Posts tagged 25:1:30
Mass Incarceration and Collateral Consequences

Mass incarceration has a far-reaching impact when an estimated 70 million, 1 in 3 adults have a criminal record (American Civil Liberties Union, Back to Business: How Hiring Formerly Incarcerated Job Seekers Benefits Your Company, 2017). The impact of mass incarceration is exacerbated due to collateral consequences. Collateral consequences can be defined as hidden sanctions which emerge automatically at the onset of a criminal conviction. They are referred to “hidden” since they are not formally quantifiable in a sentence or imposed penalty. Due to the disproportionate rate in which African-Americans are incarcerated, collateral consequences have a profound impact by limiting access to jobs and professional licensure and restricting access to the ladder of economic mobility. This presentation explores the evolution from forced slave labor to convict leasing to the tangled web of mass incarceration; examines how collateral consequences impact the African-American community’s economic mobility and restricts its access to financial liberation; and offers strategies for policy changes.

Presentation Objectives:

· Develop a deeper understanding of the history of mass incarceration and collateral consequences

· Explore legal and policy implications of collateral consequences (i.e. attorneys do not have a duty to warn clients about collateral consequences except when immigration status is impacted in criminal cases)

· Develop systemic change strategies from the theoretical framework of Planting People Growing Justice© (leadership, social justice advocacy, public policy advocacy)

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Sex and Labor Trafficking of the Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Population

This presentation will be on sex and labor trafficking of individuals with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and their vulnerability to traffickers. Risk factors, signs of victimization, trauma, and prevention will be discussed. Attendees will learn how human trafficking affects individuals with IDD physically and behaviorally. Presenters will assist attendees in how to develop and establish protocols and supports within the DD system. They will also discuss how to implement community integration in a safe and playful manner to protect our individuals from labor trafficking. The session will also cover some labor trafficking stories in order to protect the DD population from employers who have immoral practices. Cases will be discussed based on real life experiences and factual data gathered from Disability Right Ohio research. Presenters will also utilize a Disability Fact Sheets and a powerful video called “The Boys of Atalissa”. Attendees will take away how their individual vulnerabilities have made them targets in the United States as well as overseas.

Presentation Objectives:

· Inform the community that IDD individuals are being targeted for human trafficking

· Describe risk factors of human trafficking within the IDD population

· Assist with how to develop and establish protocols and supports in the DD system

· Discuss how integration in the community can be a risk for IDD individuals to be labor trafficked

· Describe how our own systems can cause barriers and limitations in this area

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Relational Trauma Common to Exploited Persons

The speakers will address three different impacts, behavioral responses, and needs pertaining to trauma that sex trafficking victims and service providers may experience. The impact on development that trauma has presents itself in many forms: acute, chronic and complex (Peterson, 2018). The speakers will focus on complex trauma, as that is what a majority of sex trafficking victims experience. Secondly, they will explain in-depth the different responses to trauma, such as: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. These four responses each carry varying implications that are critical for service providers to understand when providing services to victims of sex trafficking or others dealing with complex trauma (Walker). Lastly, the speakers will conclude their presentation with addressing healing needs and treatment approaches to individuals experiencing complex trauma and sex trafficking victims. Trauma impacts the person physically, emotionally and relationally. Trauma has both a short and long term physiological impact on the brain function, immune system, and overall general bodily health. In regard to the emotional impact of trauma, it causes the need for counseling, mindfulness habits, and skills training. This emotional impact in turn affects one's relational health and idea of relational health, such as secure attachment, community, family boundaries, friendships, and intimate relationships (Kolk, 2015). The speakers’ goal is to relay to the audience a deeper understanding of trauma and how having an understanding of it greatly impacts the victims served and gives them the understanding they both need and deserve.

Presentation Objectives:

· Discuss trauma's impact on development and three types of trauma common to victims of sex trafficking: acute, chronic, and complex trauma

· Outline the trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) and the varying implications each has

· Explain the healing needs (physical, emotional and relational) and treatment approaches for each area

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