As a CPS investigator, Cassie Cruz developed an admiration for the empathy and effectiveness of forensic interviews at the CACHSC. In 2017, she officially jumped to the CACHSC to be trained as a forensic interviewer.

Interviewers play a critical role in identifying sex trafficking. In 2020, Allies Against Slavery provided the CACHSC training to equip interviewers like Cassie to recognize and document trafficking. "That training got our critical thinking a lot more active," Cassie reflects.

At a volume of four sessions a day, interviewers need an uncomplicated tool like Lighthouse to promptly assess screening results. Cassie says that most interviewees don't acknowledge they are trafficked. But she says that with Lighthouse, interviewers "have much more room to identify whether a child is a potential victim or at high risk."