Audit finds gaps in state resources for human trafficking survivors
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ALBANY — More than half of the human trafficking survivors referred to state social services offices did not contact them, an audit from New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found.
Released Wednesday, the audit determined that administrative failings have undermined the efforts of the state office to direct human trafficking survivors to counseling and other resources. The comptroller recommended a slate of improvements to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, or OTDA, specifically taking aim at the lack of data collection and communication from that office.
“Survivors of human trafficking face physical, emotional and financial trauma,” DiNapoli said. “Programs exist to assist with shelter, medical and mental health care and legal services, but better monitoring of social services offices and service providers by OTDA, along with better data collection, can help eliminate barriers to assistance and support for victims.”
The state recognizes both sex and labor trafficking under the umbrella of human trafficking, which is defined as the use of force, fraud or coercion to compel commercial sex or labor. Concern about the issue is mounting nationally — the number of defendants prosecuted for a human trafficking offense more than doubled in the United States between 2011 and 2021. The Capital Region has seen a spate of small-scale trafficking operations exposed in recent years, as well as the federal prosecution of Saratoga County-based NXIVM leader Keith Raniere.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesunion.com/capitol/article/audit-finds-gaps-state-resources-human-20228279.php.
