January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time to educate and take action to protect vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children and youth, from exploitation. Addressing labor exploitation and human trafficking is critical to ensuring their safety and well-being. In recent years, news investigations and articles have uncovered a number of cases of immigrant children being exploited in their workplaces and working in dangerous conditions. Some have died or been severely harmed in accidents.
Businesses play a key role in preventing these abuses by upholding ethical labor practices, treating all workers fairly, and providing employees—especially young immigrants and unaccompanied children—with information about their rights and how to report violations. Early education on workplace rights is essential to protecting these vulnerable youth from exploitation.
To address these challenges, KIND launched the Labor Exploitation Prevention Programs (LEPP) in 2024. This initiative is dedicated to preventing and mitigating labor exploitation and human trafficking among unaccompanied children and youth, equipping them with the knowledge and tools they need to be safe.
LEPP’s Approach
LEPP collaborates with corporate and community partners, social and legal service providers, and law enforcement to strengthen public policy, establish accountability mechanisms, and create pathways to safer working conditions and career development for unaccompanied youth.
A core pillar of LEPP is the development of Know Your Rights materials tailored for unaccompanied children, their caregivers, and service providers. These resources include:
- Know Your Rights videos (English & Spanish):
- “Want to Work? You Have Rights!” – Aimed at youth.
- “Protect Youth from Labor Exploitation: Obligations of Sponsors and Caregivers.”
- “Want to Work? You Have Rights!” flyer: Translated into 16 languages and available as an audio file in five languages.
- CARE (Connect, Access, Respond, Educate) Intervention Toolkit: Designed for professionals working with unaccompanied children facing labor exploitation.
- Resource guide: A directory of support services, job training programs, and legal resources in English and Spanish.
LEPP has developed a professional training curriculum to educate professionals, including teachers and social workers and other community stakeholders on identifying and preventing child labor exploitation. LEPP is developing a curriculum specifically for law enforcement and child welfare professionals.
A Year of Progress
Reflecting on the first year of the program, KIND’s Senior Director of Labor Exploitation Prevention Programs, Suzanne Tomatore, shared:
“I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made with the Labor Exploitation Prevention Programs (LEPP) over the past year. It has been an honor to collaborate with the amazing team at KIND to develop impactful resources that inform vulnerable youth of their workplace rights. We are continuing to expand our library of Know Your Rights materials, including new videos launching this spring.”
As the fight against labor exploitation continues, KIND remains committed to protecting unaccompanied and other vulnerable children, ensuring they have the knowledge and resources to work safely and with dignity.