Introduction
The 2016—2021 evaluation of the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) was conducted by RTI International through a contract from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with ACF’s Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP).
This brief provides detailed information on the NHTH’s referral directory and partnerships with local hotlines, services providers, and law enforcement.
Purpose and Research Questions
The overall purpose of this project was to develop and execute an evaluation of the NHTH, with the following specific objectives of the evaluation:
- Describe the activities, procedures, and organization of the NHTH, including staff training, staff capacity, and service delivery.
- Describe the customer service of the NHTH.
- Describe the immediate outcomes of the NHTH, specifically regarding experiences of contactors.
Key Findings and Highlights
The NHTH partners with local hotlines, local service providers (e.g., anti-trafficking organizations and programs that offer emergency, transitional, or long-term services to victims of human trafficking), and law enforcement agencies across the United States to support contactors accessing the hotline. The NHTH efficiently provides referrals to these partners through the use of their extensive national referral directory.
Generally, NHTH partners noted that the greatest benefit of the NHTH is that individuals have one number they can identify for support, regardless of their location. Law enforcement also underscored how the NHTH does an excellent job at providing timely, detailed tips.
Reported challenges were related primarily to the NHTH’s inefficiencies (e.g., outdated information, deconfliction among agencies due to sending tips to multiple agencies at once) or inability to provide certain kinds of information to partners (e.g., protocols in place to protect contactor confidentiality, lack of follow-up from law enforcement that can be communicated to service providers or contactors). The NHTH may consider ways to continue to develop personalized relationships with its partnering agencies, including having dedicated liaisons for key partners or stakeholder groups. This approach may help streamline communication and allow for the development of more efficient processes.
Member-checking activities conducted in 2021 and 2022 highlighted how the NHTH is continually seeking to update their processes for keeping their referral directory current.
Methods
All evaluation data were collected by or in collaboration with the NHTH from 2016 through 2021. Eight data collection methods were used to inform the findings of the evaluation. Data collection methods, presented in the order in which they were collected, include:
- Review of NHTH database records
- Interviews with NHTH staff
- Interviews and focus groups with key NHTH partners
- Observational listening of NHTH contacts
- Case study interviews with law enforcement agencies receiving tips from the NHTH
- Assessment of the NHTH’s referral directory
- Case study of other similar national hotlines
- Follow-up survey with individuals contacting the NHTH
The primary data sources for this brief include NHTH staff interviews (N=2 leaders, 13 staff), partner interviews and focus groups (N=6 law enforcement officers, 8 service providers, and 8 individuals who have experienced trafficking), law enforcement case studies (N=5 distinct agencies with 1 representative per agency), and an assessment of the NHTH referral directory.
Citation
Feeney, Hannah, Hardison-Walters, Jennifer, Charm, Samantha, and Kathleen Krieger (2023). Evaluation of the National Human Trafficking Hotline: Referrals and Partnerships Brief. OPRE Brief # 2023-222. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- NHTH:
- National Human Trafficking Hotline
- Individuals who have experienced trafficking/survivor:
- These phrases will be used interchangeably to refer to individuals who are experiencing or have experienced human trafficking. At the time of data collection, the NHTH used the term “potential victim of trafficking” and thus, this phrasing may be present throughout the reports and briefs.
- Contractors:
- Individuals who have accessed the NHTH via phone, text, webchat, or email. Contactors may or may not be survivors of human trafficking. At times, when specifying contactors who connected with the NHTH via phone, the word “callers” may be used. The NHTH refers to contactors as signalers but endorsed the use of contactors for the purposes of this brief for increased clarity.
- Contacts:
- Contacts are the individual level calls, texts, webchats, or emails received by the NHTH.
- Cases:
- Contacts are stored at the case level, whereby a case represents all calls, texts, webchats, and emails received regarding a particular circumstance of sex or labor trafficking. For example, if two independent community members contact the NHTH with two separate tips regarding the same potential victim, both contacts will be placed in the same case.