Amount Requested: $512,500.00

The requested funding will go towards supporting the work of The Center to End the Trafficking and Exploitation of Children. It is a multi-disciplinary, action-based institute that furthers the efforts of CHILDREN AT RISK and other coalitions.  This Center generates solutions to this crisis through strategic research, policy recommendations, awareness building, and collaboration. The Department of Justice has identified the I-10 corridor as one of the main routes for human trafficking, making this crime one that deeply affects the Houston community and its children. It is estimated that 18,000 people are trafficked across our borders each year, and out of that alarming figure, 80% are women and children. As citizens, we cannot allow for this form of modern day slavery to continue within our borders. Moreover, human trafficking is not only an international problem, but a domestic one as well. Currently, nearly 450,000 American children run away from home each year, and sadly, one out of three will be lured into sex trafficking within the first 48 hours. The average age of entry for these victims is 12.  Across the U.S., it is estimated that 150,000 children are kept in sexual slavery.