How Covenant House New Jersey’s CHART research is helping identify youth at risk earlier
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month — a time to shine a light on the realities young people face and, just as importantly, the solutions that can protect them before harm occurs. While much of our work centers on helping youth facing homelessness here in NJ, we are also moving the dial in helping victims of human trafficking of all ages across North America, including using data to prevent trafficking.
As Meghan Leigh, Senior Director Covenant House Action Research Tank, notes in this video, at CHNJ, we also have found that prevention of trafficking is possible and the path to prevention starts with data.
Through our Covenant House Action Research Tank (CHART), we learned that there were associated risk factors in the lived experiences of the young people we serve so we can intervene earlier, smarter, and more effectively. This isn’t research for research’s sake. It’s action research — designed to directly improve outcomes for youth.
Last year, our team asked an important question:
Are there warning signs that appear before a young person experiences human trafficking?
What Five Years of Data Revealed
Using five years of program data from youth in our care, CHART analyzed two key factors:
- experiences of human trafficking
- interactions with law enforcement
What we found was striking.
In many cases, a young person’s contact with law enforcement happened either at the same time as — or even before — their trafficking experience.
That means those moments of interaction may represent critical windows of opportunity.
Opportunities to:
- recognize risk factors
- ask the right questions
- screen for trafficking indicators
- connect youth to services immediately
In other words, a chance to intervene before exploitation occurs.
Moving Upstream: Prevention, not Just Recovery
Too often, services for trafficking survivors begin after the trauma has already happened. But what if we could step in earlier?
If first responders and community partners are equipped to identify warning signs — housing instability, survival behaviors, coercion, unsafe relationships — they can connect youth to support systems like Covenant House before exploitation takes hold.
And most importantly, it can help a young person avoid trafficking altogether.
Research that leads to action
This is exactly what CHART is built to do. By analyzing the robust data we collect while serving youth every day, we:
- identify trends
- test prevention strategies
- strengthen partnerships
- and improve how systems respond to vulnerable young people
Because the goal isn’t just to understand the problem.
It’s to stop it.
Why this matters during Human Trafficking Awareness Month
Human trafficking doesn’t happen in isolation. It intersects with homelessness, poverty, family conflict, and systems involvement — challenges that many young people face before they ever come through our doors.
At CHNJ, we see those risks early. And with research, training, and community collaboration, we’re working to make sure those risks don’t become outcomes.
This January, we reaffirm our commitment to:
- prevention
- early intervention
- data-informed solutions
- and ensuring every young person has safety, stability, and choice
Because no young person should have to experience trafficking to receive help.
And with the right information at the right moment, they won’t have to.
