Child sex trafficking exists, to varying degrees, in nearly every place on earth. Each country, community, and culture has a unique set of challenges and factors that contribute to their brand of exploitation. Understanding those factors helps The Phoenix Alliance develop strategies for impacting the lives of those caught in the crosshairs of this global epidemic.

At the center of our passion is the belief that true rescue comes only from a restored relationship with God through a personal surrender to follow Jesus. Without that, all our efforts are purely humanitarian, and therefore temporary.  While we spare no opportunity to share our faith, we never try to force or manipulate anyone into a relationship with Christ. For their faith to be real, it must be their own.

The Alliance is bigger than our staff, volunteers, and supporters. We combine forces with other like-minded organizations, law enforcement, government child protection agencies, and others who share our passion for helping kids get out and stay out of sexually exploitive situations. We support the efforts of our fellow freedom fighters by addressing their areas of need.

The core of our philosophy is what we call Family Model Care.  In the Family Model, "rescue" is synonymous with "adoption".  We adopt children not in the traditional sense of legal adoption by a single-family unit, but by adoption into the Phoenix Family - our team of mentors, volunteers, rescuer agents, counselors, teachers, and survivors, all united by our common love for those who are hurting.

"Adoption" to us means that we accept each child for who they are, we seek to help them recover and grow as individuals, and we stand by them through good times and bad, loving unconditionally and always acting in their best interest. We never turn our back on them, never 'graduate' them into the world alone, never remove their place of belonging in the family. 

As with any family,  we have a responsibility to teach, discipline, and prepare our children to be strong and self-sufficient. We encourage our survivors to maintain a relationship with the family into adulthood. Some may engage in mentoring younger survivors, others may show up for family gatherings, and some may choose to go their own way. Regardless, they are always welcomed and loved.

In practical terms, we boil our work down into three main areas:

Prevention
We use a variety of methods to educate communities and individuals against the dangers of sex trafficking. Overseas, this often involves working within remote villages and holding parents accountable for the protection of their children. In the USA, we teach a trafficking safety curriculum that identifies the most common risk factors of trafficking and methods of predators.
 
Rescue
In the USA we identify victims through referrals, through response to the trafficking safety curriculum, and through our investment in youth within the juvenile justice system. We also partner with law enforcement agencies in rescue operations providing love and support for victims as they are extracted from exploitation. We then seek to provide meaningful aftercare as described below.

Aftercare
Once a child is removed from sexual exploitation, there is a long road ahead that involves recovery, education, vocational training, life skills, and other needs in order to help them build and maintain safe independence. We partner with a shelter home overseas where rescued girls are able to return to school while receiving counseling and support. In the USA, we work with partner organizations and government entities to ensure that kids have a safe living environment. We provide mentor support, through which our staff and volunteers walk through life with the kids, helping them to make good decisions, protecting them from predators, and encouraging them to pursue their dreams.