Every year, children are compelled into labor and sex trafficking in the United States. Children may be trafficked by caregivers, intimate partners, or others who use violence, threats, debt bondage and other manipulative tactics to victimize children.

Child welfare professionals play a critical role in preventing this crime and serving victims of it.

In 2014, 1,607 cases of human trafficking involving minors were reported to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) and Polaris’s BeFree Textline. Of these, 121 referenced the child welfare system. The data reflects only survivors who elected to disclose this information and is not the result of a systematic survey.