The My Life My Choice Project

Track Sponsor: Anna B. Stearns Charitable Foundation

Founded: 2002

Current Revenue:$170,000

Website:www.jri.org/mylife

Need

Nationally, an estimated 240,000 – 325,000 youth are at risk for sex trafficking annually. Adolescent girls, particularly those abused, neglected, or exposed to violence and family addiction, are easy targets for recruitment.

The average age range of girls recruited into prostitution is between 12 and 15 years old.
Thirty-four task forces nationally, operating as part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative, have recovered nearly 900 children from sexual exploitation since 2003.
Annual victim identification locally has grown from seven girls in 2003 to 90 girls in 2008.
The SEEN (Support to End Exploitation Now) Coalition database in Suffolk County grew to 300 exploited girls between 2005 and 2009. As victims are so hard to identify, victim totals are likely undercounts.

About

The My Life My Choice Project is a nationally recognized, groundbreaking initiative designed to stem the tide of commercial sexual exploitation of adolescent girls. A program of the Justice Resource Institute, MLMC provides a unique continuum of services, including prevention programs, service provider trainings, and case coordination and mentoring for victims of exploitation. The My Life My Choice Project is able to have a significant impact on a hard-to-reach population by employing survivors as group leaders, trainers, and mentors. Their first-hand accounts of victimization have informed group and training curricula and are the voice of authenticity to girls entrapped in a life of abuse. Through its victim-centered programs, advocacy, and public awareness building, MLMC hopes to change the landscape—educating and empowering adolescent girls to find a positive life path and eliminating the marketplace for sexual exploitation.

Key Accomplishments

Since 2002, MLMC has reached over 950 girls and over 3,000 service providers in a variety of settings. MLMC made accessible to providers for the first time the risk factors and red flags signaling exploitation. This information underpins their programs and has been used locally and nationally by service providers.

In 2006, MLMC received a two-year Department of Justice demonstration grant and was recognized as a national model for sex trafficking prevention.
MLMC’s prevention group model has been replicated in several states, including Minnesota, Connecticut, and California; additional jurisdictions seek to adopt the model.
Recognized as a promising program to prevent violence, MLMC received a 2008 Executive Office of Public Safety Byrne Grant to expand survivor mentoring and provide case coordination in Suffolk County.

Join the Cause

In-Kind Support

Advisory Board members
Host an awareness event to educate and involve your community
Cell phones and service plans for mentors

Financial Support

$50,000 – Awareness training for an additional 1,000 service providers and community members
$5,000 – One 10-week prevention group for 20 girls
$1,000 – Weekly mentoring visits with one girl for the three critical months after a survivor exits “the Life”

Learn More

Want to learn more about the My Life My Choice Project, a program of Justice Resource Institute? View their full Social Innovation Forum prospectus here

Contact Information

Lisa Goldblatt-Grace
Director
(617) 699-4998
lgrace@jri.org