Item 23 - Public Hearing for FY 2025-29 5 Year Plan, Annual Action Plan for CDBG, HOME, and ESG Programs

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90 In 2022, there were 257 new HIV diagnoses in Orange County. People aged 25-34 accounted for 37 percent, the greatest concentration of new cases. Of the newly diagnosed, 89 percent were male of whom most identified racially/ ethnically as Hispanic/ Latino. Discussion In addition to the elderly, frail elderly, severe mentally ill, developmentally disabled, physically disabled, persons with alcohol and other drug addictions, persons with HIV/AIDS, and victims of domestic violence described above, two other subpopulations with special needs in Orange County include victims of human trafficking and individuals with PTSD. Victims of Human Trafficking Human trafficking is a crime that involves the forceful, fraudulent, or coercive methods of entrapping a person, real or perceived, to exploit them for financial gain. The exploitative nature can come in the form of labor services, involuntary servitude, enslavement, debt bondage or commercialized sex acts. Human trafficking is extremely difficult to track; there is no recent or reliable prevalence rate to report. In 2023, in California, the National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 1,128 cases of human trafficking which involved 2,045 victims (https://humantraffickinghotline.org/ accessed January 2025). The most common type of human trafficking reported in California was sex trafficking. The U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report published in July 2022, reports victims of human trafficking are found in every state in the country and trafficked from every country in the world. Victims of human trafficking in the United States are most frequently trafficked from within the United States, Mexico, and Honduras. Trafficking in Persons reports “Traffickers often target those who experience compounding forms of discrimination (such as discrimination because of one’s racial or ethnic group, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation), experience violence (such as intimate partner or domestic violence) or interact with government run programs (such as the criminal justice system, runaway and homeless youth services, foster or institution care, and the immigration enforcement system.” Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) explains Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can “develop after exposure to a potentially traumatic event that is beyond a typical stressor” and potential inducing events may include, but are not limited to, “violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, combat, and other forms of violence.” Symptoms of PTSD can be debilitating. The U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs National Center for PTSD recognizes the disorder impacts populations inside and outside of the military including families, children, and non-combatants. The National Center reports an estimated six percent of the population, eight percent of women and four EXHIBIT 1