Law Enforcement Chair and Board Member of the "NEPA Task Force Against Human Trafficking," Wyoming County District Attorney Joe Peters announced that the task force's annual multi-county, Multidisciplinary training program will be held on Thursday, January 22, 2026 at Northampton County Community College's, Pocono Campus in Monroe County.
This year's keynote speaker will be Kate Price, Ph.D., herself a victim not only of sex trafficking, but trafficked by a member of her own family. Alyssa Almonti, BSW will also speak on the intersectionality between sex trafficking, substance abuse disorder in mental health. There will also be on display the Barrier Wall Project, which is a survivor-led visual display and presentation describing barriers to survivors such as trauma, stigma, recovery, housing, health care, criminal records and employment, along with solutions to those challenges. Students from the college will be permitted to interact with the display. Labor trafficking is also on the agenda
DA Peters stated, "We have mobilized over 200 professionals from six NEPA counties to include various disciplines representing police, prosecutors, probation, victims resource advocates, university researchers, health care and mental health professionals, substance use disorder counselors, social workers, children and youth case workers, attorneys, EMS professionals, school district personnel and others.". The counties represented include Monroe, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, Wayne and Pike.
Peters also said, "Among our training priorities will be a focus on how human trafficking cartels identify and recruit vulnerable young girls online and operate in plain sight in our small towns, suburban and rural communities" Peters continued, "Rescuing victims of sex trafficking and attending to their emotional needs, is an equal priority to incarcerating the traffickers and stripping them of their ill-gotten gains." Peters said further, "Only by working together can we take aggressive action to investigate, arrest, rescue and educate." Peters concluded, "Police investigative and rescue techniques are on the agenda, as well as an emphasis on expanding efforts to educate students, parents and teachers...in addition to the treatment of trauma and the rehabilitation of victims of sex trafficking after their rescue."
The number of participants has grown dramatically from our annual training programs over the last three years. This multidisciplinary, multi-county training was held in previous years in Luzerne and Wyoming Counties, and this year in Monroe County.. This year's numbers include professionals from Wyoming, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Susquehanna, Wayne, Columbia, Schuylkill, Carbon, Lycoming and Lehigh Counties.
NOTE: There will be limited media availability with the speakers as well as some key conference participants 11:45 AM - 1:00 PM in a designated media area on site.
Location: Northampton Community College, Pocono campus, 2411 PA Route 715, Tannersville, PA 18372 (Jan 22, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM)
Contact: DA Peters (570) 687-3882