Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak address residential care for human trafficking victims with Melissa Yao, the Executive Director of the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance. Together they present some of the difficulties in the new field of aftercare, and how Melissa has taken strides to improve the industry for victims that you too can join.
Key Points

The field of aftercare is so new that it generally lacks certain standards set in other, more established, industries. Therefore, making the minimum standards that NTSA set so significant in developing this industry to better suit survivor needs.
The biggest gaps in aftercare include providing services for victims with mental health issues, physical disabilities, and women over the age of 35 or with children.
To overcome these gaps, it is crucial to equip and train agencies for specific needs for the community. Collaboration can accomplish this by learning from other's successful models and implementing it in our own communities.

Resources

National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance
NTSA Minimum Standards
REST
Survivor Ventures

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Transcript
Dave [00:00:00] You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast. This is episode number 220 - National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance: What Is It and Why Do We Need It?

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I always look forward to these conversations because I am always learning something new about trafficking. And as much as we have had conversations over the years, I feel like there's so much new to uncover. And I know that's true for you as well, too. And today, a guest with us that's going to help us to really understand the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance and the need for it. And we're glad to welcome Melissa Yao to the show today. She is the executive director of the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, a network of service providers committed to enhancing services and increasing access to care for survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Melissa has been in direct services with survivors for over eight years and is dedicated to ensure quality care for survivors. Melissa, we're so glad to welcome you to the show.

Melissa [00:01:36] I am thrilled to be here.

Sandie [00:01:38] It was an honor to meet you when I was in Washington, D.C. in January, and I've been looking forward to this conversation because I've been active in the aftercare world, how we provide emergency services, residential care, survivor care over the long term. And there are so many challenges. So, I'm very hopeful about our conversation today.

Melissa [00:02:06] Me, too.

Sandie [00:02:07] Okay. So, let's kind of start with. Can you give us a 30,000-foot level perspective on the landscape of services for victims, just here nationally?

Melissa [00:02:19] Yeah. So, specifically the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, NTSA, we are a network of officially fifty-one long term residential programs from across the country. Although we work with about 160 direct service providers throughout the country. And there's three key things that we do as a network based on needs that we have realized in coming together. One being that we've developed a referral system. And so,