Support, Advocacy, Freedom and Empowerment (SAFE) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors
Mission: To provide a combination of direct services, research, advocacy, and training that combats human trafficking and empowers survivors to heal and rebuild their lives.
The SAFE Center is the first systematic, university-based program to serve victims of human trafficking with comprehensive legal, social, economic empowerment, mental health, and medical services. Since its founding in 2016, it has served several hundred survivors of human trafficking and their families. The center receives substantial funding from federal, state, and local government grants, as well as from private sources. In 2022, the center instituted programs and curriculum, conduct outreach, and provide research. Ten UMB and UMCP schools and colleges are engaged, and over 100 students have served internships at the center, helping to provide client services, develop programs and curriculum, conduct outreach, and provide research. The SAFE Center has leadership roles on state and county human trafficking task forces, and is an essential partner to Maryland government agencies, law enforcement, private industry, and nonprofit organizations.
In October 2022, the center, in partnership with University of Maryland Capital Region Health, was awarded a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Justices Office for Victims of Crime to establish a comprehensive human trafficking response and referral pathway in five units at the UM Capital Region Medical Center in Prince George’s County.
To learn more: Safe Center for Human Trafficking Survivors
