New! HT Badge Buddies
A Human Trafficking Screening Tool & Resource for Medical Professionals
The New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking (NJCAHT) is excited to share a new tool designed by and for medical practitioners to improve screening for human trafficking in patient-provider interactions. Originally created by Rebecca Mannino, RN at Jefferson Health, the NJCAHT worked with Lived Experience Experts and Forensic Nurse Examiners to enhance the Human Trafficking Badge Buddy (HT Badge Buddy) to reflect survivor experiences.
Human trafficking, like sexual and domestic violence, can happen to anyone, and our role as first responders and medical practitioners is to make the people we work with feel safe enough to ask for help.
The HT Badge Buddy is a tool designed to improve screening and identification of patients actively being trafficked, as well as survivors of trafficking, and connect them to resources across the state. In addition to information learned in NJCAHT’s “Human Trafficking 101”, which provides legal definitions of and dispels myths about trafficking, it reminds practitioners of the need to consider nonverbal and behavioral cues when interacting with patients. While the list of possible behavioral cues is not exhaustive, they are an invitation to ask more patient questions, to build rapport.
The HT Badge Buddy is a two-sided card that can be clipped to your name badge or another convenient and easily-accessible location. One side is “RED FLAGS,” and the other is a link to a list of resources across New Jersey.
Would you like to request a supply of NJCAHT’s HT Badge Buddies? Please fill out this request form: https://bit.ly/NJCHAT-HT-BadgeBuddies.
We would like to collect some basic information about you and your team, as it relates to your understanding of human trafficking, use of this tool, and comfort talking to patients about the subject. If you are interested, please fill out this brief 6-question survey.
When using the “RED FLAGS”, please remember:
Register for “HT101” for your team here, or copy and paste this link: https://bit.ly/NJCAHT-Speaker-Request.
This is not a complete list but a list of possible identifiers.
Listen to what your patient is and is not telling you.
Using this tool may identify other forms of violence, like sexual and domestic violence
Just because someone answers “yes” to a question does not mean something is happening.
Just because someone answers “no” does not mean something is not happening.
Consider that people may have negative experiences in healthcare settings, and may not feel safe in general.
Ensure you are using Language Line or a similar service when translation services are necessary, and never use family or friends to translate.
Know your organization’s policies and protocols on reporting.
Would you like to request a supply of NJCAHT’s HT Badge Buddies? Please fill out this request form: https://bit.ly/NJCHAT-HT-BadgeBuddies.
We would like to collect some basic information about you and your team, as it relates to your understanding of human trafficking, use of this tool, and comfort talking to patients about the subject. If you are interested, please fill out this brief 6-question survey.