Do You Know Lacy?
Upcoming Training Events
“Hi, my name is Lacy. I was born in the hospital just down the street 13 years ago and still live in your community today. I need your help. Do you want to hear my story? Will you be the one to help me?
After completing the
Do You Know Lacy? training, you will:
- Learn who Lacy is
- Learn where Lacy can be found
- Learn what type of help Lacy needs
- Learn what type of resources you already have to help Lacy and what you still need
- Learn what your role is in Lacy’s life and be empowered to act in it
A review by Ferndale Chief of Police, Michael F. Knapp:
On November 3, 2011, a group of law enforcement officers, social service providers and community advocates in Bellingham, Washington attended a program sponsored by Shared Hope International called Do You Know Lacy? This day-long training explores the very real and shocking reality of commercial trafficking of children for sex. It is estimated that at least 100,000 children in the United States are victims of sexual exploitation: enslaved in a life of physical and psychological abuse, prostituted and betrayed, their innocence torn from them and sold to countless strangers as a price for their survival.
Beyond providing first-hand insights into the powerful social and physiological forces exploited by traffickers to recruit and enslave their youthful victims, the training provides the criminal justice practitioner with proven investigative tools and techniques to identify and prosecute those who engage in this illicit commerce.
I would recommend this training to members of the criminal justice and social services communities as an essential first-step in understanding and combating this corrosive and debasing crime.
Training Track options
Law Enforcement ($50) – Identifying and Protecting Lacy:
Who: local, state and federal law enforcement officers and prosecuting attorneys. (Juvenile detention and probation officers should register here.)
Read more about this track
Knowing Lacy will help you to understand and empower you in your role as a member of law enforcement to:
- Understand the state and federal laws about Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST)
- Accurately identify potential victims of human trafficking
- Know the dynamics of pimp control
- Better understand victim trauma, trauma bonds and complex trauma
- Address the demand of commercial sex
- You will also be trained by a specific DMST case study
Social Service/Health Providers ($50) – Identifying and Serving Lacy:
Who: Those who directly participate in official intake and case management with youth. (Social workers, school counselors, sexual assault advocates, domestic violence advocates, Child Protective Services, child advocacy centers and all health professionals).
Juvenile detention and probation officers register under Law Enforcement.
Read more about this track
Knowing Lacy will help you to understand and empower you in your role as a social service provider to:
- Use an intake tool with proven success to accurately identify potential victims of trafficking
- Understand how victims of trafficking are often misidentified in your current caseloads
- Understand complex and trauma bonds that present barriers to appropriate services for survivors
Community Advocates ($35) – Identifying and Helping Lacy:
Who: Parents and grandparents; Soroptimists, Rotary and Zonta members; Business community including Starbucks, Hilton and Microsoft employees; pastors and faith-based community; other.
Read more about this track
Knowing Lacy will help you to understand and empower you as a community advocate to:
- Understand what your role is and is not
- Understand and embrace the value of your role in Lacy’s life
- Utilize tools and resources to help you fulfill your role
- Understand how the community contributes to the system of betrayal
- Leave with an appropriate plan that you can put into action in your community
- Understand how to cultivate in your community a compassionate, non-judgmental and safe environment for long-term care of Lacy
Advocate of Youth ($35) – Identifying and Supporting Lacy:
Who: All those who directly work with youth in supportive roles - teachers and principals, youth pastors, students (university and high school), Crisis centers (such as pregnancy and drug) youth empowerment organizations, peer programs, anti-trafficking groups/task forces, the Boys and Girls Club, Boy/Girl Scouts, YMCA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, etc.
Read more about this track
Knowing Lacy will help you to understand and empower you in your role as an advocate of youth to:
- Understand what your role is and is not
- Understand and embrace the value of your role in Lacy’s life
- Utilize tools and resources to help you fulfill your role
- Establish healthy boundaries with traumatized youth and practice good self-care so you can continue acting in an ongoing, trusting, supportive role
- Understand how to identify changes in a youth’s life that may signal a trafficking situation
The Defenders ($35, for men only) – Identifying and Defending Lacy:
Who: Every man who wants to understand how to defend Lacy.
Read more about this track
Knowing Lacy will help you to understand and empower you as a man to:
- Strengthen and defend yourself
- Strengthen and defend your family
- Strengthen and defend your community