Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Human Trafficking topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DA’s victim-witness director: “Is there human trafficking in Santa Barbara County? And the answer is yes.”
Summary
The county’s DA office presented a statewide task-force model and local services, reporting dozens of investigations, arrests and identified victims and outlining reporting channels, embedded advocates, STRTP referrals and forensic interview resources.
Megan Rheinschild, who directs the countywide victim-witness assistance program at the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, told the county board that human trafficking occurs locally and described the county’s response network. “Is there human trafficking in Santa Barbara County? And the answer is yes. There is,” she said, and detailed the task force’s development and client-support model.
Rheinschild gave figures from the task force’s grant-funded work: “we've had 280 investigations, a 100 about a 100 suspects identified, 60 arrests, and about 280 victims and survivors that we've identified.” She described partnerships with law enforcement, embedded advocates collocated in North County police and juvenile centers, rescue operations involving the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and specialized services such as child forensic interviews and nurse examiners for sexual-assault exams. She emphasized that many trafficking survivors first present to domestic-violence or sexual-assault services and may not self-identify as trafficking victims.
During Q&A, board members asked how community members and small-business employees should report suspicions. Rheinschild and Eliana Amda, the task-force grant manager, recommended reporting to law enforcement and the national trafficking hotline (including a texting option), and to child welfare when minors are involved. They also described outreach and targeted materials for industries such as salons and training offered to school liaisons and transitional-youth services staff. The presentation highlighted local shelter/STRTP placements and survivor-mentor programs, and noted federal anti‑trafficking grant support and UCSB evaluation partners.
The board thanked the presenters and framed next steps as continuing countywide training and keeping districts informed of reporting channels and services.
