The Multnomah County Department of Community Justice (DCJ) has established itself as a national leader in setting training benchmarks for community supervision professionals and creating a coordinated community response to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) CSEC. DCJ recently made the decision that all staff participate in a 3-hour overview of CSEC. DCJ Collaboration Specialist, Joslyn Baker, together will Ian Clanton, DCJ Probation/Parole Officer, led the trainings which were designed to improve the recognition of and response to survivors and perpetrators of commercial sexual exploitation. Approximately 95 percent of DCJ employees from all levels completed the training. When asked about her response to meeting this benchmark, Deputy Director Kathleen Treb stated that she "appreciated the opportunity to be one of the leaders of this dedicated group of individuals who are committed to join forces across multiple agencies to meet the needs of these victims." DCJ staff response to the training included a wide range of reactions with a significant number reflecting an increase in their awareness of this problem and of our agency’s approach to addressing it. Changes to staffing, policy and practice have begun to occur in juvenile and adult community justice programs.
DCJ has also contributed leadership, training and collaboration with local partners to facilitate an extraordinary coordinated community response to CSEC. Joslyn Baker organized a large group of community partners to develop and deliver CSEC training. Over 10,000 people including; community groups, first responders and service providers received training in the past three years. This training strategy has improved the collective understanding of people who seek to fight against exploitation and victimization. This training was funded by a federal grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
March 18, 2013