Fort Bend County has stood up a new effort aimed squarely at human trafficking, pairing law enforcement officers with the nonprofits and service providers who help survivors rebuild their lives. The Anti-Trafficking Collective runs on federal funding and is designed to connect victims with everything from emergency shelter to long-term legal aid, according to officials.
Accounts vary on exactly when this effort took shape. CW39 Houston reported that the collective was officially announced Tuesday, while Click2Houston described the task force as newly launched on October 27, 2026, with a kickoff press conference held at 10 a.m. that day at the Fort Bend County Justice Center in Richmond. A separate account from Houston Public Media had placed the collective's launch nearly two years earlier, reporting that the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office announced it on January 27, 2025, in partnership with the nonprofit United Against Human Trafficking.
A Survivor Now Leads the Response
At the center of the collective is director Rhonda Kuykendall, who is herself a survivor of human trafficking. CW39 Houston reported that for Kuykendall, the work is personal, and she has said that working together across agencies can also help build stronger cases against traffickers.
The collective functions as a federally funded network linking police with organizations that assist survivors, per the station's report. That assistance can start with food and a safe place to stay, then continue with medical care and counseling, the outlet noted. Houston Public Media separately reported that the collective connects survivors to case management, legal aid, housing, healthcare and education.
Funding Figures Differ Across Reports
Exactly how the collective is financed has also been described differently across outlets. Click2Houston reported that the Fort Bend County Anti-Trafficking Collective is funded through the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime. Houston Public Media reported that the District Attorney's Office and United Against Human Trafficking had received roughly $1.2 million in Justice Department grant funding, while the Fort Bend Star reported the collective was formed with a three-year federal grant of $888,888, plus roughly $400,000 in matching local funding.
The Fort Bend Star also reported that the grant expires in September 2027 but can be renewed, while Houston Public Media reported that local leaders plan to apply for renewal funding after the grant expires in three years. As part of its work, the collective has announced a partnership with the Virginia-based Human Trafficking Institute, according to the Fort Bend Star.
Targeting Digital Recruitment and Rural Risk
Officials told the Fort Bend Star that trafficking in the county happens largely through digital platforms such as social media, texting and online ads rather than street-level solicitation. The outlet reported that one of the collective's first priorities has been a countywide community assessment examining how traffickers exploit vulnerabilities in both urban and rural parts of the county.
Houston Public Media reported that the collective's educational efforts are meant to address human trafficking in its different forms, including both sex trafficking and forced labor. That broader framing, combined with the partnerships named across the reporting, points to an effort built around coordination — linking police, prosecutors, the Human Trafficking Institute and United Against Human Trafficking under one umbrella meant to move victims from crisis into stable support.
