The Delaware Coalition for Human Trafficking Survivors hopes to close those knowledge and coordination gaps through Delaware’s inaugural Human Trafficking Awareness, Prevention and Action Summit on Friday, Oct. 2, at Hyatt Place Dewey Beach.

Delaware’s inaugural statewide summit will bring survivors, national experts, professionals and concerned citizens together to improve prevention, identification and survivor support.

By George Rotsch, Editor of Delaware LIVE

DEWEY BEACH — Human trafficking can remain hidden in plain sight, leaving teachers, medical professionals, police officers, business leaders and concerned residents uncertain about how to recognize the warning signs or respond safely.

The Delaware Coalition for Human Trafficking Survivors hopes to close those knowledge and coordination gaps through Delaware’s inaugural Human Trafficking Awareness, Prevention and Action Summit on Friday, Oct. 2, at Hyatt Place Dewey Beach.

The summit is open to professionals, organizational leaders and members of the public who want to better understand human trafficking and help Delaware build a more informed and coordinated response.

“It’s for everybody,” said Jennifer Cooper, the coalition’s Community and Continuing Education Committee chair and one of the summit’s organizers. “It’s not just for people doing the work. It’s for people who may want to learn a little bit more.”

Cooper, a registered nurse and forensic coordinator at Nemours Children’s Health, said the program will explain trafficking, challenge common misconceptions and help participants understand how exploitation occurs in Delaware.

“We’re going to break down the myths, dispel the myths and talk about what trafficking looks like in Delaware,” Cooper said.

Public engagement is part of the response

Marcia Ferranto, board chair of the Delaware Coalition for Human Trafficking Survivors, said public involvement is essential because human trafficking cannot be addressed solely by law enforcement agencies or organizations serving survivors.

“Human trafficking affects Delaware communities, but too often it remains unseen or misunderstood,” Ferranto said. “We need residents, business leaders, educators, health care professionals, faith communities and policymakers to understand the warning signs and recognize that each of them can play a role in prevention.”

Ferranto said trafficking affects Delaware even when victims are not immediately identified and cases are not publicly described as trafficking.

“Trafficking does not happen only somewhere else; it is affecting people here in Delaware,” Ferranto said. “When the public understands what exploitation looks like and knows how to respond, we become better able to protect vulnerable people, support survivors and make Delaware a much more difficult place for traffickers to operate.”

Delaware needs its own summit

Cooper has worked with the forensic team at Nemours since 2012 and became its coordinator in 2019. Through that work, she began seeing more young patients affected by or vulnerable to exploitation.

Her involvement in Delaware’s anti-trafficking efforts also showed her that professionals frequently had to travel outside the state to receive advanced training.

“I went to a lot of conferences, and I realized that I wasn’t going to anything in Delaware,” Cooper said. “I was traveling. And I said, ‘Delaware needs its own.’”

That realization helped lead to the October summit.

National experts and local authorities are expected to participate as keynote speakers, panel moderators and breakout-session presenters. The program will include learning tracks focused on survivors, law enforcement, mental health, direct-service workers and medical providers.

Continuing education credits for eligible medical and other professionals are planned, with additional details to be announced.

Bringing Delaware’s response together

Cooper said the summit has two immediate goals: raising awareness among leaders and bringing together the professionals and organizations already working with vulnerable people and survivors.

“I want to bring together the people who are doing the work,” Cooper said. “There are organizations doing phenomenal work, and right down the street there may be another organization doing something a little differently. They really could benefit from each other.”

Better coordination could help Delaware identify trends, determine where services are missing and direct resources toward needs involving young people, labor trafficking, health care, housing and other areas.

“By bringing all of the people together, we can see what our trends are in Delaware and where we need more services,” Cooper said.

The summit also is intended to support professionals engaged in emotionally demanding work.

“From a trauma perspective, this is very challenging and very tough work,” Cooper said. “Making sure that everybody has their own resources and people to bounce things off of is really important.”

A private executive roundtable will precede the public summit Thursday, Oct. 1. Attendance at the roundtable is by invitation only.

The roundtable is expected to bring Delaware leaders and decision-makers together to review state-level information and consider potential policy, training and legislative responses. The public summit the following day will focus on education, professional development and building connections among participants.

A problem that can be difficult to identify

Cooper said one of the challenges involving young people is that victims may not identify themselves as having been trafficked. They may believe they willingly participated in an exchange or may not recognize food, housing, drugs, alcohol or other items of value as part of commercial sexual exploitation.

Under federal and state law, proof of force, fraud or coercion is not required when a minor is induced to perform a commercial sex act. A commercial exchange also does not have to involve cash.

Cooper said 80 juvenile cases were referred to Delaware’s Juvenile Trafficking Oversight Team last year. Those cases involved young people identified as being at risk of trafficking, suspected of being trafficked or confirmed as victims.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline has identified 301 trafficking cases involving 662 victims in Delaware since 2007. The hotline received 51 signals from Delaware in 2024, including eight from victims or survivors.

Hotline figures reflect only situations reported to the organization and should not be interpreted as representing the full extent of trafficking in the state.

Survivors and experts lead the program

Opening keynote speaker Kevin McNeil is a retired police officer, trafficking and sexual-abuse survivor and motivational speaker. His presentation, “Stuck in Traffic,” will compare the experience of being trapped in vehicle traffic with the sense of being trapped in exploitation.

Marty MacGibbon, a trafficking survivor, therapist, author and comedian, will discuss the intersection of human trafficking and substance abuse. She also will close the program with a presentation addressing mental wellness, self-care and trauma-informed practices.

Breakout sessions will address trafficking fundamentals, myths and realities; care for survivors; familial trafficking; legal and law enforcement considerations; trauma among children and adults; and the development of multidisciplinary response teams.

The program also will include survivor perspectives and discussion of vulnerabilities affecting boys and members of the LGBTQ community.

Why leaders and residents should attend

For leaders in government, health care, education, law enforcement, hospitality, nonprofits and other community institutions, the summit offers an opportunity to examine whether their organizations have adequate training, policies and referral relationships.

Front-line professionals can learn more about recognizing possible exploitation, interacting with survivors without causing additional trauma and coordinating with other service providers.

For parents, faith leaders, volunteers and concerned residents, the summit offers a clearer understanding of what trafficking can look like, which warning signs deserve attention and how to report concerns without placing a potential victim at greater risk.

Established in 2014 as Meet Me at the Well Delaware, the Delaware Coalition for Human Trafficking Survivors provides individualized assistance to survivors seeking to leave sex trafficking and rebuild their lives. Its work includes education, street outreach, advocacy, mentoring and connections to housing, employment and treatment resources.

The larger objective of the summit is to create a more unified statewide response capable of recognizing exploitation sooner, supporting survivors more effectively and making Delaware a more difficult place for traffickers to operate.

To Go Box

• What: Human Trafficking Awareness, Prevention and Action Summit

• When: Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

• Where: Hyatt Place Dewey Beach, 1301 Coastal Highway, Dewey Beach

• Who may attend: Professionals, organizational and community leaders, service providers and members of the public

• Admission: $75 through Sept. 18

• Hotel: A discounted room rate is available through Sept. 3. Call 1-855-556-1297 and request the Delaware Coalition for Human Trafficking Survivors rate using group code G-DECO.

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