The victims were paid about 69 cents an hour, and charged exorbitant amounts for basic necessities, ensuring they would never be able to pay off their original debt to their traffickers, and remain under their control.
The case garnered national press coverage, and brought the issue of modern slavery and human trafficking into the mainstream media.
[5] CAST's stated mission is to "assist persons trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and slavery-like practices and work toward ending all instances of such human rights violations.
CAST helped launch Freedom Network USA, a national training and technical assistance project, with funding from the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement[5] As of 2009, there are 29 member organizations from across the U.S. in this network[10] Locally, CAST partners with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Task Force on Human Trafficking, Southern California Partners for Social Justice, Sex Trafficking Outreach Project (STOP), Rescue and Restore Regional Outreach Program, and Sweat Free Advisory Group.
CAST has a comprehensive but selective volunteer program, which provides training and education about the best practices for working with victims of trafficking.