Work Group 2: Youth Aware and Safe

Chaired by Opendoor Talk (Jessica Stewart)  

  • After successfully developing and promoting Georgia’s Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Technical Assistance Resource Guide (TARG), Work Group 2 has shifted its focus to deepen the knowledge and application around child-focused prevention education and safety.  
  • 2023 Initiatives:
    • In an attempt to understand how youth receive information, communicate with friends, and seek help and resources, Work Group 2 has developed an anonymous survey to better guide the group in creating communications that could potentially reach and help someone else avoid a risky situation or exploitation experience.
      • Work Group 2 received approval from IRB at Kennesaw State University for this research. We are collecting information from 18-22-year-olds about their experiences in high school.
    • Work Group 2 has developed a facilitation guide to interview youth who are receiving services to identify prevention touchpoints, and specifically learn at what point knowing about services could have made a difference, what barriers youth experience, and what support would have been helpful. 
    • Work Group 2 is also developing a TARG companion guide where we will identify and review programs and curricula for adults to learn how to keep youth safe from sexual abuse, including human trafficking.
    • Work Group 2 is looking to create a tool kit for middle school to high school staff to better equip them with resources to deter engaging in recruitment and grooming behaviors that result in peer-to-peer exploitation.