The Life After Trauma Organization 

LATO Teen Prevention Project

The LATO Teen Prevention Project was created in 2015 to raise awareness about Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), in the Greater Philadelphia area. This prevention project has been designed for use within schools, as well as community groups and governmental agencies whose work with children might include alerting teens to the red flags associated with being lured into CSEC. LATO is committed to helping teens decrease their vulnerability.

Children 12-17 are among the most vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation and there are roughly 286,886 students between the ages of 12-17 who attend 287 middle and high schools in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The prevention presentation includes the screening of “In Our Backyard: Keeping Our Children Safe From Human Trafficking” and a discussion guided by one of our trained facilitators. A trauma based professional training will be offered to the school’s or other agency’s personnel. This training will enhance effectiveness in identifying teenage victims of human trafficking, and will address the needs of teens dealing with the traumatizing effects of sexual exploitation. It also supplements continuing education for mandatory reporting.

If you are working with middle school or high school students, are a community based organization providing after-school programs to adolescents, or are a youth-focused organization that can benefit from this presentation, please contact us. 

​

The Life After Trauma Organization presents 

In Our Backyard: Pulling Back The Curtain

On Homeless Youth Trauma

LATO Conference IV

Friday, November 2, 2018

Cost: FREE

​

Program Description

This conference will focus on increasing the public’s awareness of how homelessness among our young people makes them vulnerable to experiences that lead to trauma. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children  (CSEC) and other forms of trauma can affect the course of their lives.

Emphasis will be placed on addressing the needs of this vulnerable population to feel valued, seen, and cared for by the community and society at large.  

The conference will explore what is being done, and can be done, to support young people who have been placed in foster care, who are aging out of the foster care system, and who live in residential facilities, shelters and other temporary living situations.

​

The morning program will be devoted to an audience of teens and young people. Interactive youth activities will be used to inspire and empower the young attendees. They also will learn how they can participate in LATO’s Public Service Announcement (PSA) contest whose winners will receive cash prizes and other sought-after awards. 

The afternoon program will include presentations by a panel of experts, featuring trauma specialists, mental health practitioners, community advocates, and youth leaders who are actively addressing the impact of homelessness on young people. Professionals, college students and interested citizens will find the presentations’ content useful for when they are working with homeless youth, attempting to identify available resources to support them, and striving to understand what the helpers can do to make a difference in a young person’s journey.

​

​

Additional Information

Who will benefit from this conference?

• High School Students who are coping with an unstable living situation and who would benefit from a program that is specifically designed to support their wellbeing and inspire them.  

• School Counselors and Teachers who are aware of students experiencing homelessness or coping with an uncertain living situation and would like to learn about ways to support the student’s effort to maintain their academic performance.

• Teachers looking for ways to support and accommodate the child who is transitioning from their home to a foster care situation and whose ability to cope with routine stress at school is being affected.

• Psychology and Social Work students interested in understanding the long term impact on emotional health when homelessness is a primary factor in a young person’s history.

• High School Students interested in working with others to combat sex trafficking.

• Social Workers, Counselors, Mental Health Professionals and Graduate Students interacting with At-Risk teens and their families.

• Community Advocates pleading on behalf of children and adolescents who have been affected by trauma stemming from the circumstances of being homeless.

• Students pursuing a degree in Nursing.

• Foster Care Parents and Parents adopting children who would like to better understand how they can support the child that has experienced homelessness.  

Tre G Invites You to Join Us!