Queens Community Justice Center: Queens HOPE (Heal, Overcome, Prosper, Empower)

The Queens Community Justice Center (Justice Center) is
proposing to scale up its Queens HOPE (Heal, Overcome,
Prosper, Empower) program. The goal of the Queens HOPE
expansion will be to prevent and reduce victimization of girls
who are vulnerable to sex and/or labor trafficking. To this end,
the Justice Center will expand the Queens HOPE program, a
mentoring-based program that uses the evidence-based My
Life My Choice group curriculum, a prevention and early
intervention model for girls and young women who are at risk
of or are victims of trafficking, and enhance efforts to identify
and provide comprehensive, trauma-informed,
developmentally appropriate, survivor-informed, survivorcentered,
and culturally responsive services to girls and young
women who are at risk of or are victims of trafficking through
trainings provided by Queens HOPE staff to court
stakeholders, schools, and community-based
organizations. Throughout the project period, a
Social Worker and Mentor will work one-on-one and in group
settings with 90 girls and young women, ages up to and
including 25 years old, with or without justice involvement.
Queens HOPE will receive referrals from the entire borough
of Queens, with particular focus on engaging girls and young
women from South Jamaica, where the Justice Center is
located. Queens HOPE staff will also provide
training/professional development and support to court
stakeholders and community partners to build their capacity to
identify and provide services to girls and young women who
are at risk of, or are victims of, sex and/or labor trafficking.
As part of Queens HOPE’s trauma-informed, culturally
competent, and safety-centered approach to
engagement, Queens HOPE will also partner with Lineage
Project as a subrecipient. Lineage Project will provide a
mindfulness and somatic practice class to enhance the selfawareness,
stress management, and decision-making
capabilities of Queens HOPE participants. Additional
subrecipients will be advisory committee members, former
participants of Queens HOPE who successfully completed the
My Life My Choice group and are no longer receiving Queens
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HOPE services. The advisory committee will work with
Queens HOPE staff to develop these trainings and provide
feedback on the Queens HOPE services.