Finding Freedom: A GIRLS Court Story

Anna was one of the first clients accepted into what was then known as GIRLS Court (Growing Independence Restoring Lives). Judge Mike Schneider and his Associate Judge Angela Ellis launched the court because they were tired of not having the resources to help girls who were victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking. GIRLS Court was the first of its kind, providing intensive supervision, therapeutic services and safe placement to protect these victims. The clientele was made up exclusively of girls who were actively engaged in prostitution or at risk of becoming involved in prostitution/human trafficking. The entire court staff was intentionally female to create a safe, non-triggering environment for the clients.

I first heard about this amazing idea from my friend Ann Johnson. She recruited me to be among the first defense attorneys who would represent these girls—that’s how I met Anna. That first meeting in the holding cell was the only one I was able to have with her before she was sent to a treatment facility in San Antonio. She was actively using and addicted to six different street drugs, so she was at the facility for months. When she came back to Houston, I was waiting.

Because Anna didn’t have a safe place to live, she was sent to Arrow’s Freedom Place, a safe haven in a secret location designed to house and support commercially, sexually exploited young girls. She was actually the first girl to stay there. When I went to visit Anna, I was amazed at how well-hidden and isolated the facility was, sitting on several wooded acres. The bedrooms were decorated for teenage girls, and they had a huge commercial kitchen and large computer lab so the girls could get their G.E.D..

Although her stay was not without problems, Anna was allowed to cook in the kitchen, which she loved to do, as well as train for and participate in a 5K race and study for her G.E.D. It seems unlikely that she would have been able to any of those things in her previous life on the streets. Another accomplishment—which may seem odd to those who do not know this population—is that Anna never tried to run away. Virtually every other girl sent from GIRLS Court tried to escape to return to the streets and their trafficker, but not Anna. Running away to reunite with their pimps is common among prostituted girls, who are groomed to believe the man who hires them out loves them and is their boyfriend.

Last I heard, Anna now has two children of her own and is doing well. She’s able to support herself and her kids, and amazingly, she is still sober. Because of her success and that of other clients in GIRLS Court, the docket was expanded to include boys in a similar position. Now known as the CARE Court (Creating Advocacy, Recovery and Empowerment), it is one of 18 Specialty Courts in Harris County that Justice Forward supports. 

It was an honor to play a small part in saving Anna from a life of prostitution and addiction, just as it is an honor now to support so many like her as part of Justice Forward. She is one of the many people I have had the good fortune to see transform their lives by participating in a specialty court program. 

We do recover.