thinking around commercially sexually exploited children as victims of child abuse rather than criminalizing them as delinquents has been an enormous first step,” Guymon states. “I am also very honored to work alongside some amazing Deputy Probation Officers who give themselves every day to ensure that our youth know just how important they are, and that they are receiving the services and supports they need to heal.”

Since the establishment of the unit, they have identified 1,200 victims of sex-trafficking and provided supervision to over 525 commercially sexually exploited children, according to the probation department.

“Victims often talk about how important their probation officers are in their lives, how they’ve made a difference in helping them heal and how excited they are to be moving forward with a life without abuse and exploitation,” said Los Angeles County Probation Chief Terri L. McDonald.

With the recent California Senate bills 794 and 855, the probation department will now have screening tools to identify at-risk youth who may be victims of sex-trafficking and conduct additional trainings.

These bills will also provide faster searches for youth who are reported as missing.

“It’s important for the community to become more aware and be educated about the signs so that they call local law enforcement when they see something. People are being rescued because of this,’ said McCoy.

For more information about Los Angeles County’s efforts in fighting human trafficking and commercially sexually exploited children, please visit http://www.lacounty.gov/human-trafficking.

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