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From Trafficking Prevention to Housing Justice: Connecting the Dots 🔗

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On September 16-17, 2025, at the 2025 Conference of the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force, I kept thinking about something: we're having all these separate conversations about problems that are fundamentally connected.


Our "Are the Girls Well?" data argues a clear connection: 111,591 Black girls went missing in Chicago between 2000-2021. During that same period, 13% of CPS students experienced homelessness - 53% of them girls. When I see those numbers together, I don't see coincidence. I see a system creating vulnerability.


Dr. Kisha Roberts-Tabb and I spoke on a panel discussing "How are we coordinating with housing, education, and healthcare systems to address conditions BEFORE girls go missing?" Because when 40% of older girls are contributing to household expenses while their families face housing instability, we're looking at targeted exploitation of economic desperation.


That's exactly why I will be at Families at the Center: Building a Chicago without Homelessness By The University of Chicago Crown Family School conference next! keynote conversation with Marcia Fudge, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 🏠


The conversation is the same whether we’re talking about trafficking prevention or homelessness prevention: How do we address the social determinants - housing instability, economic pressure, educational disconnection - that create vulnerability for all girls citywide?


CUG Call to Action: Quality of Life Plan for girls approach shows that prevention works best when we understand the connections. Housing justice is trafficking prevention. Educational equity is safety work. Economic opportunity is community protection - for urban girls, Black and Latina girls, and ALL girls across Chicago.


Time to stop treating symptoms in isolation and start building citywide solutions that address root causes. 💪


 
 
 

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