Introduction
The 2016—2021 evaluation of the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) was conducted by RTI International through a contract from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with ACF’s Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP).
This brief provides a high-level executive summary, as well as a synthesis of lessons learned, and considerations for future practice described across the briefs and reports published as part of the evaluation of the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH).
Purpose & Research Questions
The overall purpose of this project was to develop and execute an evaluation of the NHTH, with the following specific objectives of the evaluation:
- Describe the activities, procedures, and organization of the NHTH, including staff training, staff capacity, and service delivery.
- Describe the customer service of the NHTH.
- Describe the immediate outcomes of the NHTH, specifically regarding experiences of contactors.
Key Findings and Highlights
The NHTH is a toll-free hotline that can be accessed by phone, email, online report, text, or webchat from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in more than 200 languages. The NHTH processes contacts from individuals with diverse identities, including individuals of all genders, language preferences, locations, and proximity to trafficking (e.g., potential victims of trafficking, community members, law enforcements).
The NHTH seeks to be responsive to the needs of contactors by hiring high quality staff, continually assessing their performance, and documenting information perceived to be critical for referral and reporting purposes. Evaluation findings revealed that contactors were generally satisfied with their experiences with the NHTH. Law enforcement and service providers underscored that the NHTH often does an excellent job at providing timely, detailed tips, and appreciated that the hotline provides one number contactors can access for valuable support and links to services, regardless of their location.
In addition to documenting high quality services provided by the NHTH, this evaluation identified some opportunities for continued improvement or growth. These include:
- Increasing public awareness of hotline services and scope including broadening reach and utilization, reducing the impact of out-of-scope contactors, and setting and communicating consistent expectations;
- Increasing efficiency of workflows and connections including routing contactors by need, streamlining and reducing data collection, continuously updating and maintaining the referral directory, and cultivating strong partnerships with local law enforcement; and
- Support for Hotline Advocates and other staff including providing ongoing and additional training and supporting self-care.
The NHTH seeks to consistently evolve and update its practices to improve its quality of service and as such, some results may not accurately represent current hotline practices. All evaluation data were collected by or in collaboration with the NHTH from 2016 through 2021. Thus, this evaluation reflects a snapshot of the NHTH during that time.
Methods
All evaluation data were collected by or in collaboration with the NHTH from 2016 through 2021. Eight data collection methods were used to inform the findings of the evaluation. Data collection methods, presented in the order in which they were collected, include:
- Review of NHTH database records
- Interviews with NHTH staff
- Interviews and focus groups with key NHTH partners
- Observational listening of NHTH contacts
- Case study interviews with law enforcement agencies receiving tips from the NHTH
- Assessment of the NHTH’s referral directory
- Case study of other similar national hotlines
- Follow-up survey with individuals contacting the NHTH
Citation
Feeney, Hannah, Charm, Samantha, and Jennifer Hardison-Walters (2024). Evaluation of the National Human Trafficking Hotline: Evaluation Findings and Considerations for Future Practice. OPRE Brief # 2024-106. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- NHTH:
- National Human Trafficking Hotline
- Individuals who have experienced trafficking/survivor:
- These phrases will be used interchangeably to refer to individuals who are experiencing or have experienced human trafficking. At the time of data collection, the NHTH used the term “potential victim of trafficking” and thus, this phrasing may be present throughout the reports and briefs.
- Contactors:
- Individuals who have accessed the NHTH via phone, text, webchat, or email. Contactors may or may not be survivors of human trafficking. At times, when specifying contactors who connected with the NHTH via phone, the word “callers” may be used. The NHTH refers to contactors as signalers but endorsed the use of contactors for the purposes of this brief for increased clarity.
- Contacts:
- Contacts are the individual level calls, texts, webchats, or emails received by the NHTH.
- Cases:
- Contacts are stored at the case level, whereby a case represents all calls, texts, webchats, and emails received regarding a particular circumstance of sex or labor trafficking. For example, if two independent community members contact the NHTH with two separate tips regarding the same potential victim, both contacts will be placed in the same case.