CASA ACT Day 2025 (Anti-Child Trafficking Event)

In early September, the Anti-Child Trafficking (ACT) team at Texas CASA hosted the first-ever CASA ACT Day in Austin, TX, with 48 participants from 30 different CASA programs across the state. This curated event was open to any local CASA program who is currently utilizing ACT Advocacy in some capacity. 

Texas CASA ACT Consultant Torey Tipton kicked off the day with an inspiring welcome message, setting the stage for a powerful day of strengthening CASA ACT Advocacy. Torey emphasized that this is “not just a conference; it’s a gathering of passionate hearts and brilliant minds, ready to collaborate and ignite real change.” She explained the agenda for the day, which included diving into critical topics, hearing from survivor leaders and strategizing on how to build a more effective, collaborative response to human trafficking. She also encouraged participants to prioritize their well-being as they tackled those hard subjects, and to take advantage of the dedicated self-care area where they could take a break, practice mindfulness or simply unwind. 

First on the agenda was opening remarks from Texas CASA CEO, Vicki Spriggs, where she explained that as “CASA programs, we stand at a critical juncture in the fight against child sex trafficking,” and how “every moment that we don’t ACT is a child that we miss – ACT Advocacy is safety advocacy!” Next on the agenda was keynote speaker, Angela Thorne, a certified trauma-informed care specialist, human trafficking education expert and lived experience leader. Angela is the Executive Director of Freed People, nonprofit organization committed to ending human trafficking and empowering survivors to heal and thrive. During her keynote she discussed how her story of redemption fuels her mission to create safer, trauma-informed communities across the nation.  

Following the keynote speech, Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office, Human Trafficking Task Force Director, Rhonda Kuykendall, led a survivorship panel with three panelists: Toni McKinley, CEO – Magdalene House Austin; Sara Nellis, Director of Early Intervention, Austin – Unbound Now and Angela Thorn, Founder and CEO – Moses Movement. Rhonda led the panelists in an insightful discussion on many topics, including: how common is human trafficking among the populations CASA serves? What environments or situations tend to increase the risk of trafficking? What preventive measures or educational efforts are most effective in reducing trafficking risks? What role do community organizations and stakeholders play in combating trafficking? How should CASA’s plug into this network when it exists? What is the most important message or advice you would give to CASA volunteers who want to help trafficking victims?”

After the informative and heart-felt survivors panel, the afternoon was filled with a Roadblocks and Solutions Panel, led by Anna McDonnell, Advocacy and Implementation Manager, Texas CASA. The panelists included: Blanca Denise Lance – Human Trafficking Director, DFPS; Chad Frymire – Director of Public Policy, Dallas CASA; Jessica Hess – Administrator, Governor’s Office Child Sex Trafficking Team; Kerri Taylor- Screening Engagement Manager, Allies Against Slavery and Kristi Hayes – Regional Director, Unbound Now Central Texas. The dynamic discussion included effective strategies and best practices, policy and advocacy, cross-agency collaboration, prevention initiatives, training and capacity building and addressing systemic challenges. Following the panel, Chad Frymire, gave a powerful presentation on Building a Collaborative Human Trafficking Response, reminding the CASA network of their ability to lead effective collaborative groups that empower transformative change.  

The day ended small group discussions on Commercial Sexual Exploitation – Identification Tool (CSE-IT) Case Studies and individual table work on growing your ACT advocacy. Then Torey Tipton, ACT Consultant, closed out the day with a debrief and survey. Here is what some of the attendees had to say: 

• Well done! Today has been wonderful! One of the most inspirational conferences I have been to! 

• Love it! Very informative. Hard to hear some of this but this shows how needed CASA advocacy is to combat child trafficking! 

• Great information I want to see if all the presenters can possibly come to offices to train staff. 

• Good information and variety/scope of speakers. So inspiring. 

• Love this and the ability to draw to certain people for any resources we need. We are excited to receive training from the speakers who offered. 

• Great speakers. What passion. This is such important work. Safety advocacy! 

• I think all the speakers were great and you could see their passion about the issue. 

We are truly thankful to all attendees, presenters and speakers for their passion and dedication to ACT Advocacy. Thank you for being an integral part of this work.