1. Survivor-Informed Services:
Frameworks, Principles, and Practical Guides
Kristy Cho, MSW, Visiting Fellow: Human Trafficking Survivor-Informed Services (OVC)
Erin Albright, JD, Visiting Fellow: Human Trafficking Task Forces (OVC)
This presentation was supported by grant 2016-VF-GX-K015 awarded to Kristy H. Cho, MSW, by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed are those of the grantee and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice.

2. A Few Objectives
Understand the framework for survivor-informed services
Discuss three principles of survivor engagement
Strategize on practical ways your organization can move forward on a survivor-informed project

3. Pilot Project: Modeling Survivor-Informed Services
Defining Survivor-Informed Services1:
A program, policy, intervention, or product that is designed, implemented, or evaluated with intentional partnership, collaboration, and input from survivors to ensure that the program or product accurately represents the needs, interests, and perceptions of the target victim population.
1. Adapted from OVC Model Standards

4. Pilot Project: Modeling Survivor-Informed Services
The pilot project:
Work closely with OVC Fellow to enhance services through assessing how service delivery and programming can be more survivor-informed. Practical tools and hands-on, strategic coaching will be used to help guide this process.
Pilot grantees will think critically about survivor-informed services and obtain tangible strategies, programs, policies or interventions that fit their unique mission, vision and values. Examples of survivor-informed services include robust practices for hiring survivors as staff, a plan for creating a survivor advisory board, or enhanced programming around survivor leadership.

5. Takeaways Hands-on Coaching: Time/space “Head space”
Take both to step away from M-F 9-to-5 work duties.
Deconstruct every aspect of the survivor-informed project/idea.
“Head space”
Getting the grantee to the point where both of you are in the same head space - that’s when the best and most natural ideas flowed.
Outcome orientation vs. recruiting survivors
Collective knowledge
“Is anyone else doing/struggling with this?”
Highlighting what’s unique about your organization

6. Framework: Survivor-Informed Services

7. Framework Framework : Survivor-Informed Services
This visual shows the relationship between service providers and survivors. The bulk of the work that service providers can work on, can control, lies just there, before you reach out to engage survivors. This approach grounds things you need for a partnership to work - professionalism, actual partnership, and scope.

8. Lived Experience Program Knowledge
A series of experiences stemming from, or related to, being trafficking for labor and/or sex.
It encompasses precursors leading to and the subsequent journey of recovery from trafficking.
This includes any and all experiences with the crime victim services field.
Highly specific and contextual information about how a program operates and why specific models, theories and approaches are used
Includes mission statements, core values and programmatic strategy
Lived Experience
A series of experiences stemming from, or related to, being trafficked for labor and/or sex. Lived
experience also encompass precursors leading to and the subsequent journey of recovery from
trafficking. This includes any and all experiences with the crime victim services field. Often attributed as
what survivors “bring to the table,” it’s important to note that survivors engage in anti-trafficking work
through a multitude of ways, only one of which is through sharing lived experience. This framework
views survivors as partners who have specific combinations of skills, knowledge and abilities that, when
combined with lived experience, can provide unique insight into the anti-trafficking field. Intentionality
in partnerships with survivors comes from knowing how to discern what combination – of skills,
knowledge, abilities and lived experience – is the best fit for that partnership.
Program Knowledge
Highly specific and contextual information about how a program operates and why specific
models, theories and approaches are used. Mission statements, core values and strategy play into why
and how a program works the way it does. Improving or enhancing core aspects of a program requires
deep understanding of its various components, purpose, process and outcomes. Creating intentionality
in partnerships includes sharing carefully thought out information around desired outcomes, context
and parameters for the project.

9. Organizational perspective: What do I control?

10. Principles of Survivor Engagement

11. Principles of Survivor Engagement
“As service providers, we believe that survivors are individuals with lived experience who bring valuable perspectives to the anti-trafficking field. As such, we encourage the field to engage survivors within service provision, considering every aspect of provision, from program design, implementation and evaluation.”

12. Principles of Survivor Engagement
Survivors are more than their lived experience.
Engaging survivors as partners requires intentionality
Supporting partnerships with survivors requires commitment and investment of resources

13. Principles of Survivor Engagement
Survivors are more than their lived experience.
Recognize the capacity of survivors to be engaged in a multitude of roles
Be strategic in engaging survivors – know what qualifications would best suit the roles needed.
Engaging survivors as partners requires intentionality
Supporting partnerships with survivors requires commitment and investment of resources

14. Principles of Survivor Engagement
Survivors are more than their lived experience.
Engaging survivors as partners requires intentionality.
Engage survivors beyond stories of trauma and recovery.
Additionally, respect survivors’ lived experience and approach partnerships with survivors with authenticity - take the time to learn about what your partners bring to the table and be prepared to do the same.
Supporting partnerships with survivors requires commitment and investment of resources

15. Principles of Survivor Engagement
Survivors are more than their lived experience.
Engaging survivors as partners requires intentionality
Supporting partnerships with survivors requires commitment and investment of resources
If there are gaps within the collective skills, knowledge and abilities of the partnership, be willing to explore community-based resources.
Consider expanding current in-house resources to acknowledge the inevitability of having staff with trauma in their background.

16. A Practical Guide: Survivor-Informed Services

17. Remember these takeaways?
Hands-on Coaching:
Time/space
Take both to step away from M-F 9-to-5 work duties.
Deconstruct every aspect of the survivor-informed project/idea.
“Head space”
Getting the grantee to the point where both of you are in the same head space - that’s when the best and most natural ideas flowed.
Outcome orientation vs. recruiting survivors
Collective knowledge
“Is anyone else doing/struggling with this?”
Highlighting what’s unique about your organization

18. Practical Guide Why is it important to be survivor-informed?
What are your desired outcomes?
What are the key components you need?
What are the roles?
Appendix: Resources for your organization

19. Questions? Kristy Cho, MSW: kristycho@gmail.com; Erin Albright, JD: