New campaign reframes prevention as a collective, upstream, community-driven effort across Cuyahoga County
CLEVELAND, OH — January 05, 2026 — As the nation pays renewed attention to issues of exploitation and systemic failure, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking is launching a bold, hopeful, community-centered initiative for Human Trafficking Prevention Month 2026. Prevention Starts Now is a month-long campaign that highlights the many ways prevention actually happens through a broad network of partners and systems across Cuyahoga County.
The campaign introduces the Prevention Spectrum, a new framework showing that preventing human trafficking requires action across a wide range of systems — from housing to mental health, from school-based education to advocacy, from law enforcement training to demand reduction.
“National headlines are showing us how trafficking really happens,” said Kirsti Mouncey, President and CEO of the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking. “Ohio now has the opportunity—and responsibility—to show how we prevent it. Prevention is not one thing. Prevention is a spectrum. It includes stable housing, safe adults, healthy relationships, trauma-informed care, youth empowerment, and modernized laws. And thanks to our 75 community partners across Cuyahoga County, prevention is already happening.”
This year’s Prevention Month carries additional urgency. In its 2025 Report Card, Shared Hope International gave Ohio a failing grade, citing outdated laws that still criminalize exploited minors, inconsistent screening of system-involved youth, limited access to trafficking-specific victim advocates, and a lack of mandated prevention education in schools.
“Ohio’s ‘F’ doesn’t reflect a lack of work. It reflects that the bar has been raised — appropriately — to center survivors, protection, and early prevention,” said Mouncey. “We have the chance to modernize our laws and strengthen our safety nets. This month is about showing Ohio what prevention really looks like and how communities can take action.”
Prevention Starts Now highlights include:
- January 1: Prevention Starts Now launch
- January 9: Connecting the Dots: A Public Health Approach to Preventing Human Trafficking and Interpersonal Violence training with The Collaborative to End Human Trafficking and the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence (OAESV). 11:30am – 1:00pm.
- January 11: Cuyahoga County participates in National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, including lighting the Terminal Tower blue.
- January 13: Fundamentals of Human Trafficking 101 training led by the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking. 11:30am – 1:00pm.
- January 23: Safeguarding Youth: Understanding Human Trafficking, Consent, and Prevention training led by the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking and the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. 11:30am – 1:00pm.
- January 27: Legacies of Power virtual keynote with national expert Yasmin Vafa, the co-founder and Executive Director of Rights4Girls. 11:30am – 1:00pm.
- February 3: Advocacy Day — unveiling the 2026 Legislative Agenda.
The Collaborative will also release the first-ever Cuyahoga County Prevention Spectrum Map, illustrating the many partners working to prevent exploitation long before it begins.
“Prevention is what we build together,” said Mouncey. “And this January, we’re celebrating the spectrum of people, systems, and communities that make safety possible.”
About the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking
The Collaborative to End Human Trafficking works to empower individuals and communities to prevent human trafficking and support survivors through coordinated services, education, research, and policy advocacy. For more information, visit collabtoendht.org.
