TAMPA, Fla. — A Children’s Home Network program that aims to provide a safe haven is now available in the Tampa area to help protect children impacted by human trafficking.

What You Need To Know

  • Program new to Tampa-area trains licensed foster parents to provide safe haven for children impacted by human trafficking

  • CHANCE Program offers: free training, in-home therapeutic services and support from a life coach with lived experience

  • First group recently graduated and will welcome an impacted child into their safe home

  • Children’s Home Network looking to recruit foster parents to provide safe havens

The Citrus Helping Adolescents Negatively Impacted by Commercial Exploitation, or CHANCE, is a specialized therapeutic foster care program.

Foster parent Brooke Montalvo is one of the first to graduate from the CHANCE Program. She explains what she learned.

“Knowledge on sexual abuse and trauma, complex trauma and what that means to the children, said Montalvo. “Ways to secure your home and yourself and to prep yourself and how to manage different emotions of people who weren’t cared for in the way that you’re ready to love these kids.” 

Already licensed, she has previously fostered seven children and says her own childhood inspired her to become a foster parent.

“I grew up in the inner city, so I saw a lot of inappropriate things that I didn’t understand as a child that I knew later on I wanted to do something about,” she said.

Doing something is exactly what she’s doing. Montalvo is getting her home ready for a teen who has been impacted by human trafficking.

“She has been in and out of sex trafficking for a very, very, very long time, so it’s going to take some time,” said Montalvo, who added she is ready to take that time to build trust with the teen and make her feel secure. “I just want to give her a place where she can be her most authentic self without feeling unsafe, without feeling repercussions for just being who she is and with that, hopefully, she’ll be able to heal.”

“I know she’s coming from a place that isn’t all smiles all the time and I know it’s going to take a lot for me to break down those walls but that is something that I’m ready and excited for, she deserves it.”

Montalvo will have help. The CHANCE Program offers support to safe homes, to include: in-home therapeutic services several times a week, a life coach with lived experience and a case manager.

The Children’s Home Network is actively recruiting foster parents who are ready to provide a safe home.

Those interested can reach out to LetsFoster@childrenshomenetwork.org.