PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Tanesha Grant, Executive Director of Parent Supporting Parents New York
2:26:38
ยท
125 sec
Tanesha Grant, a survivor of human trafficking, shared her personal experience and concerns about current efforts to support trafficked youth. She emphasized the need for involving individuals with lived experience in these initiatives and highlighted the distrust many victims have towards ACS and law enforcement.
- Grant stressed the importance of publicizing support programs in affected communities
- She expressed concern about ACS and police leading anti-trafficking efforts
- Grant called for more involvement from people with lived experience in supporting trafficked youth
Tanesha Grant
2:26:38
Thank you so much, Pierre Stevens, Cheah Lewis, and Cheah Salam.
2:26:45
My name is Tanisha Grant.
2:26:47
I am the executive director of Parent Support and Parents New York.
2:26:52
We are based in, Harlem and Washington Heights.
2:26:56
I wanna share my personal story.
2:26:58
I was one of these trafficked, youth.
2:27:02
I was put into the system at birth, and I aged out the system at 17 straight to having a baby, straight to being trafficked and being on Hut's point.
2:27:14
There was never any support for children like me, for youth like me.
2:27:18
What I got was a jail cell.
2:27:21
So I am very, very, very happy to see you guys doing this work.
2:27:27
I have some concern.
2:27:30
This work is being, led by ACS and the police, and that's not too good for us.
2:27:37
I deal with children that are being trafficked, youth that are being trafficked all the times all the time, and the first thing they say to me, you guys, is don't call the police.
2:27:46
Don't call ACS.
2:27:49
I think that people who have lived experience really need to be called in.
2:27:54
I just got an award for being a volunteer from the president.
2:27:59
So I am telling you now that there are people like me that are willing to lead to to lend our lived experience and also, our time to help the youth that are that is happening right now.
2:28:13
I wanna say that this is a generational thing and there are lots of children that get left behind and fall beneath the cracks.
2:28:21
Also, these programs or whatever support that these systems are offering are not publicized in our community.
2:28:30
A lot of things I heard today, I'm hearing for the first time, and I'm very nosy about what's going on in our community.
2:28:37
So while this legislation is great first steps, I'm
Dr. Amy Wilkerson
2:28:41
Thank you.
Yusef Salaam
2:28:41
Yours have expired.
Tanesha Grant
2:28:42
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