onterey COE Board President Janet Wohlgemuth, also in attendance, found that reframing one’s understanding of the situation, learning different terminology surrounding victims and survivors, and coming to grasp how widespread the issue is — particularly for certain student populations — were among her key takeaways.

Wohlgemuth, who is heavily involved with the COE’s foster and homeless youth, saw that those students were some of the most vulnerable. This is especially true in an area like Monterey, which is home to large agricultural and tourism industries popular among traffickers.

“It just raised all the hackles on the back of my neck, and it was like, ‘Wow, we really have to do something,’” Wohlgemuth said. “It’s potentially thousands of our students that are in that position or are at risk. How do we get the message to our educators, our students and our parents, that these are the things you need to look at? These are the indicators?”

California has the highest rates of human trafficking in the United States, and the top cities where exploitation has occurred over the last 20 years consistently include San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, according to Ashlie Bryant, co-founder, president and CEO of the 3Strands Global Foundation (3Strands), an organization based in El Dorado County that works to prevent human trafficking through education and reintegration.

“It’s really important that a school leader in Butte County doesn’t think, ‘Oh, it’s not a problem here,’ because we know this is a crime that hides in plain sight,” Bryant said. “It’s a crime that’s happening in small communities, in rural communities, in urban, in suburban communities across the State of California.”

The scope of the problem grows exponentially with the inclusion of online exploitation, she added. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children fielded 32 million online exploitation reports in 2023.

California became the first state to adopt human trafficking prevention education training for teachers and students in 2017. Authored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, then an Alameda assemblymember, and co-sponsored by 3Strands, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act requires students be provided human trafficking prevention education in grades 7-12.

Eight years later, teachers in local educational agencies throughout the state continue to struggle with how to meaningfully incorporate this critical but uncomfortable topic into their health education programing.

That’s where programs like PROTECT — an adaptable skill-building human trafficking prevention education program co-developed by 3Strands and designed for school communities — can help. Created by education experts and advisors with lived experiences, PROTECT teaches staff to recognize and respond safely to various forms of violence, including the complex issue of human trafficking.

The organization’s victim reintegration program provides direct services and influences the prevention education programs. “All of the work we do directly with survivors in human trafficking makes it so that we are able to make the prevention education so strong,” Bryant said. “We’ve reached almost a million kids and over 130,000 teachers and counselors across the nation.”

PROTECT involves a four-pronged approach that revolves around developing protocols and procedures in the event a student is identified or self-identifies as a victim of human trafficking; training school staff at any level about exploitation, complex trauma, the role of technology, and how to identify and report suspected trafficking; providing trauma-informed age-appropriate K-12 lesson plans; and allowing third-party researchers to track and analyze the data from the training and prevention education to improve outcomes.

While not required in California, elementary-level curriculum is available, and focuses on increasing a child’s “protective factors,” which include understanding their inner voice, the characteristics of a trusted adult, healthy boundaries and more. In middle school, as required by law, the curriculum includes discussion about human trafficking and healthy relationships. By high school, students also learn how to protect themselves and their peers, types of trafficking and more.

“Every single time a counselor or a teacher goes in to do the PROTECT curriculum for our students, we have one student, at least one, who reports either online exploitation, grooming or trafficking,” Bryant said. As a result, she often fields calls from LEA leaders seeking advice on what the school board can do to make sure their communities are safe and protected.

Under the California Health Education Framework, schools are expected to teach students about human trafficking.

“One of the roles that county offices of education play is to provide professional development to the public school districts and charter schools in their county regarding all of the content standards, including the health framework,” explained Monterey COE Superintendent Deneen Guss. “It’s unclear to some educators, ‘Where does this fit? Where do we put it?’ And Appendix B in the framework … tells schools that they need a plan around helping educators know how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond appropriately.”

Justin Parker, program coordinator for the Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program and lead on the COE’s human trafficking prevention efforts, added that leadership is key.

“As a countywide organization, we are in a position to do leadership at the county level, build coalitions, bring people together, identify common issues. One of the things county offices can do is really be that connection to the other programs and agencies that are serving this population. As a COE, we know who the people are in the county, we know who the nonprofits are, and we can serve as that bridge to make those connections to our specific districts and to our school sites,” Parker said. “We’re fortunate that in Monterey County, we have several nonprofits that run programs specifically to support victims of human trafficking or students that are at risk of being exploited. We understand that not every county is going to have the same level of resources, but I’m sure there probably is something out there within their community — someone is doing this work because it happens everywhere.”

For the last several years, the COE has hosted a free annual symposium aimed at increasing awareness of the issue. What was initially a small affair targeting educators has grown into a communitywide effort that includes local agencies, organizations and nonprofits, as well as industry leaders in hospitality and more.

The symposiums open with a keynote speaker — often a survivor — before attendees break into workshop sessions on specific topics, such as harm reduction, the role of social media, the basics of human trafficking, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) protocols and more. Some years have included expert panels in which representatives from different governmental agencies talk about their roles in addressing human trafficking within Monterey County, Parker explained.

“Even though we open this up to the community, we always have a workshop dedicated to educators and our school staff and personnel,” he continued. “Usually, an organization that provides curriculum on this topic comes to present and offer their curriculum to our schools and our districts.”

This past year, the local Rotary club got involved as well, said Monterey COE trustee Annette Yee Steck. Rotary clubs bring local business, professional and local leaders together to provide services to others and advance understanding and goodwill in their communities. Rotary sponsored the symposium, provided food and helped get the word out.

The growth of the symposium demonstrates the commitment the county has as a whole to supporting students, ensuring schools aren’t left to do the work alone, Guss said.

“A lot of people want to work on this issue because it takes a village to tackle something so big,” she noted. “So, the partner agencies became key in being those session presenters and helping us to identify what we need to highlight each year because it ebbs and flows, it changes depending upon what’s happening in our local area. The more people who understand what to look for, what you can do to combat human trafficking, the better.”

Step one, according to McPherson, is becoming aware as a trustee. “Do not assume that ‘it’s not a problem where I live,’” he said. “It is a problem where you live. It’s just a matter of how big of a problem.”

Bryant of 3Strands agreed, noting that the types of trafficking may also differ by location. While sexual exploitation does happen everywhere, California’s rural, agricultural counties are likely to have students and/or their families experiencing labor trafficking at higher rates, whether they know how to describe what is happening to them or not, she said.

“The other thing is online exploitation. We know that both our urban and rural kids are being targeted by these predators,” she continued. “If we don’t educate our youth and someone who’s phishing comes in — whether through social media or through a chat or through an online gaming system — befriends them and they have no protective factors, then we just allowed this on-ramp to our kids.”

Bryant recalled an incident in which, after a counselor taught the middle school curriculum, a student explained after class that someone had befriended them online who they now realized may not be a safe individual.

“The number one way that they say young people are being targeted now is online,” Yee Steck said. “And that is super important for people to be aware of. Teaching students about how to be safe online and what to look for is key because [traffickers are] very devious in the way they hook them.”

Guss noted that, because so many survivors initially self-identified as victims, it’s important that LEAs have posters and small tip cards that can be handed out with contact information for local, state and national services and resources.

While the district attorney in Monterey creates posters, “We are reliant upon social services to update those tip cards, get them produced — it’s very costly because you have to laminate them and whatnot,” Guss said. Free cards are available from the national Blue Campaign, Guss said, but colleagues from other LEAs have noted that the cards include mention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which scares some victims and keeps them from reporting their situation.

Guss said she would love the state to develop uniform tip cards or templates that COEs could tailor to include in their own local resources.

In addition to calling for such resources to be developed in multiple languages, and for specific resources for LGBTQ, Native American and other especially vulnerable student groups, Wohlgemuth applauded legislation passed in 2024 that, among other things, increased the severity of charges for someone found to be engaging in exploitation of a child. “We’re tired of seeing the same people who are committing these crimes basically getting a slap on the wrist. It makes it real hard for the DA’s office and all of us that are trying to fight it,” she said. “Having the Governor change it to a felony really helps put a lot more pressure.”

While several members of Monterey COE’s leadership team agreed there is a need for additional state funding for community liaisons, curriculum and other needs, they acknowledged that a lack of funds can’t be used as an excuse to not address human trafficking.

Bryant of 3Strands also encouraged LEAs to tap into resources they do have. For instance, CSEC and other health- and safety-related funding can be used to provide the PROTECT program in schools.

“I think, as board members, we have a responsibility to protect our children, and educating our parents, our students and our staff is our job,” Wohlgemuth said. “It is in your backyard. It is happening in your community every single day. It’s a matter of educating yourself to see it. Taking that first leap into doing something, it can be very scary … if you have questions or you want to engage with it, reach out to another board that has done it or reach out to us.”

“And don’t assume that whatever you might do is too small,” Yee Steck added. “You don’t have to be an expert to advocate for human trafficking education and prevention. You just have to be behind it, understand that it happens and care about it. That’s what counts most, just to be there and put your heart into it.”