The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is committed to the prevention and eradication of human trafficking, and to providing ongoing support to survivors of human trafficking in California. January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and for 2026, the Child Trafficking Response Team and the Refugee Programs Bureau’s (RPB) Asylee and Trafficking Unit are hosting an array of virtual events and other activities designed to raise awareness of human trafficking occurring across California, the nation, and the world. We hope you will join us this month in our efforts to boost system-wide knowledge, prevention and response efforts around the issue of human trafficking.
In 2025, human trafficking was once again the fastest growing and second largest criminal industry in the world. Human traffickers continue to profit greatly from the exploitation of youth and adults within our most vulnerable populations. Sadly, many in California may not realize that human trafficking is taking place in plain view in many different settings, and across various industries in their communities. As a result, human trafficking remains underreported, and trafficking survivors frequently go unidentified. Males, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and related (LGBTQ+) youth, Tribal youth, and unaccompanied minors are disproportionately impacted due to systemic injustices and incorrect assumptions about who is affected by human trafficking.
CDSS invites you to participate in the following Human Trafficking Prevention Month activities:
“A Reclamation” Art Gallery to Uplift Lived Experience Voices
Beginning January 7, 2026, and running through the end of the month, CDSS will host “A Reclamation” Art Gallery, presented by Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking (PACT). This art gallery features creative expression from California artists, leaders, and lived experience experts. Be inspired as the collection takes viewers on a journey exploring themes of healing, reclamation, and resilience through a variety of mediums including poetry, creative writing, graphic art, and photography. The collection includes submissions from the PACT Consultant Network and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Action Team Advisory Board.
The gallery will be viewable during business hours, located in the CDSS building at 744 P Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, in the first-floor hallway of Office Building 8.
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is on Sunday, January 11, 2026. To raise awareness of human trafficking, the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign has created an initiative on this day, called #WearBlueDay. Join #WearBlueDay by taking photos of yourselves, friends, family, and colleagues wearing blue clothing and sharing these pictures on social media along with the #WearBlueDay hashtag. The Blue Campaign is a national public awareness campaign designed to educate the public, law enforcement, and other industry partners to recognize the indicators of human trafficking, and to know how to appropriately respond to possible instances of human trafficking.
Live and On-Demand Trainings
Below are opportunities to participate in virtual events designed to raise awareness of Human Trafficking:
The following events are presented by the CDSS Refugee Programs Bureau, Asylee and Trafficking Unit:
Trafficking and Crime Victims Assistance Program Information Session
Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 1:00PM-2:00PM PST
To register, please click here.
Within CDSS, the Refugee Programs Bureau (RPB) provides state-level leadership and coordination of programs and services to help vulnerable populations achieve successful resettlement and integration in communities throughout California. Through the Trafficking and Crime Victims Assistance Program (TCVAP), the RPB works with all 58 counties in California to provide cash assistance, food benefits, health care, employment services, and other social services supports to eligible noncitizen survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes. This webinar will provide an overview of TCVAP, the application process, benefits, and services. We encourage you to attend this session to learn more about how this program supports noncitizen trafficking survivors.
Stop, Observe, Ask, Respond (SOAR) On-Demand Training
Sign up for the SOAR online training.
The Stop, Observe, Ask, Respond (SOAR) framework is a trauma-informed, culturally and linguistically appropriate response to human trafficking. The SOAR framework is designed to educate health care providers, social workers, public health professionals, and behavioral health professionals on how to identify, treat, and respond appropriately to individuals who are at risk or who have experienced human trafficking.
To access the SOAR training, please visit the SOAR training website and create an account. Access will then be granted to the catalog of SOAR trainings, including trainings on preventing and responding to human trafficking, trauma informed care, and culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
The following events are presented by our partners, the CDSS Safety and Early Intervention Bureau, Child Trafficking Program Support Unit:
Intersections of Trauma and Trafficking – Principles of Trauma-Informed Care and Practice Training Course
Wednesday, January 14, 2026, 12:00PM-2:00PM PST
To register, please click this link.
This training is hosted by the CSEC Action Team in partnership with the National Center on Child Trafficking. The training presentation will include core concepts and principles of trauma and how they relate to trafficking, while providing real examples and strategies for working with young people and families. This session is relevant for anyone working with young people, including those experiencing trauma related to trafficking or other adverse experiences. The training session will also feature the two experts below who will share their experience and perspectives to guide our discussion.
Maria Contreras, Manager, Community & Policy, National Center for Youth Law
Kelly Kinnish, Director, The National Center on Child Trafficking, School of Public Health, Georgia State University
Hidden in Plain Sight – Child Labor Trafficking and Intersections with Commercial Sexual Exploitation Training Webinar
Thursday, January 22, 2026, 10:00AM-12:00PM PST
To register, please click here.
Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking (PACT) a program of the Child and Family Policy Institute of California (CFPIC) will present this important webinar. Across the United States, including here in California, children are coerced, deceived, or forced into unsafe work. Some labor in fields, restaurants, or homes, while others are pushed into criminal acts like selling drugs or recruiting peers. Labor trafficking hides in plain sight and often overlaps with Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and forced criminality. Traffickers prey on vulnerable youth, especially those who’ve experienced foster care, homelessness, or juvenile justice involvement. This training shines a light on these hidden realities. Together, we’ll learn to spot the signs, respond with empathy, and connect young people to safety and support.
Best Practices and Tools for Child Welfare Professionals to Support Immigrant Child Victims
Thursday, January 27, 2026, 10:00AM-12:00PM PST
To register, please click here.
This training is presented by Leslye E. Orloff, Adjunct Professor and Director of the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) at American University, Washington College of Law. This course will introduce attendees to the Child Protective Services Toolkit which provides child welfare professionals with a comprehensive understanding of the humanitarian immigration relief options available to protect abused and neglected noncitizen children and/or their noncitizen parents. Participants will learn about four key forms of immigration relief: (1) the Violence Against Women Act
self-petition, (2) the U visa for crime victims, (3) the T visa for human trafficking victims, and (4) Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.
The presentation will also cover best practices for working with children from immigrant and mixed-status families. Topics include early intervention strategies, trauma-informed and culturally sensitive approaches, and providing supportive services for abused children and their protective parents. Attendees will learn how to use the NIWAP’s public benefits map, charts, and infographic tools to look up which state and federal public benefits and services are available in California to assist immigrant children and family members that child welfare professionals encounter in their work.
California Department of Social Services Child Trafficking Response Team Virtual Panel Discussion on Community Drop-In Centers Serving Exploited and At-Risk Youth
Wednesday, January 28, 2026, 1:30PM-3:00PM PST
To register, please click here.
Drop-in center directors in San Francisco and Orange County, their county partners, and panel members with lived experience - youth who have benefitted greatly from engagement with these drop-in centers will be part of this panel discussion. Plan to be inspired by moving success stories and expect to take away a practical sense of what goes into building an impactful drop-in center that reaches and serves the populations most vulnerable to human trafficking in your community.
Resources
The RPB has curated a list of recommended books, podcasts, films, and community events that foster awareness of human trafficking. Through the experiences of survivors, documentarians, journalists, novelists, and more, we hope these recommendations enrich your understanding of human trafficking and spark a call to action through the work that you do in social services. Visit the January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month webpage for more information.
Additional Resources
Do you have resources to share? Submit your favorite resource to be shared with the community. Submit by email to TCVAP@dss.ca.gov.