Human Trafficking 4-Part Webinar Series
Human Trafficking: How Nurses Can Be a Part of the Solution (A Four Part Series)
The Missouri Nurses Association is excited to partner with the Office of the Missouri Attorney General’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force to offer this important webinar series for our states nurses. A full summery of all four sessions is listed below. All four parts will be recorded for on-demand viewing if you cannot attend the presentations live. After registering, you will be given the call information and it will also be emailed to you.
May 12, May 19, May 26 & June 2, 2021
Every Wednesday Evening
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Virtual!
Cost: FREE for all nurses in Missouri
Sessions:
Session 1 on May 12th: Introduction and Human Trafficking 101 – Alison Phillips (Director, Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office)
“Healthcare workers are strategically positioned to identify and report human trafficking and offer resources to help victims. Yet recent reports show us that while 88% of human trafficking victims were seen by a healthcare worker, only 2% of all human trafficking reports are made by health care workers. In this session, we explain the legal definition of human trafficking and equip listeners with basic identification skills.”
Session 2 on May 19th Case Studies – Heidi Olson (SANE Coordinator, Children’s Mercy Hospital) and Jen Green (St. Luke’s Hospital)
“This presentation will feature case studies of trafficking victims who presented for medical treatment from two large healthcare systems in the Kansas City area. The case studies will focus on indicators, red flags, and physical signs that pointed to trafficking. These case studies will range from the atrocities of serial rapist who victimized women who were being sold for sex to the sexual exploitation of toddlers by their parents. Learners will see common risk factors, indicators, and trends as the case studies progress. These case studies will cover children, teens, and adults and will be honest representations of what the healthcare system has done well and where there is room to improve.”
Session 3 on May 26th: Screening & Trauma Response- Jen Green (St. Luke’s Hospital) and Heidi Olson (SANE Coordinator, Children’s Mercy Hospital)
“Many victims of human trafficking go unrecognized as they enter the healthcare setting, which results in crucial missed opportunities to intervene, provide safety and resources. This presentation will discuss pediatric and adult screening process to help with victim identification, the way the brain and body responds to repeated trauma, and ways that we can make patients feel safe and heard when they are in our care.”
Session 4 on June 2nd: Reporting – Heidi Olson (SANE Coordinator, Children’s Mercy Hospital) and Sgt. Dan Nash (Missouri State Highway Patrol, Human Trafficking Unit)
“While many healthcare workers agree that human trafficking is a horrific crime, many feel unsure of what to do when they encounter a potential victim. This presentation aims to empower healthcare workers in knowing how to report human trafficking when they see it. In 2020, Children’s Mercy Kansas City and the Missouri State Highway Patrol came together to form a partnership that has greatly impacted human trafficking investigations. This collaboration has produced incredible results, including efficiency of reporting, many arrests, increased protection of children and an overall morale boost between both teams. This presentation will go through several case studies of trafficking survivors who came to the hospital, showing the importance of working as a team from a law enforcement perspective and nursing perspective.”
Presenters:
Jennifer Green MSN-FN BSN BA RN SANE-A
Jennifer Green has worked for Saint Luke’s Health System since 2000 in the areas of Intensive Care, the Emergency Department, and Critical Care. She is currently the Clinical Forensic Care Program Manager for the Saint Luke’s Health System over 16 hospitals that range from level one trauma center, to rural and community hospitals, and adult and pediatric acute psychiatric hospital. She been a SANE/Forensic Nurse for since 2008 and has provided thousands of Forensic Exams to patient’s that have experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, strangulation, child abuse/neglect, elder abuse/neglect, and assault. She completed a Master’s of Science in Nursing with a Specialization in Forensic Nursing in 2019 and is currently pursuing her Doctorate.
Dan Nash began his career with the Missouri State Highway Patrol in 1995 as a patrol officer in Troop D Springfield, working in Cedar and St. Clair Counties. In 1997 Dan became an investigator in the Narcotic/Vice Unit and spent 6 years conducting covert and overt narcotic and vice investigations. In 2003, Dan transferred to the Criminal Investigation Unit in Springfield and spent the next 15 years investigating mostly violent crime to include homicide, assaults and officer involved shootings. In 2012, Dan developed an interest in Human Trafficking cases and began investigating these types of cases while in the Criminal Investigation Unit. In 2018 Dan participated in the first Interdiction for Protection of Children training in Missouri and the train the trainer class provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety. In 2019, Dan transferred to the newly formed IPC/Human Trafficking Unit and was tasked with developing and building the IPC /Human Trafficking program in Missouri. The IPC/Human Trafficking Unit investigates instances of possible human trafficking in Missouri and provides expertise and investigative assistance on human trafficking, sexual exploitation and child sex crime investigations to various agencies throughout Missouri. This unit is also responsible for coordinating the various IPC and Human Trafficking trainings in Missouri for members of the Patrol and other law enforcement agencies.
Heidi Olson RN, MSN, CPN, SANE – Certified Pediatric Nurse, Certified Pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and the SANE Program Manager for Children’s Mercy, Kansas City.
Heidi has a wide range of experience in pediatric and forensic nursing and has also taught as an adjunct clinical instructor for the University of Missouri at Kansas City and the University of St. Mary’s. Heidi’s current role includes performing forensic exams on children who have been victims of sexual assault, running the day-to-day logistics of the SANE program, following up with victims and their families after discharge, communicating with law enforcement, child protective services, and a large multidisciplinary team, as well as educating the healthcare staff on relevant topics regarding sexual violence. Heidi also serves an expert witness for the prosecution during trials for victims of sexual assault. In last two years, Heidi has performed and reviewed over 1,200 pediatric sexual assault cases and has presented over 200 times around the United States about recognizing human trafficking, child-on-child sexual assault, pornography, and exploitation. Since 2019, Heidi’s team has identified numerous trafficking victims through the use of an evidence-based screening tool in the Emergency Department. Heidi started and leads the human trafficking work group at Children’s Mercy, presents with the Anti Internet Child Exploitation Team (a Canadian non-profit), and organized Empower KC, a community event to raise awareness about sexual exploitation in Kansas City.
Alison Phillips is the Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Her job entails facilitating the work of this multi-disciplinary task force in order to create unified and informed state-wide efforts to combat human trafficking. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City (UMKC), teaching a course on human trafficking to undergraduate criminal justice majors. Alison has been active in the anti-human trafficking movement since 2012, in consultancy, event planning, coalition building, providing trainings, public speaking (including her own Ted Talk) and community engagement. Alison received a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology from UMKC in 2017, was the 2018 recipient of UMKC’s Community Engagement Award, and Restoration House’s 2020 Cry Purple Award for excellence in combating human trafficking.
In her first career, she served as an airline pilot for a regional carrier in the state of Alaska. She is a rated airline transport pilot, has 3,000 hours of flight time logged, has flown two former U.S. Presidents, members of congress and other public figures, and was awarded as the top student in her flight school class in 1994. Alison lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and three teenage children.