What is SpeakSafe?
A 501(c)(3) organization, Speak Safe – Save Adolescents From Exploitation is an educational program and platform to actively train elementary, middle and high school staff and ultimately students to recognize the signs of youth exploitation, to ideally prevent exploitation in the first place, and, on how to best support youth on a day-to-day basis.
Our Mission
Our mission is to prevent the exploitation of our youth and children through educational services, seminars, and events.
A team of young people has been formed to use their voices to better reach their peers to elicit lasting change. Their voices are heard in our community, and we are reaching decision makers who realize the victimization of our youth needs to be brought out in the open so everyone can understand how youth are exploited and how best to identify and support students before they are in this situation. This team of young people is growing and bringing awareness to other youth who might not voice their victimization. These interactions have revealed that youth have not felt supported and thus, in response, we are creating awareness in our entire school community, using a protocol that ultimately seeks to serve the individual vs. the system.
SpeakSafe’s initiatives include engaging our service providers, law enforcement, foster care system, LBGTQ+ communities and all unrepresented and underserved youth in Marin County. With a collaborative approach using Law Enforcement data and local cases we can keep the education current and relevant to the Marin County area.
State Legislature
The State of California ranks No. 1 in the U.S.A. for human trafficking/exploitation and there is a need to implement trainings and dialogue to curb these crimes and stop them before they start.
In 2018, the California state legislature enacted educational mandates to address human (including youth) trafficking prevention without providing clear direction on how this was to be implemented or funded. The legislation includes:
California State bill AB 1227, the Human Trafficking Prevention Education and Training Act, requires education and training of middle and high school students;
AB1861 requires human trafficking prevention education to address the role of social media and mobile apps in recruitment; and,
SB1104 requires schools to inform parents and caregivers about human trafficking resources
In an effort to decrease and ultimately eliminate the number of California youths exploited SpeakSafe seeks to fill the void by providing:
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STUDENT EDUCATION
Education to elementary, middle, high school students to gain knowledge on the signs, behaviors, and resources of exploitation, as well as providing support and empowerment to youth to get assistance for themselves and their peers.
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SUPPORT
Support to educators in rolling out the education to youth.
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COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Education to our community and parent body with speakers, resources, and follow up.
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SERVICES
Creating surveys, support networks, in an effort to increase access to services through our local service providers.
