This program is for children and adolescents who have been sexually exploited as prostitutes.

Children of the Night, a community-based program, is designed to rescue, stabilize, and educate youth who have been sexually exploited as prostitutes.

No peer-reviewed publications evaluating the effectiveness of this program were located.

Dr. Lois Lee, the president and founder of Children of the Night, wrote the paper, The Pimp and His Game, which explains the following 16 strategies pimps use to gain trust and encourage victims into prostitution:

• Feinting – a pimp lies about everything to become a psychological puzzle;
• Creating the Illusion of Control – a pimp convinces a victim that he or she will be in control of the sexual experience;
• It’s You and Me Against the World – a pimp tries to create an alliance with the victim by pointing out their similar life situations and how they can be better together;
• Identity Conversion – a pimp tries to gain buy-in from the victim and get the victim to comply to his expectations;
• Establishment of Performance Expectations – a pimp learns who or what is important to his victims and uses this information to manipulate the victims into making more money;
• Establishment of Social Barriers – the pimp defines all of the victim’s relationships;
• Denial of Responsibility – a pimp will never take responsibility for the victim’s decision to prostitute;
• Denial of Love – the pimp will beat and punish his victims and follow this treatment with tender acts of intimacy;
• The Illusion of Expectation – the pimp tries to convince his victim that prostitution is only a temporary situation and that a home, marriage, and children are in his or her future;
• Deferred Gratification – a pimp tries to convince the victim that if he or she puts aside his or her needs and works hard, he or she will receive a reward;
• Manipulation of Wealth and Possessions – the pimp controls all of the victim’s money;
• Degradation Rituals – a pimp will impose degrading acts on his victims in order to maintain control over them;
• Pratting – a pimp makes the victim feel rejected so he or she will perform to meet the pimp’s expectations;
• Criss Cross Technique – a pimp will put a victim “in the middle” and create competition between two women, which will ensure they work to meet his expectations;
• Staged Performances – a pimp creates fake scenarios to manipulate a victim into working for him; and
• Organization and Manipulation of the Stable – a pimp creates competition among his victims.

Children of the Night operates a 24-hour, nationwide, toll-free hotline to help children on the streets. The program provides online educational and social services to sex-trafficked children and offers case-management services including shelter referrals, medical services, mental health services, transportation, placement in independent living programs, transitional housing, maternity homes, and substance abuse programs.

Children of the Night was established as a privately funded non-profit organization in 1979 and has rescued over 11,000 children who have been victimized by prostitution in the United States.

Paid positions include caseworkers to operate the telephone hotline and tutors to help victims prepare for their state’s High School Equivalency Exam. Volunteers also contribute to the organization in various capacities (e.g., tutor, dentist, therapist, lawyer). Please use details in the Contact section for more information.

Considerations for implementing this program include recruiting facilitators and volunteers, locating office space and computers for caseworkers, acquiring participant buy-in, and ensuring participants have a mobile device and Wi-Fi for online tutoring.

The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu

If you are interested in implementing Children of the Night, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you! Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu

Implementation time will vary. Online tutoring requires 2 to 3 hours per week.

Information on implementation costs was not located; however, costs may include caseworker salaries, and costs associated with case-management services provided to participants.

To move Children of the Night to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.

The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu

Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program. Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: clearinghouse@psu.edu

You may also contact Children of the Night, Inc., by mail 3450 Cahuenga Blvd W, Unit 602, Los Angeles, CA 90068, phone 1-618-908-4474, email lois@childrenofthenight.org, or visit https://www.childrenofthenight.org/contact

https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/children-of-the-night/ and https://www.childrenofthenight.org/