Abstract

In an effort to improve outcomes for CSEC (commercial and sexual exploitation of children) youth and to facilitate accurate identification of survivors through the implementation of multidisciplinary, survivor-focused responses, jurisdictions have increasingly looked towards treatment courts to serve as a model for prevention, intervention, diversion, and treatment. Juvenile and family courts are uniquely positioned to intervene in cases involving CSEC. Several jurisdictions have already created treatment courts to specifically address the needs of survivors and those at risk of CSEC, particularly those who are involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The goal of treatment courts for survivors of CSEC centers on the idea that the court process can be therapeutic for participants and produce improved outcomes. With proper training on trauma-informed systems and CSEC, the actors within the court process can help further therapeutic outcomes for survivors.

Part I of this article describes therapeutic jurisprudence and trauma-informed court systems. Part II explores the history of treatment courts, the emergence of “prostitution” and human trafficking treatment courts for adults, and the efficacy of treatment courts in general. Part III examines the emergence of CSEC treatment courts within juvenile and family courts over the past decade, specifically looking at program eligibility, goals, structure, mission, and underlying philosophy. Finally, Part IV suggests a model structure for CSEC treatment courts, investigates the therapeutic and antitherapeutic effects, or potential effects, of CSEC treatment courts, and identifies areas for further study to ensure the purposes of CSEC treatment courts—namely, the therapeutic prevention and intervention of CSEC—can be realized.

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