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When a youth who is at high risk of exploitation (or a suspected victim) is referred to Love146, the first thing we do is schedule a Rapid Response.
That’s a meeting with the youth where we show up with kindness and respect. They get a backpack filled with comfort and trauma-informed items (things like journals, a teddy bear, hotline cards, and essential safety information). In a Rapid Response, our goals are to assess their safety, give them real information to help them stay safer, and make necessary referrals for the supports they may need (in some cases, this is also an opportunity for them to join our long-term services).
Child exploitation and trafficking are not only violations of a child’s rights, but of their autonomy. Many of these youth have had control stripped away from them. So in our program, we do the opposite: We make their autonomy central.
I always use those first moments to model consent. We let them set the boundaries. Before I dive in, I show them the topics I want to discuss: Online Safety, Consent, and Trafficking, etc. I ask them,
“Is there anything on here you don’t want to talk about?”
If they say they want to cross something off the list, I respect it.
I may gently give them a chance to change their mind later, but I never force a conversation they don’t want. Just recently, one youth started the meeting by firmly crossing several topics off the list and telling me to be quick. I said,
“Girl, you know what, I get it. Let’s go.”
When our agreed-upon time limit had run out, I offered to end the meeting — but the youth said,
“No, you can keep going… This is actually really interesting.”
Seemingly small moments like these are huge to us at Love146 because when a young person chooses to keep talking, it can open the door for them to get the help they might need.
Donations from people like you make these critical first-contact Rapid Responses possible. Because of you, an advocate can show up with a backpack and take the time to meet a youth on their terms, with dignity and genuine care.
Would you make a gift today to help us answer the next call and show up for a youth who needs us?
