Evaluation of the Enhanced Collaborative Model to Combat Human Trafficking, United States, 2015-2020 (ICPSR 37988)

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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of federally funded ECM task forces on addressing human trafficking, including sex and labor trafficking. Research questions that were addressed using the quantitative data included in this ICPSR release are:

1. Which characteristics of human trafficking cases or the specific offense predict case outcomes (such as prosecution)? In addition, how do certain elements of ECM human trafficking task forces contribute to case outcomes?
2. Which types of ECM human trafficking task forces perform well and why? Which task force elements (such as task force organization, size, scope, leadership structure, specialized units, and organizational location) are associated with effective task forces?

Additional research questions answered using the qualitative data described in the ICPSR README file include:

1. How are ECM human trafficking task forces providing comprehensive victim services?
2. What approaches and techniques are ECM human trafficking task forces relying on to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking?
3. What is the impact of ECM human trafficking task forces on addressing human trafficking (in terms of sex and labor trafficking survivors identified and assisted, and cases investigated and prosecuted)?
4. What challenges and barriers are ECM human trafficking task forces facing, and what strategies are being used to overcome challenges?

Study Design View help for Study Design

The Urban Institute selected 10 ECM task forces to include in this study based on variation in geography, funding cycle, ECM grant purpose area, lead law enforcement organization, and organizational or coverage area. The project drew from these ECMs to conduct two forms of data collection:

1. In-person and phone interviews with task force stakeholders. Researchers conducted interviews with 143 task force stakeholders, including 60 law enforcement officials, 23 prosecutors, 55 victim service providers, and 5 other relevant task force stakeholders (i.e., county government, communications staff) across the 10 ECM task forces in this study. The qualitative data resulting from these interviews were not included in this ICPSR release but may be released at a future date. These data are described in an ICPSR README file included as study documentation.
2. Closed case files of law enforcement investigations into human trafficking. Researchers reviewed and coded 226 closed case files of investigations identified as human trafficking by law enforcement, collected from 8 of the 10 participating ECM task forces. Case files were pulled from a random sample of 20 to 40 cases per task force that spanned the period since the task force began receiving ECM funding. The resulting quantitative data were compiled into the three datasets included in this release, and were organized for analysis by case, victim(s), and suspect(s).

Sample View help for Sample

Quantitative data collection involved a review of closed case files of human trafficking investigations from participating task force sites. The research team collected and coded data from 226 closed cases of human trafficking investigations (involving 257 suspects and 208 survivors) conducted by law enforcement across eight ECM evaluation task force sites that agreed to provide these data. Researchers requested access to the full investigative files for each case included in the random sample investigations for each task force. Two of the eight task forces provided electronic case file information to the Urban Institute, while the remaining six task forces provided access to hard-copy paper records that the research team was permitted to review and code in-person during a site visit.

Researchers requested a random sample of 30-40 cases that spanned the period since the task force began receiving ECM funding. For five of the task forces, the research team randomly selected cases to review in-person from a list of cases provided by the task force. For the other three task forces, a law enforcement point person on the task force performed the random selection of cases and provided the associated case files for the research team to review. Case files typically included police incident reports, interview notes, records of evidence, arrest records, and criminal complaint documents. The research team developed a data collection form that was used to record key information for each case in a standardized manner across sites. For each case file reviewed, the research team collected relevant case information, demographic information about suspects and survivors, and case disposition and outcome information.

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Universe View help for Universe

Suspects and victims of human trafficking in the United States; Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) task forces.

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Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

Each of the quantitative datasets contain three ID variables along with a variable describing the type of human trafficking being investigated. Both the Cases Data (DS1) and Suspects Data (DS3) contain variables describing each case, including what types of evidence were present in a case file, the outcome of the investigation, the presence of an actual victim, the location of an incident, the agencies involved in the investigation, several variables describing the ECM task force involved in the case, details about the legal process, and date variables for when the incident occurred and when the case was opened.

The Victims Data (DS2) includes 19 variables reporting a victim's demographic information (race, ethnicity, age, etc.) and other relevant victim background information such as criminal record, involvement in foster care system, and whether they were interviewed during the case.

The Suspects Data (DS3) includes similar demographic information (race, ethnicity, age, etc.) and background information about the suspects involved in selected cases, with the addition of details about the legal outcomes of the case such as the offence type, arrest charge level, and sentence. DS3 also includes several date variables reporting the date of up to five different offences and the date of the suspect's arrest, indictment, disposition, and sentencing.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2025-09-10

Version History View help for Version History