A Hidden Population with Dr. David Pooler

As defined by federal law, sex trafficking is “the recruitment, harboring, transporting, provision, obtaining, patronizing or soliciting of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.” Federal law further defines a commercial sex act as “any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.” An important component of this definition is that, for minors under age 18, a commercial sex act does not have to involve force, fraud, or coercion to be defined as trafficking.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (reauthorized in 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2013) defines minors who are involved in any kind of commercial sex act as victims of a crime. It also establishes that any adult who benefits from a relationship with a minor involved in commercial sex is defined as a human trafficker.” (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Youth Statewide Assessment, n.d.) Because of the difficulty in reporting and identifying sex-trafficked youth, they are considered a hidden population of massive proportions.
In efforts from the state of Texas to address the suffering of this population a grant was funded from the Child Sex Trafficking Team (CSTT) of the State of Texas Governor's Office. Baylor University was selected to implement and train interventionalists in Motivational Interviewing (MI) for identified commercially sexually exploited youth (CSEY) victims to aid in healing and recovery. Dr. David Pooler, professor at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work (GSSW), Baylor University, in collaboration with Dr. Beth Lanning, Associate Chair, Professor, and Director of MPH in the Community Health Science Program of the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences Department of Public Health, Baylor University and Dr. Greg Sumpter, Grayson County Juvenile Services is leading a team that has developed MI training throughout the State of Texas with online tools and a network of certified MI instructors.
After five years of implementation from the grant funding, the team now has 12 certified MI trainers who cover every area in Texas. These certified MI trainers offer expert education in specific intervention tools to work with CSEY and MI techniques to help victims reach a place to acknowledge another path for their lives. As a result, there is now a structure in place for Texas to train interventionalists to identify CSEY and engage with victims through understanding and recognized MI skills to successfully bring healing, wholeness, and stability. The GSSW is grateful for Dr. Pooler and his leadership in engaging with the State of Texas and its vulnerable populations.
Bibliography
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Youth Statewide Assessment. (n.d.). TACFS. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://tacfs.org/publication/commercial-sexual-exploitation-of-youth-statewide-assessment/
Information on Dr. David Pooler