A Maryland program to connect potential victims of child sex trafficking with needed services will expand to more jurisdictions with $1 million in grant funding, officials announced Wednesday.

The grant award will continue the Child Sex Trafficking Screening and Services Act Regional Navigator Program in Cecil, Montgomery and Washington counties, where it was piloted, and will expand the program to Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Prince George’s counties and Baltimore City.

The Child Sex Trafficking Screening and Services Act of 2019 requires a law enforcement officer who believes that a child is a victim of sex trafficking to notify a “regional navigator,” a provider of “victim-centered and trauma-informed” services for victims of child sex trafficking.

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