Upcomming Trainings

02/27/2009

Human Trafficking (Modern Day Slavery) What adult Education Practitioners Need to Know

9:00AM-3:00PM

at the English Center

3501S.w.28th Street, Room E-1, Miami, Fl. 33133

Past Trainings

Training for Region 5 – Palm Beach County ESOL Teachers (December 2008)

Training for Region 5 – Miami-Dade County ESOL Teachers (February 2009)

Call: +850-644-4550

                                                                    Home >>Rights and Remedies>>Benefits

 Benefits

 What benefits are available? There are three main categories of relief for trafficked  persons under law.

  1. Services - Under the Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and later amendments, victims of trafficking are eligible for benefits and services to the same extent as refugees in Florida. This includes:Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
    • Shelter
    • Legal Assistance
    • Medicaid
    • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
    • Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) and Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA)
    • Refugee Social Services (e.g., job preparation and placement, ESOL classes, GED preparation, citizenship classes, and case management)
    • Match Grant (an early employment program that is an alternative to cash assistance)
    • Health Screening (done by county health departments)
    • Food Stamps
    • Social Services (e.g., counseling, housing assistance)

  2. Immigration relief-Only federal law can provide immigration relief to trafficked persons and their families. If eligible, victims can:
    • Remain legally in the United States and receive employment authorization while a law enforcement investigation goes forward;
    • Receive a "T" Visa for 3 years, allowing them to live and work in the US and then apply for permanent residence;
    • Bring family members to the US; or iv. Be eligible for other immigration relief.

    IMPORTANT TIP
    This is a very complicated area of law and it is important that victims talk to an attorney who understands both human trafficking and immigration law.


  3. Civil rights and remedies - Under a wide range of civil laws, victims can be compensated for:
    • Back wages (Labor laws can help victims obtain back wages and civil actions can result in fines and punitive damages paid to the victim, where the trafficker is forced to pay the victim money because of the harm s/he caused.)
    • Physical, emotional and other harms (There are many federal and state "causes of action" or lawsuits that a victim can file in order to compensate a victim for the wrongs done to them. E.g., federal anti-trafficking laws include a private right for trafficked persons to sue the trafficker. It includes attorney's fees.)

 

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