The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office on Women’s Health (OWH) announced the winners for the second and final phase of the HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls in recognition of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The challenge advances Make America Healthy Again by supporting evidence-informed, scalable approaches to preventing human trafficking and improving health outcomes for women and girls. Created by OWH, in consultation with the HHS Administration for Children & Families, Office on Trafficking Persons, the national competition identifies innovative and impactful approaches to preventing human trafficking and improving human trafficking-related health outcomes for women and girls across the United States.
In 2024, women and girls accounted for nearly 80% of the 11,999 cases of human trafficking identified by the National Human Trafficking Hotline. This competition is part of OWH’s broader effort to address and prevent violence against women, including human trafficking, and protect women and girls from the severe health outcomes related to violence.
“Human trafficking is a devastating public health issue with profound consequences for women and girls,” said Admiral Brian Christine, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health. “The Phase 2 winners demonstrate how strong community partnerships and evidence-informed strategies can help prevent trafficking, support survivors, and build safer, healthier futures for women and girls. Their work underscores the value of investing in community-driven solutions that strengthen prevention, improve responses to exploitation, and protect those most at risk.”
“Protecting women and girls from the tragedies associated with human trafficking is a vital step to achieving OWH’s vision that all women and girls achieve the best possible health,” said Dorothy Fink, M.D., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, HHS Office on Women’s Health Director. “The Phase 2 winners have developed methods that are making substantial differences in the lives of women and girl survivors of human trafficking. Innovative approaches like these are needed to successfully move the needle in preventing human trafficking, and amplifying these programs is one of the major steps we can take to bring an end to human trafficking across the United States.”
Phase 1 of the competition identified 18 effective, pre-existing programs that used a wide array of strategies to prevent human trafficking and improve outcomes for women and girl survivors of trafficking. These groundbreaking programs included innovative practices that revolutionize the approach to how human trafficking can be addressed through methods such as training professionals in novel fields, providing comprehensive vital services for those who recently exited trafficking situations, prevention-focused educational curricula for youth, and the development of cutting-edge shelter placement platforms for survivors of violence and trafficking. Phase 2 of the challenge is now awarding programs from Phase 1 that demonstrated sustainability and the ability expand and/or replicate their approaches to prevent and address human trafficking. Ensuring these programs are scalable and repeatable aligns with OWH’s efforts to Make America Healthy Again through the core tenets of advancing gold standard science and scientific integrity.
The winners of Phase 2 of the HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls are listed below:
Atrium Health – Charlotte, NC
Program/Focus: CODE HOPE
CODE HOPE is an anti-trafficking campaign providing direct services to victims of human trafficking through an electronic medical record embedded tool displaying county specific resources available to patients to the providers treating them and automatically triggering their in-hospital trafficking response team once a patient is identified as being trafficked. In Phase 2, this project expanded its efforts to include standardized referral and treatment pathways, mandatory trafficking-related workforce training in their health system, and expanded community partnerships to ensure women and girls experiencing trafficking are consistently identified and receive appropriate, streamlined services.
Global Emergency Response Inc. – Augusta, GA
Program/Focus: Domestic Violence Beds Electronic Database System (DVBEDS)
DVBEDS is a web-based platform that connects survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence with real-time information about the availability of emergency shelter beds, thus reducing the search time needed for survivors to locate places they can find shelter and expediting their access to safe situations. In Phase 2, this project expanded via a statewide pilot in Massachusetts that improved coordination in emergency shelter settings across this new state for vulnerable women and girls.
KYS Consulting Group – Raleigh, NC
Program/Focus: Leading, Empowering, Advising, and Developing (LEAD)
LEAD is a rural youth leadership and development program that builds protective factors against human trafficking via mentorship, trauma-informed case management, and skill building curricula. In Phase 2, this project successfully expanded to reach four geographically underserved counties in their state.
Project Harmony – Omaha, NE
Program/Focus: Project Harmony
Project Harmony is a child advocacy model that reduces trauma for those in trafficking situations by co-locating multi-disciplinary community partners such as police, fire, governmental agencies, and health services at one site to ensure all survivors of trafficking receive the streamlined follow up to their needs immediately at the same location. In Phase 2, this project utilized expanded partnerships across multiple agencies and states to replicate their model throughout multiple regions in Nebraska and New York.
ReloShare – Chicago, IL
Program/Focus: Safe StaysSafe Stays improves emergency shelter access for survivors of human trafficking through their novel hotel booking platform that enables anti-trafficking agencies to book rooms at any of their 2,500 national hotel partners anonymously while also educating staff at participating hotels. In Phase 2, this project took major strides toward their goal of scaling nationally by expanding access to alias-capable hotels throughout 25 states.
University of Central Florida – Orlando, FL
Program/Focus: Shielding Women and Girls: A Targeted Curriculum in Human Trafficking Prevention and Victim Detection
The University of Central Florida is addressing human trafficking by folding anti-trafficking curricula into education requirements for hospitality majors at their institution that covers the complexities of human trafficking and the intersections between trafficking, the hospitality industry, and the factors that contribute to trafficking to ensure students are equipped to address trafficking once they enter the workforce. In Phase 2, successfully expanded to reach 6,500+ students at their institution and the development of multiple key partnerships to replicate the curriculum in other settings.
University of Maryland, Baltimore – Baltimore, MD
Program/Focus: The Regional Navigator Network (RNN)
The RNN is an initiative that trains and deploys regional professionals acting as first responders to cases of human trafficking in their jurisdiction by effectively screening, identifying, and providing specialized services to victims of trafficking and at risk of being trafficked up through age 24. In Phase 2, This project successfully expanded their model into all 24 jurisdictions of their state, which resulted in a 409% increase in referrals for those experiencing human trafficking since launch.