Commonwealth's Anti-Trafficking Task Force - Victim Services

The Commonwealth’s Anti-Trafficking (CAT) Task Force was created under Category 1 (now Purpose Area 1) Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking grants from both the Office for Victims of Crime and the Bureau of Justice Assistance in October 2019. Since the initial grant award, the CAT Task Force has grown from a proposal to the only statewide human trafficking task force in Massachusetts. The CAT Task Force is co-led by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office’s (MAGO’s) Human Trafficking Division (HTD) as lead law enforcement grantee and its Victim Services Division (VSD) as lead victim services grantee. The MAGO requests $750,000.00 in federal award for law enforcement and $749,999.02 in federal award for victim services to continue its work as a Purpose Area 2 task force.

As a Purpose Area 2 task force, the CAT Task Force will leverage its clear co-leadership structure to continue to deliver both trauma-informed investigations and victim-centered services. The task force will also focus on expansion of operations and partnerships while refining its existing protocols. For law enforcement activities, the CAT Task Force will continue formalized partnerships with the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the MAGO, the MAGO’s Fair Labor Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Homeland Security Investigations New England, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. For the provision of victim services, the CAT Task Force intends to provide a new round of subawards to its current subgrantees:

Boston University School of Law Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program
The Education, Vision, Advocacy Center Project of Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc.
Garden of Hope
Living in Freedom Together, Inc.
The My Life My Choice Program of Justice Resource Institute, Inc.
Sojourner House, Inc.’s THEIA Project
The Support to End Exploitation Now Program of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County

The CAT Task Force undertook the following number of human trafficking investigations and prosecutions in the last three federal fiscal years:

FY2020

Investigations: 1
Prosecutions: 5

FY2021

Investigations: 8
Prosecutions: 5

FY2022

Investigations: 7
Prosecutions: 2

The CAT Task Force served 29 trafficking victims over the last three federal fiscal years. The following is a yearly breakdown of victims receiving services (both active and new victims):

FY2020: 6
FY2021: 27
FY2022: 29