The Collaborative to End Human Trafficking

“The form 990 was prepared by an independent cpa and is reviewed with the executive director and finance staff prior to distributing to the board for final approval. Upon approval of the board the form 990 is electronically filed.”

“Each year, the board members are asked to review the organization's conflict of interest policy which is contained both in its code of regulations and also in a certificate provided to them for signature. Among other things, the policy makes clear that all decisions of the board of the organization are made solely on the basis of a desire to promote the best interest of the organization and the public good. The conflict of interest statement requests board members to identify to the best of their knowledge of affiliations with organizations that may be potentially related to the financials or other substantive operations of the organization. They are also asked to identify circumstances involving either themselves, or a member of their extended family, that may be construed as a conflict of interest.”

“The organization's governing documents, form 1023, form 990 conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public upon request. The form 990, without schedule b) can also be found on several publicly-accessible websites.”

“The collaborative to end human trafficking implements its mission through: educational programs designed to raise awareness of the reality of human trafficking in today's world, enable first responders and the public to recognize the red flags of trafficking, and to identify and further develop resources for those who have been trafficked; advocacy on behalf of trafficked persons and those vulnerable to trafficking, including promoting the development of systemic policies and practices in multi-disciplinary organizations to address the issue; coordinating and collaborating with these multi-disciplinary agencies and services to develop a victim-centered safety net for trafficked persons in northeast ohio. Highlights of the collaborative's work in 2015-16 include the following. The collaborative led the development of greater cleveland's coordinated response to human trafficking ("gccrht"). Gccrht is a multi-disciplinary group of nearly 30 agencies and organizations working together to address human trafficking in northeast ohio in a comprehensive and coordinated way. Participating organizations represent government, law enforcement, healthcare, social service, religious and civic groups, higher education and business. The collaborative, with gccrht, developed the public awareness campaign, human trafficking happens here too. The campaign includes signage in each of the concourses at cleveland hopkins international airport, on greater cleveland rta buses, and on billboards throughout cuyahoga county. All of the signage refers readers to the website happensheretoo.org for information about the crime, hotline numbers to call for help, and the names and website of the organizations participating in gccrht. The campaign was funded in large part by a federal victims of crime act (voca) grant administered through the ohio attorney general's office and also supported by private grants and donations. The collaborative also developed a training video and manual for healthcare providers, guidelines for treating human trafficking victims: a resource for healthcare professionals in northeast ohio. The video was created by the collaborative with cleveland area sexual assault nurses, emergency room nurses, and social workers from the major health systems in cleveland. Participants in the video are cleveland area doctors, law enforcement personnel, and local citizens, including a survivor. This project was funded by a grant from the char and chuck family foundation. In addition, the collaborative, with its partners in law enforcement and social service, developed human trafficking trainings for law enforcement and those in the hospitality industry. Participants in the hospitality industry trainings included management as well as staff from multiple hotel properties.”