SMART Goals: The Need for a Systematic Model to Promote Success for Human Trafficking Survivors

• In Event: An Evaluation of a Human Trafficking Housing Program: Implications Toward Future Program Development and Service Provision

Abstract

Many programs that serve survivors of human trafficking (HT) struggle to create well-defined goals, measure program effectiveness, and establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the program and survivor outcomes. Goals that lack clarity can be problematic as they do not serve as a practical guide toward goal attainment and may increase the likelihood that survivors will engage in unsafe and risky behaviors to meet basic survival needs. The SMART goal method is widely cited within program planning/evaluation literature and may be a useful tool to combat obstacles faced by HT survivors and service providers. This method helps guide the development of specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals and has been associated with increased levels of goal achievement in various settings. However, research on SMART goals with HT survivors is limited, emphasizing the need for further evaluation within HT programs. This presentation presents current findings of goal-setting methods in an HT housing program and proposes a systematic model for evaluating HT program effectiveness and survivor outcomes.

Authors

• Marqueline Cenatus, University of South Florida

• Arturo Garcia, University of South Florida

• Marissa Del Vecchio, University of South Florida

• Kaleigh Cernosek, University of South Florida

• Shelly Wagers, University of South Florida

• Kimberly Crosland, University of South Florida

• Chantal Rogenski, University of South Florida