REMARKS
Introduction and background on the youth trafficking hearing
0:30:39
ยท
122 sec
Council Member Althea Stevens opens the hearing on youth trafficking and sexual exploitation, explaining its importance and origin. She emphasizes the need to address this issue that often remains hidden.
- The hearing was inspired by youth testimonies at a previous budget hearing and roundtable discussions
- Stevens highlights the urgency of addressing youth trafficking, describing it as 'the underbelly that no one wants to talk about'
- The goal is to develop solutions and keep young people safe
Althea Stevens
0:30:39
Well, thank you, and thank you all for being here today.
0:30:42
And I just wanna start off by saying, it was last year.
0:30:46
I was at a budget hearing.
0:30:47
I had a group of young people who actually came in to testify and told me that I wasn't doing enough about this.
0:30:52
So, Juan, I just wanted to start off by telling those young people thank you for shedding a light on this and that we do need to be doing more, and that I heard them and that that's why we're here today because it was them who was like, this is something that's not happening.
0:31:07
And then I did a I've been doing a series of the roundtables.
0:31:10
We had foster care youth roundtable, and then I had foster care youth telling me this is happening and you need to do more.
0:31:18
And so in my opening statement, I I testified that, you know, this is like the underbelly that no one wants to talk about, and so it's in the shadows.
0:31:27
And because it's in the shadows, it's festering.
0:31:30
And so today, we're bringing light to it because this is about us coming up with solutions and moving forward and letting those young people know that we're here and we are really putting forth things together to make sure that we're keeping them safe.
0:31:43
And so my first question is is towards ACS, but honestly, would love to hear, everyone to kinda chime in on this because, it's very relevant and it's it's things that's happening.
0:31:53
Like, even in my district today, I had a raid.
0:31:55
And so my first question is, like, how do with the executive orders from the federal administration, resulting in, like, deportations and all these things, and we're gonna have a lot of youth who might be abandoned.
0:32:09
This is really actually, to me, is going to help fester things like sex trafficking and sex work in young people because they're going to be hiding.
0:32:19
They're not gonna wanna come for services.
0:32:20
And so for me, my question is how are we how do we prepare for this moment to make sure that we're keeping young people safe, and what protocols do we have in place, and how how all are the how how are all of these agencies working together to make sure, especially, what what's happening and what we're seeing in our city currently, how do we prepare for this moment?