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In 2013, the first state level advisory group was established by former Governor Robert F. McDonnell when he signed Executive Directive 7: Comprehensive, Coordinated State Response to the Problem of Human Trafficking. This group was called the Anti-Human Trafficking Coordinating Committee and was comprised of representatives from each state agency. In subsequent years, several pieces of legislation were enacted to support human trafficking prevention and response efforts.

In 2019, the Virginia General Assembly approved the Code of Virginia § 9.1-116.5 which became effective on July 1, 2019. This established a State Trafficking Response Coordinator within the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. This position is to establish a consistent, collaborative, multi-disciplinary response system to working with human trafficking survivors. This includes responding to the case from both a victim services and legal perspective. This position collaborates with state and local government agencies, private providers, non-profits, and other NGOs throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.