Protect Us Kids Foundation Fall Unpaid Volunteer/Internship — Collaboration & Intelligence Program

Position Title: Research & Policy Intern — Youth Digital Safety and Exploitation Prevention

Host Site: Protect Us Kids Foundation (remote or DC-based, as arranged)

Term: August 31 – December 4, 2026

Schedule: Full-time or part-time available

Program Overview

This internship supports Protect Us Kids Foundation’s (PUK) Collaboration & Intelligence Program, which conducts research, analysis, stakeholder collaboration, and intelligence-informed prevention work supporting PUK’s mission to protect youth from cyber-enabled exploitation, particularly in rural and under-resourced communities.

Current research priorities include understanding technology-enabled youth exploitation pathways and how digital platforms, social relationships, economic vulnerability, financial influence, mobility, and domestic or transnational networks may intersect before exploitation becomes visible to traditional systems.

Initial research will include Chicago/Illinois and Washington, DC/DMV, with comparative research involving additional urban, rural, Tribal, agricultural, tourism, and border communities in the United States.

Position Summary

Supports PUK’s research and policy work focused on youth digital safety, technology-enabled exploitation, trafficking prevention, and community vulnerability.

The intern will assist with structured research, source analysis, data collection, stakeholder mapping, comparative community research, and development of research and policy products. The position provides exposure to multidisciplinary work spanning child protection, technology, public policy, cybersecurity, criminal justice, community resilience, and international issues.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research on technology-enabled youth exploitation, trafficking prevention, online grooming, sextortion, forced criminality, and related child digital safety issues
• Review and analyze government reports, court cases, academic research, policy documents, and other credible institutional sources
• Support research for PUK’s Illinois/Chicago and DC/DMV Youth Exploitation Pathways pilots
• Assist with comparative research involving rural, urban, Tribal, agricultural, tourism, border, and other under-resourced communities
• Research how social media, gaming, messaging platforms, AI, digital financial technologies, and other technologies may facilitate recruitment, grooming, coercion, exploitation, or peer recruitment
• Support research into interstate and transnational youth exploitation pathways
• Collect and organize quantitative and qualitative data from credible public sources
• Maintain research source logs, citations, and supporting documentation
• Assist with stakeholder and ecosystem mapping involving government agencies, nonprofit organizations, researchers, child-protection organizations, and other relevant partners
• Identify research, policy, prevention, and information-sharing gaps
• Support development of literature reviews, research briefs, policy briefs, community profiles, and practitioner resources
• Participate in Collaboration & Intelligence research discussions and provide periodic summaries or presentations of findings
• Support other research and policy priorities aligned with PUK’s child digital safety mission

Research & Safeguarding Boundaries

This is a research and prevention internship, not an investigative role.

Interns will not:

• investigate individual youth or suspected offenders;
• contact suspected victims, traffickers, or other potential subjects for investigative purposes;
• create deceptive identities or infiltrate private online groups;
• collect unnecessary personally identifiable information;
• access, download, retain, or redistribute child sexual abuse material or other illegal content;
• make determinations that an individual is a victim of trafficking or exploitation; or
• conduct law-enforcement or private-investigative activities.

All research will follow PUK’s safeguarding, privacy, ethics, and evidence-handling requirements.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate or graduate student in public policy, criminal justice, criminology, sociology, social work, public health, international relations, cybersecurity, information science, technology policy, data analytics, political science, psychology, or a related field preferred
• Strong research, analytical, and written communication skills
• Ability to evaluate source credibility and distinguish verified information from analysis or hypothesis
• Interest in child protection, digital safety, human trafficking prevention, technology policy, or related issues
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills
• Ability to work responsibly with sensitive subject matter
• Familiarity with spreadsheets, research databases, or data organization tools preferred
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment
• Prior human trafficking experience is not required

Learning Opportunities

The intern will gain experience in:

• applied nonprofit research and policy analysis;
• technology-enabled exploitation and child digital safety;
• community vulnerability and prevention research;
• government and academic source analysis;
• stakeholder and ecosystem mapping;
• comparative urban and rural research;
• research ethics and safeguarding;
• policy and research writing;
• multidisciplinary collaboration; and
• presentation of research findings to organizational leadership.

Potential Internship Deliverables

Depending on hours and experience, the intern may contribute to:

• Illinois/Chicago baseline research profile
• DC/DMV baseline research profile
• Priority Community comparative profiles
• Technology-Enabled Youth Exploitation literature review
• Youth Exploitation Pathway Data Taxonomy
• Stakeholder research and engagement maps
• Digital and mobility pathway analysis
• Research or policy briefs
• Prevention and practitioner resources
• End-of-term research findings presentation