My Life My Choice Prevention Solution Fellowship 2023-2024 Application

The My Life My Choice Prevention Solution Fellowship

Founded in 2002, My Life My Choice is a groundbreaking, nationally recognized leader in the fight to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). In congregate care, you are on the front lines of CSEC prevention, and your expertise is one of the most valuable tools in this fight. We are thrilled to offer this opportunity for congregate-care facilities to partner with My Life My Choice to support and enhance their efforts to prevent CSEC.

This fellowship will provide the knowledge and skills for congregate care organizations serving youth who are female-identified, nonbinary, or assigned female at birth (AFAB) to implement the My Life My Choice Prevention Solution Model (PSM). The PSM consists of three components focused on preventing the victimization and re-victimization of youth at risk of exploitation:

I. Shifts in behavior among those at greatest risk: Empowering youth

II. Shifts in practice and policy within each organization:

New tools and skills for service providers

III. Sustained program-wide change:

Long-term implementation and best practices

The fellowship period will be open until 6/2026. During this time, participating organizations will have access to the following multilevel trainings by expert My Life My Choice staff:

CSEC 101: Understanding and Responding to Victims of CSEC
CSEC 102: Skills and Strategies to Provide Effective, Trauma-Informed Services to Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth
My Life My Choice Exploitation Prevention Curriculum Certified Facilitator Training
The Advanced Residential Institute on Serving Trafficked and High-Risk Girls

Participants will also benefit from ongoing consultation and advising, as well as future-oriented planning, with the ultimate goal of ongoing partnership in preventing CSEC through long-term facilitation of the PSM.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please complete the preliminary application here. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Please direct any questions to Ashley Guevara, My Life My Choice Direction of Prevention, at aguevara@jri.org

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* 1. Organization information

Name of organization:

Street address:

City, State:

Office phone:

Website:

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* 2. Contact person

Name

Title:

Phone:

Work Email:

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* 3. About how many staff are employed at your organization?

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* 4. Do any of your staff identify as survivors of commercial sexual exploitation?

Yes

Unknown

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* 5. What is the residential capacity at your organization (number of beds, etc.)?

100

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 6. What is the population served? Please choose all that apply:

Female

Male

Non-binary or transgender

LGBTQ+

CSEC-specific

Other (please specify)

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* 7. How many youth who are female-identifying, nonbinary, or AFAB do you serve, on average, per year?

1000

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 8. What age youth does your program serve? Please check all that apply:

Under 10 years

11-14 years

15-17 years

18+ years

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* 9. What type(s) of services are provided? Please check all that apply:

Mental health treatment

Substance use treatment

Juvenile detention

Secure/locked facility

Temporary shelter

Short-term (6 weeks or shorter)

Long-term (longer than 6 weeks)

Other (please specify)

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* 10. Do you offer internal and/or public training in CSEC principles at your site?

If yes, please briefly describe the frequency, content, and intended audience(s):

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* 11. Are staff at your organization trained to facilitate My Life My Choice Exploitation Prevention Groups?

If so, please provide their name(s) and year(s) trained:

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* 12. Does your organization have an operational CSEC policy in place?

Yes

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* 13. If yes, please attach a copy of your CSEC policy to this application.

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* 14. Please explain why your organization would benefit from participating in this opportunity. (200-500 words)

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* 15. Please state your organization’s mission statement. Include any additional information about your mission that you think is relevant. (500 word maximum)

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* 16. In what year was your organization founded?

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* 17. What is your organization's annual operating budget?

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* 18. Please select each type of source through which your organization is funded (government, private/foundation grants, revenue, etc.):

Government

Private/foundation grants

Revenue

Individual donations

Corporate donations

Other (please specify)

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* 19. Do you partner with any survivor-led organizations? If yes, please list:

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* 20. Does your organization employ survivors of exploitation and/or collaborate with a survivor-led organization? If so, please describe these relationships and how they influence your work with youth affected by CSEC. If not, please discuss why you think survivor leadership is important and any plans you have to involve survivors of commercial sexual exploitation moving forward (200-500 words).

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* 21. Is your agency faith-based or affiliated with a religious institutions?

Yes

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* 22. The My Life My Choice Prevention Solution Model is a secular model of CSEC prevention. If your organization is faith-based or otherwise affiliated with a religious institution, please discuss how you serve youth at risk of or who have experienced CSEC, who may not share these beliefs. (200-500 words)

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* 23. Do all staff at your program receive training in CSEC principles and/or identification? If so, please describe the training process. (500 word maximum)

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* 24. Please list and briefly describe all the topics in which your program/youth-serving staff receive training. (500 word maximum)

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* 25. Please briefly describe any barriers you currently face or previously encountered to getting staff trained in CSEC principles and prevention, and/or in implementing CSEC prevention programming, and any solutions you have put in place. (200-500 words)

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* 26. Are therapeutic, activity-based, or other types of groups offered for youth at your organization? If yes, please provide a brief description of each, along with which staff roles facilitate them. (500 word maximum)

Therapeutic groups

Activity-based groups

Other group types

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* 27. As the Family First Prevention Services Act is being implemented around the country, each state is enacting its mandates individually, on its own timelines. If applicable, how will facilitating the components of the Prevention Solution Model allow you to meet your state’s Family First mandates? (200-500 words)

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* 28. After the Fellowship period has ended on June 30, 2023, what is your vision for how your organization will continue to implement the Prevention Solution Model? Please include plans and ideas regarding each of the following, based on your current knowledge of the model (200-500 words total):

a.     Ongoing staff training
b.     Survivor involvement/leadership
c. Plans for holding and evaluating My Life My Choice exploitation prevention groups
d.     Policy/advocacy work
e.     Anything else you feel is relevant and should be discussed in detail

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* 29. In order to ensure that the administration at your organization supports participation in the Prevention Solution Fellowship (PSF), please have your program director download, sign, and upload the following letter. Listed in the Support of Participation Letter are the names of the trainings that are included in this fellowship. We will speak directly with the organizational administration of those agencies during the interview process.

Click on PDF file below to download and sign the letter:
Support of Participation Letter

As the pandemic is hopefully waning and safe travel and gathering become possible again, we will be providing information about which trainings will be online and which may be in person, either in Boston or on-site at participating organizations. Please do not hesitate to reach out if your administration would like additional details.

We will notify applicants of their acceptance status on a rolling basis until June 30th, 2023 by 12pm as they are submitted and reviewed. Thank you for your interest!