ORIGINAL PAPER A Descriptive Study of United States-Based Human Trafficking Specialty Clinics Frances Recknor 1 & Mollie Gordon 1 & John Coverdale 1 & Mishaal Gardezi 2 & Phuong T. Nguyen 1 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Human trafficking is a crime associated with serious adverse health and mental health outcomes. It has been estimated that more than 40 million people worldwide have been victimized, which has resulted in high rates of traumatic injuries, unwanted and high-risk pregnancies, mental illness, substance use disorders; and suicidality among trafficked persons. Little is known as to what models of health care delivery are best in engaging and sustaining the involvement of trafficked individuals with health care and trafficked individuals have reported discouragement and/or re-traumatization as a result of inade- quate or fragmented care. To address the gap in knowledge regarding best practices for engaging and sustaining trafficked patients with health care, the authors of this study set out to identify and describe medical and mental health specialty clinics that work exclusively with trafficked adults, with the goal of assisting organizations and health care providers in program development and to improve clinical outcomes. A patient-centered, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and trauma informed approach to clinical care is rec- ommended for the treatment of trafficked patients. The authors strongly suggest that human trafficking specialty clinics prioritize psychiatric care and mental health services given the high rate of trauma and mental health issues among trafficked persons. Keywords Human trafficking . Health care . Treatment . Clinics . Mental health . Trauma Human trafficking is a crime associated with serious adverse health and mental health outcomes. In the U.S., “human trafficking” is an “umbrella term used to describe the activities involved when someone obtains or holds a person in "compelled service” for labor and/or commercial sex [1, 2]. More than 40 million people are enslaved worldwide in 2016 by one estimate [3]. High rates of psychological abuse and physical and/or sexual violence are associated with trafficking [4]. Resultant conditions include traumatic injuries, unwanted and Psychiatric Quarterly https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09691-8 * Frances Recknor frances.recknor@bcm.edu Extended author information available on the last page of the article