Our speaker at Thursday's meeting was Jason McLaughlin, executive director of Wait House in Glens Falls, which focuses on young people at risk of homelessness in Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties -- including Malta.
Its services include Safe Harbour, protecting young people who may be sexually trafficked or exploited. There is also a Street Outreach program to youths who are homeless or at risk of becoming so, permanent housing assistance, crisis services, transitional living for homeless young women who are pregnant or parents, Child Home Health Care Management and Family Opportunity Center services.
The young people are typically dealing with "childhood trauma of some sort," McLaughlin said, and at Wait House "They finally feel safe. ... We are in a battle. Every day. Every day."
Sex traffickers, he said, "manipulate young people into thinking they're not being trafficked." Sometimes well-intentioned laws such as "Raise the Age" for criminal prosecution can have bad unintended consequences, he said.
Wait House has various sources of revenue, including donations from the public, which can help make up for recent funding cuts.
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