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Covenant House Report on Youth and Trafficking August 19th, 2014
“Covenant House 43 10 jeh” by Jim.henderson – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication via Wikimedia Commons
Covenant House, a nonprofit charity serving homeless youth with a network of shelters across the Americas, issued a report in May 2013 on youth and trafficking. Titled “Homelessness, Survival Sex and Human trafficking: As Experienced by the Youth of Covenant House New York”, the report offered a window into often invisible problem faced by homeless youth in America. The report includes a Human Trafficking Interview and Assessment Measure, an instrument which has been shown to be highly effective in identifying trafficking victims, and which can be used by others.
The report notes in conclusion that the “HTIAM-14 has been proven to be a useful and effective tool in identifying trafficking victims that would have otherwise been overlooked. However, identification is only the first step in helping a survivor to heal and reach his or her full potential. It is important that all survivors are provided with the vast array of social services needed to rebuild traumatized lives.”
The report continues: “As agencies learn more and begin to identify larger numbers of victims, policy makers, the private sector and non-profits need to work collaboratively to ensure that there are comprehensive and holistic services, including long-term shelter, psychological and medical services, and job training for all those who need them. It is also essential that we work together to reduce the contributing factors outlined in this report to prevent the trafficking of our most vulnerable youth.”
Download a copy of the report here…
For more information on what you can do to help trafficking victims, please see our resource page on human trafficking.
Catholic Rural Life Expands Lay Leadership Training Program August 14th, 2014
After being tested and tweaked for more than three years, Catholic Rural Life’s Life in Christ is ready to expand. The Diocese of Des Moines will be the first new diocese to implement the lay leadership program. The program will now be present in three different rural dioceses in three different states. The Oblate JPIC Office is a member of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, and encourages interested Oblates to contact the coalition to learn more about the lay leadership training program.
The initiative, which has operated as a pilot program in the Dioceses of Winona and Sioux Falls since 2011, aims to equip laymen and women in rural dioceses with the knowledge and ability to lead small groups in their parishes. Life in Christ emphasizes an engagement with the entirety of the Catholic faith, including Scripture, the Catechism, and papal encyclicals, and seeks to ultimately revitalize the faith of Catholics in rural America in the spirit of the New Evangelization.
Click here to read more »
August Issue of Stop Trafficking! August 11th, 2014
Read the latest issue of Stop Trafficking!, the anti-human trafficking newsletter of a broad coalition of national and international congregations of women religious and their partners.
The August 2014 issue (Vo. 12, no. 8) highlights the plight of children in the US and those seeking asylum because of violence and sexual exploitation.
Catholic Sisters Release “Earth as our Home” Booklet August 11th, 2014
Too often when we hear the word ‘house’ we only think of a physical building and its rooms. But what if we began to think of Earth as our house – with various rooms – what would we need to do to make this ‘house’ a true ‘home?’ The Catholic Sisters for a Healthy Earth have prepared a reflection booklet on the various rooms of a house, placing each room and its activities into the broader context of our Earth-home.
Catholic Sisters for a Healthy Earth is made up of representatives from congregations of women religious from the upper Mississippi Valley in eastern Iowa and southwestern Wisconsin. The group’s coordinator, Joy Peterson, PBVM explains, “Our intention is to take a new look at how everything we do, no matter where we are, is interconnected and tied to the well-being of all living things.” The booklet includes suggestions of simple actions for families to take in order to live more sustainably and walk more gently on Earth.
You can get a free download of the booklet at the Sisters of St. Francis website.
California Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional July 20th, 2014
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind…
On July 16, a federal judge in California ruled that the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional, based on the lengthy delays involved in executions. The Judge ruled that the “arbitrariness” and “unpredictability” with which the death penalty is carried out violates the constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment.
Faith groups and Organizations supporting abolition of death penalty are now starting to assess all the implications of this ruling. The decision is not likely to lead to immediate changes regarding the death penalty in California, as there have been no executions there since 2006. If the State appeals though, the question of whether, and when, problems with a state’s death penalty system can render it unconstitutional will then be decided by a federal appeals court in San Francisco. A ruling from that court (the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals) in favor of this recent opinion would affect the death penalty in states throughout the west.
The OMI JPIC office will share with you the legal implications arising from this ruling on the death penalty in California, as well as action alerts from the California Catholic Bishops Conference.
The Bishops in California were strong supporters of Proposition 34 to end the use of the death penalty in California. Proposition 34 was defeated as a ballot initiative in 2012.
More information here: California Death Penalty Unconstitutional
