Legal Assistance to Trafficking Victims Project & STOP the Traffic: Slavery Training and Outreach Project

Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles - 040052

Abstract Number: 040052

July 2004

The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) launched the Legal Assistance to Trafficking Victims Project (LATVP) and the STOP the Traffic: Slavery Training and Outreach Project to deliver legal services to victims of human trafficking as well as offer technical assistance and training to legal aid programs, social services providers, and law enforcement personnel who are working towards ending human trafficking. These projects were launched in 2002 after LAFLA received two, three year grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). With the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), DOJ and HHS began funding projects that seek to eliminate human trafficking. LAFLA's grants provide funding for a representation project and a training project, both projects are staffed by one attorney and one paralegal who work in tandem with LAFLA's immigration unit and Asian Pacific Islander unit.

LAFLA provides outreach and representation to victims of human trafficking, most of whom are referred to LAFLA through local community based organizations. LAFLA assists clients who are victims of human trafficking by helping them process T and U visa applications to acquire legal permanent status, access public benefits, and obtain authorization to work. LAFLA is in the process of adding an employment law attorney to this project to identify and address employment law issues involved in trafficking cases as well as create additional outreach materials to help community organizations identify and refer clients to LAFLA.

LAFLA also offers training to legal aid programs, law enforcement organizations, and social services providers throughout the country to equip participants with information on how to identify and protect victims of human trafficking under the TVPA. STOP staff members have also offered training sessions at national conferences as well as free web-based trainings using LegalMeetings. Legal services programs that are interested in co-hosting a training session on serving victims of human trafficking should contact Sheila Neville.

To learn more about this project, access the outreach material below as a PDF document. You can also visit the Human Trafficking section on LAFLA's website at: http://www.lafla.org/clientservices/specialprojects/traffic.asp.

Contact Information:

Sheila Neville
Staff Attorney
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
5228 East Whittier Blvd.
Phone: (213) 640-3929
Fax: (213) 640-3911
Email

Additional Information:

• "Three Tales of Slavery in the USA," The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Illustrated by Jessica Gao, 2004 (439kb, PDF).

• LSC Program Letter 2002-5, "Eligibility of Immigrant Victims of Severe Forms of Trafficking for Legal Services," 15 May 2002.

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