Development of Child Sex Trafficking Counseling Competencies in the United States: A Delphi Study.

Child sex trafficking (CST), the unlawful recruitment of any minor to engage in commercial sexual exploitation through force, fraud, or coercion, is a growing epidemic worldwide. Sex trafficking can have devastating consequences for children, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma. Counselors working in clinical and school settings have first-hand access to a number of at-risk populations due to the nature of their work. Yet, counselors in the United States report lack of training on CST as a limitation to their ability to identify and effectively work with CST victims. Limited training derives from the absence of competency standards to guide counselors working with CST victims. To address this critical gap, this research study utilized expert consensus to develop an initial list of CST competencies for counselors working in the United States. A heterogeneous sample of 19-CST experts participated in a four-round Delphi process. The expert panel reached a consensus on 128 CST competency statements organized into five domains: (a) intervention strategies and the helping relationship, (b) trauma and sex trafficking, (c) assessment of risk factors and indicators, (d) ethical practice, and (e) cultural diversity and human growth and development. This article assists in identifying standards of practice necessary for counselors to detect, prevent, and assist sex-trafficked youth. Creating an initial list of competency standards can serve as guiding points for clinical practice training curricula, and quality control assessments for counselors, and possibly other mental health professionals, working with CST.

Foreign-born Counselor Educators: Strengths, Challenges, and Areas of Support.

This article features strengths and challenges indicated by foreign-born counselor educators in programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. To gain a deeper understanding of this topic, we utilized a convergent parallel mixed methods design with merged quantitative and qualitative findings. Quantitative results indicated that foreign-born faculty (FBF) experienced more strengths in the personal, spiritual, and health domains while facing more challenges in the social, political, and financial domains. In addition, a thematic analysis identified three overarching themes reflecting FBF's strengths, challenges, areas of support, and the impact of COVID-19: (a) adjustment as a foreign-born individual in the United States, (b) immigration status and procedures, and (c) working as a foreign-born faculty in counselor education. This article presents implications for FBF and stakeholders seeking to support this population, while also suggesting recommendations for future research.