"Their stories are of deprivation and alienation. They have been beaten and branded, sexually assaulted again and again day after day, whose understanding of caring, support and love is as twisted as the minds of the pimp who owns them. These stories result in children whose sense of survival demands that they view everyone with distrust, suspicion and defensiveness. Supporting them means getting past the aggression and anger, not hearing, or at a minimum not being personally offended, by the "F bombs", and to see the child for who she or he is, a child who has survived unimaginable trauma."
Maria Hernandez, Former Presiding Juvenile Court Judge
CSEC STEERING COMMITTEE
The CSEC Steering Committee is chaired by Orange County Social Services Agency - Children and Family Services and the Presiding Juvenile Court Judge. The purpose of the committee is to bring together the agencies and organizations working with children and youth affected by commercial sexual exploitation and to work in finding better solutions to address the challenges that youth and caregivers face, as well as preventing those who are at risk to this very hard and real issue that we face today.
GRACE COURT
GRACE Court stands for Generating Resources to Abolish Child Exploitation. The children who walk into this courtroom are either victims or survivors who come through the foster care and probation systems. This includes minors who have been sexually trafficked.
“Every single aspect of this young person’s life is represented by the team, so we can wrap them with services that are needed to hopefully kind of break the cycle and then transition them either back home or transition them into an independent living environment,” said Joanne Motoike, Former Presiding Juvenile Court Judge.
