What Is Project ROOTS?
Project ROOTS is Global Communities’ youth prevention program designed to build the knowledge, skills, and protective factors young people need to navigate risk safely and confidently. Grounded in positive youth development and social emotional learning, Project ROOTS focuses on early prevention—helping youth make informed decisions, recognize unsafe situations, and build healthy relationships before harm occurs. The program is currently implemented in San Diego County through after-school programs, community settings, juvenile justice systems and youth-serving organizations.
Why Youth Exploitation Prevention Matters in San Diego
San Diego continues to be identified by the FBI as one of the top 13 high-risk regions for child exploitation in the United States. National data points to online environments as a common entry point for exploitation, with young people facing increased exposure to online grooming, peer pressure, and unsafe relationships, underscoring the need for prevention education that reflects how youth communicate today. Project ROOTS responds to these realities by strengthening protective factors, such as personal safety and confidence, and identifying safe supports at critical stages of development.
What Project ROOTS Teaches Youth
Project ROOTS serves youth ages 8–18 through facilitated group sessions that build core life and safety skills. The evidence and trauma informed curriculum is tailored to different developmental stages and covers topics such as healthy self image, communication and decision-making skills, online safety, exploitation awareness, boundary setting, and healthy ways to cope with stress. Sessions are led by trained facilitators who create supportive spaces that encourage participation and trust.
What Community Partners Say About Project ROOTS
“We’ve successfully begun facilitating the Project ROOTS curriculum with youth at Choice Harvest Church, starting with a session on online safety. The young people were highly engaged through hands on activities, and the program created a positive, welcoming space for learning. One youth even shared what they learned during Sunday worship, helping extend the impact to the broader community.”
- Pastor Lavern Brown, Choice Harvest Church
How Global Communities Delivers Project ROOTS
Project ROOTS is carried out through direct implementation and partnerships with local schools, faith based organizations, and community centers across San Diego County. The program has also been developed and strengthened in collaboration with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office as part of a shared commitment to upstream, prevention-focused responses to exploitation. Support from the District Attorney’s Office has enabled Global Communities to expand Project ROOTS programming to new sites, invest in facilitator training, and extend prevention education beyond the classroom into community spaces.
Prevention-Focused Impact That Supports Youth Safety
Through Project ROOTS, youth gain practical tools to recognize risk, set boundaries, and identify trusted adults and resources when challenges arise. By centering prevention, mentorship, and community partnership, the program strengthens protective environments around young people and supports safer, healthier transitions to adulthood. Global Communities continues to adapt Project ROOTS in response to emerging risks and local needs, with a focus on activities that are actively funded and implemented.