Succession Planning Within Human Trafficking Task Forces

Anna Foster (she/her), MSW, is a graduate of the Brown School of Social Work where she specialized in international social and economic development, human rights policy, and social work practice with immigrants and refugees. Anna has served as the Task Force Coordinator for the Eastern District of Missouri Human Trafficking Task Force since January 2022. In her two years with the Task Force, Anna has implemented updated protocols for the multidisciplinary team, emphasizing using a trauma-informed, victim-centered, and human rights-based approach to providing services to potential and identified victims of trafficking. Anna has trained over 600 medical personnel, first responders, service providers, law enforcement, and community members on human trafficking, highlighting the basic definitions and dynamics, common indicators, and how they have seen human trafficking impact their communities.

Chris Lim has more than 10 years of experience in the anti-human trafficking field working in law enforcement, academia, and with non-profit organizations. He has trained service providers and investigators on both sex and labor trafficking. Chris has conducted undercover and security operations, taught and researched human trafficking at the University of Alabama, and regularly speaks at conferences. Chris is the author of a book and is published in several academic journals and textbooks. His work has brought him to the Philippines, Cambodia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Taiwan, Jamaica, Thailand, and throughout the United States. He has a Master’s in Business Administration and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Policy at Liberty University. Chris served as the Coordinator for the Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force appointed by the Alabama Attorney General. He currently serves as the Director of Research and Policy for the Institute for Shelter Care.

Katie Beth McCarthy, JD, is the Coordinator for the Alabama Anti-Human Trafficking Alliance, a project of the Office of the Attorney General of Alabama. Katie Beth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, and a Master of Science in Counseling, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence. She has worked in the victim services field for almost 20 years, serving victims of crime in multiple roles and capacities. As a former therapist for child abuse victims, a certified Victim Services Officer, and a Training Coordinator for Multidisciplinary teams across the state of Alabama, Katie Beth has also led three different agencies as an Executive Director: the Chester County Children’s Advocacy Center, the Alabama Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers, and One Place Family Justice Center in Montgomery, AL. She is certified in trauma-focused – cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as certified in community crisis response team by NOVA. Katie Beth has led numerous trainings in the Southeast – Vicarious Trauma & Building Resiliency, Guardian Ad Litem Training, Stewards of Children, and training on Alabama’s rape statutes, to name a few. She was named a Patriotic Employer in 2023 by the Secretary of Defense and was given the Angels in Adoption Congressional Award in 2007. Her family was named Family of the Year in the River Region by WSFA & the Family Guidance Center in 2020. Katie Beth and her husband Patrick live on Lake Jordan in Wetumpka, Alabama, with their four adopted kids.

Detective Sergeant Brian Shanika is a 29-year veteran of law enforcement with demonstrated experience in all aspects of the police function from patrol to administrative investigations/strategies. Sergeant Shanika has been a field training instructor, a criminal investigator, patrol supervisor, and finally a Detective Sergeant who most recently spent six years investigating employee misconduct under the Chief of Police, in the Bureau of Professional Standards. Detective Sergeant Shanika took over supervision of the Special Investigations Unit in April 2021, and commands the Eastern District of Missouri Human Trafficking Taskforce, covering 49 counties on the eastern side of the state. Detective Sergeant Shanika is the Deputy Commander of the Missouri Internet Crimes against Children Taskforce.

Sabrina Fernandez is a Program Manager at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), overseeing multiple law enforcement training and technical assistance initiatives in topic areas such as officer safety and wellness, recruitment and retention, anti-human trafficking, and innovative online training. Sabrina has been with the IACP since 2010, addressing policy and operational challenges facing law enforcement and developing tools and resources to assist law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting criminal activity, preventing and responding to victimization, and increasing community safety. Prior to the IACP, Sabrina worked at the University of Tennessee Law Enforcement Innovation Center and Tennessee Regional Community Policing Institute, the University of Tennessee's Social Work Office of Research and Public Service, and the Baltimore Office of Homeless Services, after spending four years at the beginning of her career as a social worker and social policy advocate. Sabrina has a Master of Arts in Public Policy from The Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, English and French from Drury University. She can be reached at fernandez@theiacp.org.