Human Trafficking in Practice: Survivor Perspectives, Identification, and Coordinated Response 4/30/26
Date/Time
Time: 8:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Eastern
Location: LIVESTREAM
Cost: $99.99
Credits: 5 CE Credits
Events open 15 minutes before the hour. Registration ends 30 minutes before the event opens.
Presenter(s)
CEU Creations presents:
Human Trafficking in Practice: Survivor Perspectives, Identification, and Coordinated Response 4/30/26
FEATURING:
- A survivor-informed documentary experience, Surviving Sex Trafficking, paired with expert-led instruction to sharpen real-world identification and response skills.
- Practical, multidisciplinary tools for trauma-informed engagement, ethical/legal decision-making, and coordinated referral pathways to improve safety and outcomes across systems
EVENT INFO:
8:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Eastern
COST:
CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS:
Social Workers:
ASWB ACE – 5 General CE credits
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work – 5 Contact hours
Psychologists:
APA – 5 CE credits
Counselors:
NBCC ACEP – 5 Contact hours
NY State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners – 5 Contact hours
Addiction Professionals:
NAADAC – 5 Contact hours
Nurses:
California Board of Registered Nursing – 5 Contact hours
Case Managers:
CCMC – 5 Contact hours
Attendance or applied credit certificate available for other credentials.
Please make sure to check with your own state board to ensure the transferability of CE credits.
Counselors: If this course awards Ethics hours, please note that some states do not recognize Ethics hours; in those cases, Contact hours will be awarded.
Target Audience: Social workers, psychologists, counselors, nurses, and case managers
Counseling Skill Group:
5. Documentation
6. Case Management
OVERVIEW:
This training uses a survivor-informed and multidisciplinary lens to strengthen professionals’ ability to recognize, respond to, and help prevent human trafficking. The day begins with the documentary film Surviving Sex Trafficking, which centers survivor experiences and the longer-term realities of recovery. Following the film, Rachel D. Fischer, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P (featured in the documentary) will deliver a 2-hour session, “A Survivor’s Perspective: Multidisciplinary Approach to Fighting Human Trafficking,” focused on practical, cross-system response strategies that support victim safety, improve identification, and strengthen coordination among healthcare, behavioral health, advocacy, and justice partners. In the afternoon, Rachel C. Thomas, MEd, will provide survivor-educator insights on prevention, resilience-building, and protective factors—especially in relation to recruitment dynamics and youth-focused prevention approaches.
OBJECTIVES:
By attending this training, you will be able to:
1. Differentiate human trafficking types (sex and labor trafficking).
2. Identify trafficking risk factors and behavioral/environmental indicators across practice settings.
3. Apply trauma-informed, survivor-centered engagement strategies that prioritize safety, autonomy, and cultural humility.
4. Integrate ethical and legal decision-making into case response, including confidentiality limits, informed consent, documentation considerations, and mandatory reporting requirements as applicable to role and jurisdiction.
5. Develop a multidisciplinary response and prevention plan that includes referral pathways.
AGENDA:
9:00 a.m. – 10:20 p.m. Viewing of the Documentary Film "Surviving Sex Trafficking"
10:20 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. A Survivor’s Perspective: Multidisciplinary Approach to Fighting Human Trafficking–Rachel D. Fischer, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, Forensic Nurse Examiner, Legal Nurse Consultant, Educator, with Jessica Patterson, LISW, DSW, and Educational Manager facilitating
12:30 p.m. – 1:10 p.m. Midway Reset
1:10 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Rachel C. Thomas, MEd, Survivor and Public Speaker (includes a 10-minute break)
PRESENTER BIO:
With 45 million sex trafficking victims worldwide, only 1% manage to escape or be rescued. "Surviving Sex Trafficking" examines the ongoing struggles of those survivors as they desperately fight to break free of their past, heal their bodies and minds, reconnect with a world of hope, and reclaim their lost humanity.
Jain monk Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, the filmmaker behind the award-winning documentary "Stopping Traffic: The Movement to End Sex Traffic," uncovers the depth of pain felt by survivors, as well as if and how they can truly recover. Through conversations with victims and trips to women’s shelters around the world, "Surviving Sex Trafficking" reveals their stories and how they escaped, how they continue to survive, and how they live day to day with the repressed trauma from the horrific events they experienced.
A native of Detroit, MI, Rachel is a survivor, leader, and a pioneer in the fight against human trafficking. She has a BS in Nursing and specializes in human trafficking research & rescue and finding missing children.
Rachel is an ER RN who specializes in adult and pediatric forensic nursing. She began her speaking career in 2013 when she published her autobiography, Taking Back the Pen, and shares her story with various audiences.
Rachel collaborates with several anti-trafficking agencies, both statewide and international, to combat sex trafficking. Rachel has been to several countries doing research and undercover mission work to collect intelligence from pimps and trafficked victims, and has undertaken several rescue operations in retrieval of missing children, many of whom have been in the United States.
As a lived experience expert, Rachel consults with governmental and non-governmental agencies to formulate the best plan of action to fight sex trafficking on both the demand and the supply side. She trains parents and students on social media trends and how to keep kids safe in the digital age. Her knowledge will awaken and broaden your current knowledge base to highlight the difference you can make in the phenomena of trafficking in your community. She will discuss how you can be a part of helping to meet the needs of these victims and other victims of violence that are not being cared for properly in order to bring justice to families and hold predators and offenders accountable.
Rachel C. Thomas, MEd, is a graduate of UCLA, a presidential appointee to the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, and a personal survivor of human trafficking. She has extensive experience teaching, training, curriculum writing, public speaking and mentoring.
As director of Sowers Education Group, she and a team work tirelessly to sow seeds of human trafficking awareness and survivor empowerment. Rachel has educated and inspired a wide range of audiences including teens, social service providers, churches, teachers, college students, and law enforcement. She is the lead author of the nation's most widely used sex trafficking intervention curriculum Ending The Game® (Journal Of Women and Criminal Justice, 2021) as well as The Cool Aunt Series, a sex trafficking prevention course for teens.
Since 2012, Rachel and the Sowers Team have reached over 150,000 live audience members and millions more through numerous media outlets including CNN, HLN, The T.D. Jakes Show, The New York Times Upfront Magazine and ABC’s Newsmakers. Rachel was honored by Congressman Ed Royce of California’s 39th district and Los Angeles Supervisor Don Knabe for her leadership and trafficking prevention efforts. www.RachelCThomas.com
COURSE PARTICIPATION INFORMATION:
To ensure you are ready to participate, please review these tips and tricks to ensure a better webinar experience.
This live webinar is fully interactive. Attendees may ask and answer questions throughout the presentation and participate in instructor-led discussions. A computer or mobile device is required. Zoom account is not required.
You will receive a reminder email approximately 24 hours prior to the start of the training and a link to join the webinar will be in your CEU Creations account under Member Profile.
To receive credit, you must log in on time, attend the entire presentation, and interact.
POST EVENT: When the training ends, your attendance will be processed using Zoom analytics. Once processed, the evaluation link will be available in your account and we ask that you complete it within 3 days of the training. Once your evaluation is complete, your certificate will be available in your CEU Creations account within 24-72 hours.
Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions.
FINE PRINT
SOCIAL WORKERS: CEU Creations, #1239, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/24-11/22/27. Social workers completing this course receive 5 General CE credits.
CEU Creations, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0616. This activity is approved for 5 Contact hours.
PSYCHOLOGISTS: 5 CE credits. CEU Creations is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CEU Creations maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
COUNSELORS: 5 Contact hours 
CEU Creations has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6941. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CEU Creations is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. CEU Creations, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0199. This activity is approved for 5 Contact hours.
ADDICTION PROFESSIONALS: This course has been approved by CEU Creations, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for 5 CEs.
NURSES: 5 Contact hours. CEU Creations is an approved provider of nursing CEs through the California Board of Registered Nursing. Provider number: CEP17905. All states retain their own licensing authority through their own boards. Please make sure to check with your own state board to ensure transferability of the CE credits.
Cancellation Policy: Registrants must cancel their registration in their CEU Creations account. No email, faxes, or mail cancellations will be accepted. Cancellation fee: $25. Refunds will not be given for cancellations within five (5) business days prior to the workshop date.
Accessibility Accommodations: At CEU Creations, we are dedicated to providing an inclusive and accessible experience for all individuals. We strive to ensure our continuing education content, website, and services are usable by everyone, regardless of ability. We are continually working to enhance accessibility and user experience for all of our users. If you encounter any barriers, have questions, or wish to request accommodations, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can contact us at [email protected] and a member of our team will review your message and respond promptly.
Event Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy: In the event that CEU Creations cancels or reschedules an event, registered participants will be given the option to receive a full refund, a credit toward a different event of the same value, or to transfer their registration to the rescheduled date.