A refugee group based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, has received a $900,000 grant from the Department of Justice to help victims of child sex trafficking.
The money will go to The Rescue Project at the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, also known as CIRI.
Susan Schnitzer, the President, and CEO of CIRI, said at a press conference on Tuesday that the money will go to help children not only on an international level but in Fairfield County as well.
“This is for people who are growing up, born here in the U.S. living in our neighborhoods, not just in big cities but in towns, as well,” Schnitzer said.
“We’re coordinating efforts now with Child Welfare, with law enforcement in a much deeper way to ensure that we can rescue these children, provide a path to healing and help them really to have a childhood that they deserve.”
Schnitzer said this project is in line with an initiative by the Department of Justice to hold perpetrators of sex child trafficking accountable.
