Juvenile Justice & Child Trafficking

Girls Educational Mentoring Services

In 2011, The Foundation supported the programming of Girls Educational Mentoring Services (GEMS), which is the only organization in New York State specifically designed to serve girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. GEMS has helped hundreds of young women and girls, ages 12–24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the commercial sex industry and to develop to their full potential. GEMS provides young women with empathetic, consistent support and viable opportunities for positive change. From a one-woman kitchen table project, GEMS has grown to a nationally recognized and acclaimed organization and now is one of the largest providers of services to commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked youth in the US. GEMS advocates at the local, state and national level to promote policies that support young women who have been commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked.

Exalt Youth

The Foundation provided a grant to Exalt Youth, which seeks to transform the lives of court-involved youth by equipping them with the skills and experience necessary to become self-sufficient. Exalt Youth provides a cohesive program with four components: employability and life skills training; paid internships in youths' fields of interest; post-internship skill development and support services; and an alumni network that provides ongoing access to education and career development support and resources. Founded in 2006, Exalt Youth is modeled on another award-winning, best-practice designated program developed at CASES, New York's oldest alternative-to-incarceration agency, which the Foundation has also supported. Since its founding, Exalt Youth has served 484 youth through 33 program cycles with remarkable success: None of its graduates from the past two years have obtained new convictions and 92% of program graduates remain enrolled in school or have obtained a high school diploma/GED.

Getting Out and Staying Out

Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO) provides services, support and early reentry planning to young people while they are still on Rikers Island. GOSO Volunteers meet with young persons who have enrolled in classes at East River Academy on Rikers Island to give them an opportunity to begin to explore their future options. Additional recruiters and social workers reach out to those who have been sentenced to complete their terms on Rikers Island. Young people interested in enrolling in the program submit a resume, write an essay describing what they hope to achieve in the program, and sign a contract agreeing to attend school (if applicable), complete assignments, and take responsibility for their actions. They also agree to visit the GOSO office immediately after release, check in once a week for the first three months, and develop and carry through on their reentry plans. In return, GOSO provides life-affirming mentoring, supportive counseling, reentry planning and legal support services through letters of support, phone calls to lawyers and courtroom visits. GOSO’s top priority is to those without a high school diploma to pursue their high school diploma or GED while on Rikers Island. Equally important is that they take their time on Rikers Island to consider new possibilities for their future and begin to plan for their release. 80% of GOSO participants get out and stay out of prison.

Roundtable

On November 16, 2011 The Heckscher Foundation for Children hosted a roundtable discussion led by a panel of experts in the areas of youth involved with family and criminal courts and young girls exploited by the commercial sex trafficking industry, two issues profoundly affecting thousands of our local children and youth in the New York City area. The forum provided an opportunity for research experts, direct service organizations, law enforcement and funders to convene around some of the legal and social barriers to, and opportunities for, changing and increasing services.

Panelists:

  • Courtney Bryan, Project Director of the Midtown Community Court, a project of the Center for Court Innovation
  • Jeffrey Butts, Director of the Research and Evaluation Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
  • Jayne Huckerby, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law of the Global Justice Clinic and Research Director of The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU
  • Rachel Lloyd, Founder and Executive Director of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)
  • Gabrielle Prisco, Director of the Juvenile Justice Project, The Correctional Association of New York

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