Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice, Inc. Anti-Human Trafficking Assistance has a long-standing commitment to the plight of human trafficking in Southwest Florida by providing intensive case management and mental health counseling to all individuals who are the victims of this crime as they attempt to integrate into society after being rescued.

The Catholic Charities Anti-Human Trafficking Assistance team works closely with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors throughout Southwest Florida to provide and coordinate an expansive array of services to survivors from basic human needs to legal representation. The Catholic Charities Anti-Human Trafficking Assistance program offers comprehensive case management and direct assistance to all victims of severe human trafficking, which include minors, adults, and both domestic and foreign-born individuals. The program offers a victim-centered approach to delivering aid to clients while maintaining a mission of compassion, integrity, and empathy.

The program provides victims with the following services:

• Provision of food and clothing
• Coordination to a shelter at a safe distance from the site of the exploitation
• Transitional housing
• Coordination of medical and dental services
• Referral to mental health counseling and further mental health services as needed
• Orientation to state and federal laws and benefits
• Assistance with benefit applications
• Coordination of educational and ESOL services
• Liaison with law enforcement and immigration service providers
• Coordination with various community agencies for other required services

The Catholic Charities Anti-Human Trafficking Assistance program serves victims of the various forms of trafficking. Our clients can be foreign-born individuals or domestic victims such as runaway minors. Catholic Charities staff is active in various organizations that coordinate efforts to combat human trafficking and to inform the public about this heinous crime. Catholic Charities staff welcomes the opportunity to provide presentations to groups about the local reality of human trafficking as well as our program of assistance to victims.

Please call 911, the national hotline human trafficking hotline 1-888-373-7888, or local law enforcement to report a crime or to investigate suspicion of human trafficking. 

CATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF VENICE, INC. SERVES ALL IN NEED REGARDLESS OF RACE, NATIONALITY, OR CREED.