PathWays PA Policy Blog

Many students are starting back to school this week. While some are anticipating meeting their new teachers and reconnecting with their friends to share stories of their summer, there are thousands of homeless teen girls wondering where they where they are going to sleep tonight, and whether they will be able to attend school at all. PathWays PA's Basic Center Program provides emergency shelter services to help runaway and homeless teen girls between the ages of 13 and 17 years old with assistance stabilizing their lives, remaining engaged in school, and successfully returning home (when safe to do so) or transitioning to safe, permanent independent housing. For more information about the Basic Center Program please contact LaSheena at 215-397-4287. Interested in PathWays PA posts on similar topics? 8/25/15 - FAMILY Act 8/26/15 - Many Faces of Hunger 6/26/15 - New and Improved?: House Bill 222 Remains Cruel

House Bill 222 , which previously would have imposed a lifetime ban for all people convicted of drug felonies from receiving SNAP/food stamp benefits and other forms of public assistance, has been amended in response to public outcry. Unfortunately, the redrafted bill remains flawed at heart. The bottom line is, access to such basic subsistence such as food should not be banned once someone has completed their prison sentence. While HB 222 now exempts domestic violence survivors  with a documented "judicial adjudication" of abuse , this still leaves out the majority of survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking. Amendments have also decreased the lifetime ban to 20 years, an empty promise for those wanting to rebuild their lives upon release from prison or completion of a drug treatment program. Because there will be a vote this week or early next, prompt action must be taken to stop this flawed bill from becoming law. You can make sure your voice...

Pennsylvania's House of Representatives may consider a bill that would amend the Public Welfare Code and reinstate a lifetime ban against accessing public assistance for most people with felony drug convictions. This legislation casts too wide of a net and has unintended consequences. While House Bill 222 is intended to target large-scale drug traffickers, survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking who have been convicted of drug charges as a result of their abuser's control over them, or those charged with possession with intent to deliver small amounts of drugs, would also be affected. The benefits that these survivors (and their children) would need in order to break free from the control of their abusers would be denied - including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and food stamps. People currently experiencing domestic abuse most often cite financial instability as the reason for their decision to stay with or return to their abuser. Therefore, ...

On October 18, 2014, the Sisters of Saint Francis Advocacy Group will be presenting a symposium on Human Trafficking at Our Lady of Angels Convent in Aston, PA . To register for the symposium call 610-558-5309 or send an email to  osfadvoacypj19014@yahoo.com on or before October 4, 2014. You can find more information about the human trafficking symposium and the threat posed by human trafficking in the group's updated brochure, which is available for free download at http://bit.ly/ZigW8M . Trafficking can happen anywhere, including right here in Pennsylvania. PathWays PA provides a residential facility in West Philadelphia for teen girls (age 13-17) who have run away or are homeless (or are at risk of becoming so). This program helps girls escape trafficking or situations that can put them in danger. An after-school drop-in program for residents and non-residents is now available from 4-7 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. To learn more about this program, please contact the Basic Cent...

Right now in the United States , homeless youth are at high risk of being victimized, exploited, or coerced into human trafficking. Many also find themselves involved in the juvenile justice and/or child welfare system. To stem the tide of abuse and victimization, The Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act would help create appropriate, accessible trauma-informed services that can provide health, healing, and a safe haven for homeless children and teens. Here in the Philadelphia region, runaway and homeless girls can get help right now through a number of organizations, including PathWays PA. Our Basic Center program provides residential facilities for five runaway/homeless girls between ages 13-17 and an after-school drop-in program for residents and non-residents. To learn more about the Basic Center Program, please contact the Basic Center at 215-397-4287. From our friends at the National Network for Youth: S. 2646, the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Traf...

From our friends at the Bucks County Women's Advocacy Coalition Senate Bill 75, an important piece of anti-human trafficking legislation introduced by Senators Greenleaf and Dinniman passed out of the House Judiciary Committee this past Tuesday, June 10th.  Despite some changes that the committee made to the bill, members of the anti-trafficking community are happy with the bill's progress and look forward to its consideration by the full House.  The bill will next need to be reviewed by the House Appropriations Committee to be assigned a new fiscal note and will then go before the full House for a vote. Please contact your State Representative and urge him/her to support Senate Bill 75 when it comes to the full House for a vote.  Click here for access to a sample letter for anyone who would like to email their request.

Community members throughout Pennsylvania will be joining together on Tuesday, April 1st to call on State Representatives to pass Senate Bill 75 (SB 75) - critical anti-human trafficking legislation that will help Pennsylvania better protect victims, prosecute offenders, and prevent human trafficking from happening in the first place. The Philadelphia Anti-Trafficking Coalition and the Pennsylvania Anti-Human Trafficking Advocacy Work Group will take care of all of the details - scheduling meetings with elected officials, identifying group leaders to guide conversations with Representatives, provide you with talking points, and more.  Register to attend or as a "pledge to call" participant . You'll receive information on SB 75, talking points, a sample script, and step-by-step instructions to help you make the call.

For those who are unable to attend the Anti-Trafficking Advocacy Day, please call your legislator and voice your support for SB75 to strengthen PA law to better prosecute traffickers and protect victims. Pennsylvania currently lacks the laws necessary to efficiently prosecute human traffickers. SB75 is vital to beginning the process in Pennsylvania of protecting victims and successfully going after traffickers. You can use this script when calling and find your legislator by inputting your zip code.

Use your buying power to stop human trafficking! Join the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia on Saturday, October 12th from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Angels Convent (609 S. Convent Road, Aston 19014) for "Consumerism and the Many Faces of Human Trafficking" symposium. This annual symposium will probe the reality of human trafficking not only in the sex industry, but behind the goods and services we purchase each day. We will look at our buying power and how our choices may put the most vulnerable at risk. Keynote speaker Rev. David Couturier, OFM, Cap., will examine corporate human trafficking and explore consumer power and the supply chains of human trafficking. For more information, contact: Sr. Marla Orlandini Sr. Ann Forrest or at 484-885-6912

Jay Atlas (son of PathWays PA employee Rosemarie Whiteley) and childhood friend Shannon Sprowal are partway through their journey on a walking route from Atlantic City to Los Angeles to bring attention to the horrors of human trafficking . The pair left Atlantic City on July 15 with just $21 in their pocket and 50 lbs. of gear on each of their backs. The brothers, as they call themselves, are carrying perishable food, a tent, a red sharpie and an "End Human Trafficking" sign. They travel about 30 miles per day and plan to reach Los Angeles by the end of October.  You can stay up-to-date on their journey through their Facebook page, Long Road to Freedom and Twitter @KeepsJayWalking . PathWays PA is a proud partner of the Philadelphia Anti Trafficking Coalition that works to bring awareness to the Greater Philadelphia area about human trafficking and works with legislators and law enforcement to stop those involved in the human trafficking world.

The Bernardine Center , and organization that helps low-income residents in Chester, will hold an anti-human trafficking presentation on Wednesday, August 28, from 9:00AM- 1:00PM at the J. Lewis Crozer Library in Chester located on: 620 Engle St. The presentation will focus on a victim's story entitled " Kids for Sale " . Please RSVP to Sister Sandra Lyons at: (610) 497-3225 or director@bernardinecenter.org . Light lunch and refreshments will be served.

Two Norristown brothers, Jay Atlas and Shannon Sprowal, are walking across the country to raise awareness about sex trafficking and child laborers. Their walk began in Atlantic City last week and is continuing through Chicago and onto Los Angeles. According to the End It Movement , there are 27 million men, women and children who are victims of human trafficking, working in brothels, factories and quarries in 161 countries, including the U.S., but most Americans don't know about what's going on in the shadows. Atlas will be filming his interactions with the people he talks to along the way for a documentary he's planning to make. You can follow their progress on Twitter @ KeepsJaywalking and on Facebook at LongRoadtoFreedom .

Members of our state government are working to introduce new legislation that will help our state protect victims of trafficking, prosecute offenders, and prevent human trafficking from happening in the first place, but they need your help! Advocates will join together on Tuesday, May 7th in Harrisburg to meet with State Senators before attending a press conference on anti-trafficking legislation in the afternoon. If you can't attend, pledge to call your State Senator and urge him/her to support anti-trafficking legislation. Register using this link for the event and call information.

The International Labor Organization, a U.N. organization, estimates there are 1.5 million victims in developed economies worldwide, many of them children. In the United States, many of the crackdown efforts have focused on young girls forced into prostitution. Lawmakers are making a renewed effort to strengthen human trafficking laws. As The National Conference of State Legislatures gathers in D.C, the selection of human trafficking as a topic for one of the two meetings legislators will have at the White House shows how crucial the once-ignored issue has become to state lawmakers, who have  " seen a surprisingly sparse number of prosecutions "  under existing laws. See  Polaris Project's State Rating Map   on Combating Human Trafficking

Available to answer calls from anywhere in the country,  24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. Members of the Penn State DuBois Diversity Committee, in conjunction with the Student Life Office, organized programs in "The Stackpole Hall Diversity Series" this week to help inform the campus community of the global crisis surrounding human trafficking. According to the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking, an estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labor, including sexual exploitation, at any given time as a result of human trafficking. Pennsylvania is one of few states in the country with no specific laws regulating human sex trafficking, which is also an issue of overwhelming proportions around the country. Read the Full Story

PathWays PA Newsletter   JOIN OUR MAILING LIST JOIN OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY IN THIS NEWSLETTER Release of the 2012-2013 Standard LIHEAP Application Online Human Trafficking Bill Sent to Governor Shared-Work Program comes to PA FREE Business Workshop Lost GA-PA Cares for ALL SURVEY SIGN-UP Human Trafficking Webinar LITERACY COALITION EVENT JOIN PATHWAYS PA TO CELEBRATE OUR 34TH ANNIVERSARY!. ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES IN THE NEWS October 11, 2012 - PathWaysPA releases 2012-2012 Self-Sufficiency Report "Overlooked and Undercounted"   October 17, 2012 Study: 1 in 4 Pennsylvania households struggle to make ends meet  Read More    October 18, 2012 25 percent of Pa. households below poverty standard Read More   PURCHASE ITEMS FROM THE PATHWAYS PA ART SHOW These items and more are available for sale, with all proceeds benefiting PathWays PA! For more information and to make your purchase, visit...