Harvest House Executive Director Marilyn Bean | facebook.com/harvesthousebmt/
Harvest House Executive Director Marilyn Bean | facebook.com/harvesthousebmt/
Two Beaumont-area human trafficking victims' advocacy groups are listed among Texas' "community collaborations" working with the Office of State Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a report released by his office last spring.
Beaumont's Southeast Texas Alliance Against Trafficking (STAAT) is one of 23 human trafficking victims' advocacy groups identified in the strategic plan issued by the AG's Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council.
Harvest House, a member of STAAT, is cited in the report as one of 21 groups in Texas noted for commercially sexually exploited youth advocacy and case management programs.
Texas AG Ken Paxton
| File Photo
"Texas already has a multitude of community collaborations across the state addressing human trafficking, some formal, some informal, but all doing important work," the plan says. "These multidisciplinary collaborations capture the entire human trafficking spectrum from prevention, to investigation, to prosecution, and to the support services necessary to provide a comprehensive perspective."
STAAT and the other 22 human trafficking victims' advocacy groups represent "the usefulness of partnerships" which participate routinely with prosecutors and law enforcement, the plan says.
STAAT was formed early last year, as described by a January 2019 12 News report.
Harvest House is listed in the AG report as one of several exploited youth advocacy and case management program groups active in East Texas. Other groups include BCFS Common Thread in Harris and contiguous counties; Refugee Services of Texas and The Landing in Harris County; Unbound Houston in Brazoria and Galveston counties; and YMCA International in Harris and contiguous counties.
In 2016, Attorney General Paxton announced the formation of a new unit with a particular focus on combating human trafficking.
"While trafficking is often associated with people from other countries, the victims of trafficking can and do come from anywhere, including right here in Texas," Paxton said during a press conference at the time. "Fortunately, through this new unit and through recent changes to the law, Texas is in a great position to make headway in the fight against trafficking, and we will take the fight to the doorstep of traffickers at every opportunity."
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