Young People at Risk of Sexual Exploitation Are a New Crisis that Requires a Response
We face a new and similar crisis today — and I am hoping once again Santa Barbara will respond with passion, energy, and coordinated resources.
This time, the population crying out to us are the vulnerable children and youth in Santa Barbara who are experiencing commercial sexual exploitation — or CSECY. In 2025 alone, Noah’s Anchorage identified 14 youth at high risk and 24 at moderate risk of becoming vulnerable to predators and exploiters. These are youth who rotate between shelter, home, couch surfing, and homelessness — and who might be missing school. Exploitation looks like someone initiating the grooming process, which is a manipulative, multistage tactic used by offenders to build trust with a child and their family for the purpose of sexual abuse and exploitation.
At the same time, we’ve received new data from our Homelessness Management Information System that there are currently 34 unaccompanied youth under the age of 18 in the City of Santa Barbara alone. These numbers do not capture what might be happening countywide.
