Houston Republic

Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has developed a strategic plan, based on five pillars, to prevent and combat human trafficking in Texas. 

A Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council was developed by Paxton's office to develop a plan that would prevent and combat human trafficking by coordinating the organization's goals and programs, the plan states. The plan's four goals are: Eliminating redundancy, ensuring the best practices are used, collecting data on how efficient the programs are and organizing the funds for preventing human trafficking. 

The plan will consist of two phases and the council "will implement Phase I by assessing the current landscape of human trafficking partnerships, prevention, investigation, prosecution and victim services," the plan states. 

Phase I consists of several parts and will asses Texas' human trafficking efforts. 

In the first phase, the Coordinating Council will be putting together a survey to conduct throughout the state. The purpose of the survey will be to take an inventory on all the human trafficking resources the state offers.

Phase I will also develop evidence-based practices and collect data on how effective human trafficking programs are, the plan states. 

The council will also be looking for any gaps in the services and programs offered along with putting together data on how to use state expenditures for human trafficking. 

Phase II will focus on multiple aspects: Data collection, partnerships, program collaboration, coordination of support and funding, intelligence sharing and program efficiency. 

The entire plan will be based on five pillars developed by the council: Partner, prevent, protect, prosecute and provide support. 

Through partnering with federal, state and local jurisdictions and nongovernmental organizations, the council will aim to increase collaboration between organizations to help services and programs continue. 

The group will also try to prevent human trafficking. 

"Preventing human trafficking victimization before it occurs by identifying and providing prevention education and services to vulnerable populations, enhancing community awareness and curbing the demand," the plan states. 

Protecting will be focused on recovering and protecting human trafficking victims.

Any human trafficking legal cases will also be prosecuted "to hold all exploiters accountable," according to the plan. 

The last of the five pillars is aimed at giving support to victims and survivors of human trafficking by using services available.