A $60 million recovery hospital for child and young adult survivors of sex trafficking is set to break ground in Glendale, in what advocates are calling a major step forward in long-term, trauma-informed care.
The facility — a partnership between Mesa-based tech company Cyber Dive and the nonprofit Where Hope Lives — will provide 170 beds, including 120 for youths in intensive behavioral health recovery and 50 for survivors facing chronic physical conditions.
Cyber Dive said its Aqua X system will allow recovery staff to monitor residents’ digital activity 24/7 across smart TVs, smartphones and laptops — a method designed to help survivors rebuild a safe and healthy relationship with technology, developers say.
Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, director of Arizona State University’s Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research, says the hospital fills a critical gap in Arizona’s treatment landscape.
“Very rarely do we have specialized treatment in our community, so this new hospital really fits one of those basic criteria of making sure that everyone working there knows about sex and labor,” she said.
Roe-Sepowitz adds that survivors of trafficking vary widely in age and circumstance — something the new hospital must be equipped to handle, she said.
“Our youngest victim in Maricopa County has been 6 years old, and our oldest has been 67,” she said. “So there are lots of different things that we're looking for to provide support to help that person exit that situation.”
Since Arizona’s trafficking hotline went live in 2023, it has received more than 600 calls — nearly 160 of them between April and June of this year. Most have come from Maricopa County, Roe-Sepowitz said.
The hospital will be built on 9 acres of land in Glendale. Roe-Sepowitz says the location was chosen strategically — close enough to the communities that need help, but far enough from high-trafficking zones to provide a sense of safety and distance.
Preliminary design and care planning are already complete. The facility is currently in the funding phase, with construction expected to begin once certain milestones are met, the company said.
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