Activities & Training

The Mission of the Freedom Network Training Institute (FNTI) is to uphold and enforce the human rights principle that all human beings have the right to live free from forced labor, slavery and servitude. The FNTI holds the core belief that collaboration among the trafficked person, law enforcement, social service providers and community organizations is central to the problem of modern day slavery for both prevention and elimination.  

The FNTI is the training arm of the larger Freedom Network USA, a group of over 25 member organizations engaged in a critical and immediate struggle to free those who are held captive here in the United States and work towards long-term strategic systemic changes to better protect workers.  These organizations provide advocacy, direct social and legal services and inform policy throughout the country.

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Activities
Since 2003 the FNTI has been working to build awareness and educate communities, organizations and law enforcement about the crime of Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery.  The FNTI has trained thousands across the country.  Not only does the training utilize facilitators who are experts in the subject and work directly with survivors of the crime, but it links practical tools and information to real case examples from the field. The intensive training includes a thorough rights based, client centered approach to what modern day slavery is and what the root causes are, how to identify workers held in slavery, how to investigate a slavery operation (law enforcement), and how non-governmental organizations, law enforcement, and the survivors themselves can collaborate on bringing justice and freedom to workers’ lives.  The FNTI brings together  disparate groups that normally wouldn’t be in a room together-law enforcement, service providers, community based organizations, policymakers, and community stakeholders and educates them on: 1.) the Human Rights approach to workers rights and human trafficking, 2.) the comprehensive definitions of modern day slavery/trafficking, 3.) practical steps to follow, 4.) best practices in service delivery, 5.) the necessity for collaboration, and 6.) how this knowledge informs best practices in legislative advocacy.  

The strength of the FNTI program is that the facilitators of the trainings come from around the country, are social service and legal service providers and have worked with multi-disciplinary teams to uncover slavery operations, and provide assistance throughout the life of a case.  This first hand experience coupled with a firm grasp of the issues of immigration, migration, labor, trauma and the law results in a dynamic, informative and useful one or two day program that meets the needs of all first responders and the community at large.  

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Our Approach
FNTI works steadily to ensure trafficked and enslaved persons can pursue legal and social justice through the collaboration among the trafficked person, law enforcement, and social service providers. Many people who have escaped slavery want to see justice done and help other workers still held captive by participating in the criminal prosecutions of abusive employers.  The only institution with a mandate to do criminal prosecutions is the government.  Accordingly, not only community and grassroots organizations need FNTI training, but also police officers, government prosecutors, FBI and Immigration agents must understand the importance of using a human-rights based approach in their treatment of survivors.  Training law enforcement is so critical that the FNTI developed a specialized program. “Human Trafficking and Slavery: Law Enforcement Tools for an Effective Response” is used to train law enforcement to treat enslaved and trafficked persons as victims of a crime, not as criminals.  The core FNTI curriculum, “Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery: Practical Tools For An Effective Response” can be used for multi-disciplinary participants as it contains the four basic modules of Dimensions of Human Trafficking, Identifying Trafficked Persons, Social Services and the Legal Framework.  The Social Service and Legal Framework Modules also have expanded versions for those particular participant groups desiring more detail.

Following a training by the FNTI, an organization/s may request ongoing technical assistance from us.  This can include help with capacity building, step by step progression through a new case, links to necessary partners, additional training opportunities, sharing of materials, and general guidance.  The FNTI has provided this all important on-going technical assistance to many organizations and various law enforcement entities.  It is not unusual for a Federal agency to reach out to the FNTI and ask for our assistance in the many trainings conducted for Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents, Department of Justice investigators and prosecutors, the Office for Victims of Crime and Department of Health and Human Services social and legal service providers.  We are able through these trainings to promote our comprehensive approach to trafficking and our human rights framework.  

For more information please email [ Florrie Burke ], FNTI Coordinator