SBCPA Salon Rescheduled--- Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young Adults in Santa Barbara County

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young Adults in Santa Barbara County

Presenters:

Lisa Conn-Akoni, MA, MFT, & Jill Sharkey, PhD, NCSP

Santa Barbara Trafficking Action Group (TAG)

Trafficking Action Group (TAG): Is an action-oriented, research-driven & strategic work group, catalyzing prevention & intervention efforts to end Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children & Youth in Santa Barbara County

• We seek to bolster, expand upon and/or accelerate SBCo’s efforts to eradicate sexual exploitation and support victims/survivors compassionately, swiftly and effectively

• TAG’s mission is to ensure that all CSE Children & Youth have immediate access to research validated, trauma informed, and survivor driven innovative supports

• We believe “It takes a village to raise a child!” Be part of the VILLAGE through supporting TAG Projects and help prevent and end the Sexual Exploitation of SB County’s Youth.

Course Outline

Timeline:

5:15-5:30pm – Greet, sign in, and socialize

5:30-5:45pm – Introduction of speaker and opening remarks

5:45-6:45pm – Presentation of topic (following the below description and objectives)

6:45-7:00pm – Q&A/evaluations

• Definition and prevalence of Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young Adults involved in Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems

• Definitions and legal issues: children cannot consent to being sold for sex.

• How perpetrators operate and groom victims

• Why victims are hesitant to report or leave their perpetrators

• Why victims return to their perpetrators

• Symptomology of a CSECY victim and learn how to identify and respond to suspected CSECY

• Why females & LGBT/GNC youth are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation

• What role homelessness, incarceration, foster and group home placement plays in the prevalence of CSEC

• The long term emotional, physical and financial consequences of childhood sexual exploitation and trauma

• Proper assessment and identification of victims & survivors

• The role of traditional and non-traditional data in better understanding and providing innovative sustainable supports to a multi-faceted and complex population

• The importance of multi-system/disciplinary participation in Trauma Informed Training

• The importance of creating Trauma-Informed Systems for both youth and direct providers (Behavioral Health, Criminal Justice, Schools, Child Welfare, and Public Health etc.)

• Innovative treatment options and protocols for victims, survivors and those at risk for sexual exploitation

• The important role of Resiliency, Strength Based, Positive Youth Development, Gender-Specific, BioPsychoSocial, Dual Diagnosis, Social Emotional Skills Building interventions

• Understand Santa Barbara County efforts and current needs/gaps

Learning Objectives:

• Differentiate between “Identification” and “Screening” for CSECY

• Define “survival sex”

• Describe the mandated reporting requirements for CSECY

• Describe at least 3 unique CSECY symptoms and/or risk factors

• Demonstrate the importance of traditional & non-traditional data in working with survivors of CSECY

• List at least 2 needs or gaps for CSECY in Santa Barbara County

• Describe at least 1 thing you will do differently to support Victims & Survivors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

References

Bethell, C. D., Newacheck, P., Hawes, E., & Halfon, N. (2014). Adverse childhood experiences: Assessing the impact on health and school engagement and the mitigating role of resilience. Health Affairs, 33(12), 2106-2115.

Furlong, M. J., You, S., Renshaw, T. L., Smith, D. C., & O’Malley, M. D. (2014). Preliminary development and validation of the social and emotional health survey for secondary school students. Social Indicators Research, 117(3), 1011-1032.doi:10.1007/s11205-013-0373-0

Greeson, J. K., Treglia, D., Wolfe, D. S., & Wasch, S. (2019). Prevalence and Correlates of Sex Trafficking among Homeless and Runaway Youths Presenting for Shelter Services. Social Work Research. doi:10.1093/swr/svz001

Lyons, J. S., Griffin, E., Fazio, M., & Lyons, M. B. (1999). Child and adolescent needs and strengths: An information integration tool for children and adolescents with mental health challenges (CANS-MH), manual. Chicago: Buddin Praed Foundation, 558. doi:10.1037/t02500-000

O’Brien, K. M., Larson, K. S., Felix, E., & Riker-Rheinschild, M. (2015). Needs assessment of domestic child sex trafficking in Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara, CA: Human Trafficking Task Force.

Sharkey, J. D., Reed, L., Wroblewski, A., Dougherty, D., Damiani, T., Jimenez, S., Leon, B., & Der Sarkissian, A. (2017). The RISE Project Evaluation Report. A report prepared for The RISE Project, Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness: Santa Barbara, CA. 

West Coast Children's Clinic Commercial sexual exploitation identification tool (CSE-IT): version 2.0. Available at. http://wwwwestcoastccorg/cse-it/, Accessed date: 05 February 2019.

Bios

Lisa Conn Akoni, MA, MFT, Marriage & Family Therapist

Clinical Consultant, Trainer, Educator & Program Developer

Experience & Education
Lisa has worked in the field of behavioral health for over 20 years; earning her Bachelors at University of California Santa Cruz and her Masters of Clinical Psychology degree from Antioch University Santa Barbara. Her academic training and expertise are in Clinical Psychology with specializations in couples therapy, transition aged youth (TAY), “system involved” youth, gender-specific care, trauma-focused treatment and sexual exploitation. Her primary passion is developing innovative supports for girls, young women and LGBT/GNC youth to promote restoration and reintegration through empowerment and resiliency.

Lisa recently retired from SB County Behavioral Wellness after 20 years of service. Her dedication and skills are best reflected in her most recent roles as the Supervisor and Program Developer over the RISE Project (Resiliency Interventions for Sexual Exploitation) & Juvenile Justice Mental Health Services programs; where her efforts were focused on “system involved” & trauma exposed transition aged youth program development & reform as well as providing intensive supports for her direct care staff through training, education and robust clinical supervision. Currently, she is the Clinical Supervisor over Noah's Anchorage, a trauma-informed emergency shelter for homeless, runaway and unsheltered youth.

Lisa provides numerous local, state and national multi-disciplinary trainings, presentations and media interviews focusing on Gender-Specific Treatment, Trauma Informed Care, Childhood Trauma, Sexual Exploitation and CSECY (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children & Youth). She presented at Shared Hope’s JuST Conference for Juvenile Sex Trafficking in Washington DC.  California  Health  Report;  Santa Maria  Sun Times Interview;  Forensic Mental Health Association  California; SB  Independent-Santa Barbara, A Hub for Human  Trafficking;  Human Trafficking Task Force Update;  A Guide to  Community Based Behavioral Health Practitioners & Agencies

Jill D. Sharkey, Ph.D.

Jill is a Professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Associate Dean for Research and Outreach at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. She graduated from UCSB in 2003 with a Ph.D. in Education and earned the distinction of Nationally Certified School Psychologist. She is heavily engaged in community-based research designed to understand optimal family, educational, employment, and other community responses to clients involved with the criminal justice system.  Working with community partners including youth themselves, Dr. Sharkey seeks data-based solutions to better serve community’s most vulnerable youth.  She is Executive Committee Member and Strategy Team Member of the South Coast Youth Safety Partnership (formerly the South Coast Task Force on Youth Gangs; 2011 to present); Elected Member of the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council of Santa Barbara County (2008 to present); and on the evaluation subcommittee of the Santa Barbara County Human Trafficking Task Force (2016 to present).  She has completed several evaluation projects funded by the California Board of State and Community Corrections including a four-year project to examine racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice, four multi-year projects to various cities in Santa Barbara County (Lompoc, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, and South County) to evaluate the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) Program, and ongoing work since 2011 to evaluate the impact of various decision points prompted by the Public Safety Realignment Act.  Her recent federal grant work has included two projects funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA): Evaluation of Santa Barbara Veterans Entering Treatment Services 2017 to 2020 (1 H79 TI080118-01) and Bridges to Recovery 2010-2013(H 79 TI 022513-01) and implemented in partnership with the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.She also provides Evaluation Consultation for the Resilience Interventions for Sexual Exploitation (RISE) Project with Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness, which is an Innovations project funded by the Mental Health Services Act. 

CPA is co-sponsoring with Santa Barbara County Psychological Association (SBCPA).The California Psychological Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  CPA maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.

Important Notice:Those who attend the workshop and complete the CPA evaluation form will receive (1.5) continuing education credits. Please note that APA CE rules require that we give credit only to those who attend the entire workshop. Those arriving more than 15 minutes after the start time or leaving before the workshop is completed will not receive CE credits.

This salon will be held via zoom.