[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4388 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4388
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the
implementation of curricula for training students, teachers, and school
personnel to understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to signs of
human trafficking and exploitation in children and youth, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 18, 2019
Mr. Hastings (for himself, Mr. Buchanan, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and Mr.
Steube) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the
implementation of curricula for training students, teachers, and school
personnel to understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to signs of
human trafficking and exploitation in children and youth, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Human Trafficking and Exploitation
Prevention Training Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline,
operated by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center,
there is no single profile for trafficking survivors--
trafficking survivors include adults and minors from rural,
suburban, and urban communities across the country. Survivors
of human trafficking have diverse socioeconomic backgrounds,
varied levels of education, and may be documented or
undocumented. According to the 2018 Trafficking In Persons
Report produced by the Department of State, the Department of
Justice, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, and
Youth.gov, vulnerable populations and risk factors for human
trafficking include--
(A) children in the child welfare and juvenile
justice systems;
(B) runaway youth;
(C) homeless youth;
(D) youth forced to leave home by parents or
caregivers with no alternate care arranged;
(E) unaccompanied children;
(F) American Indians and Alaska Natives;
(G) migrant laborers, including undocumented
workers and individuals with temporary visas;
(H) recent migration or relocation;
(I) persons with disabilities;
(J) LGBTI individuals;
(K) people of color;
(L) those with limited-English proficiency;
(M) low literacy;
(N) substance abuse;
(O) mental health issues;
(P) past trauma or violence;
(Q) stigma or discrimination;
(R) family conflict, disruption, or dysfunction;
(S) community-level risk factors such as peer
pressure, social norms, social isolation, gang
involvement, and living in an under-resourced school,
neighborhood, or community; and
(T) society-level risk factors such as lack of
awareness of commercial exploitation and human
trafficking, sexualization of children, and lack of
resources.
(2) According to the National Human Trafficking Resource
Center, human trafficking survivors have been identified in
cities, suburbs, and rural areas in all 50 States, and in
Washington, DC. The 3 States with the highest incidents of
human trafficking cases reported via phone calls, emails, and
online tips to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2018
were California, Texas, and Florida, respectively.
(3) According to the National Human Trafficking Resource
Center, the top recruitment methods used by sex traffickers
based on self-reported data from survivors involve an intimate
partner or marriage proposition, family members, individuals
posing as a benefactor, offers of employment, or individuals
perpetrating fraud or offering false promises.
(4) According to the National Center on Safe Supportive
Learning Environments, traffickers may systematically target
vulnerable children by frequenting locations where children
congregate--malls, schools, bus and train stations, and group
homes, among other locations. Traffickers also use peers or
classmates who befriend the target and slowly groom the child
for the trafficker by bringing the child along to parties and
other activities. According to Common Sense Media, nearly all
children age 8 and under live in a home with some type of
mobile device and use it every day. This is especially
concerning given that traffickers often recruit through social
media platforms and other websites.
(5) Those within vulnerable populations are often exploited
or groomed for entry into human trafficking at a very young
age. According to a 2005 clinical report, ``The Evaluation of
Sexual Abuse in Children'', published by the American Academy
of Pediatrics, studies have suggested that each year
approximately 739,000 children experience some form of sexual
abuse, resulting in the sexual victimization of 12 percent to
25 percent of girls and 8 percent to 10 percent of boys before
the age of 18.
(6) Sex trafficking and exploitation can take many harmful
forms, including a lesser-known but just as damaging form of
uncoerced exploitation referred to as ``survival sex'', meaning
the exchange of sex for basic needs including clothing, food,
shelter, or other basic necessities. Survival sex does not
involve a third-party trafficker or exploiter, and often
affects youth, including those who are homeless, runaways, or
housing-insecure, who lack the financial resources, job
readiness, support system, or opportunity to afford or access
these basic necessities.
(7) Training students, teachers, and school personnel to
understand, recognize, and respond to signs of human
trafficking and exploitation in children and youth is
invaluable in the effort to identify and prevent human
trafficking and exploitation before it occurs. According to the
National Human Trafficking Resource Center, the widespread lack
of awareness and understanding of human trafficking leads to
low levels of survivor identification by the people who most
often encounter them. Survivors of human trafficking are often
forced to work or provide commercial sex against their will in
legal and legitimate business settings or underground markets.
It is often the case that those who are being exploited or
trafficked are in plain view and may interact with community
members, underscoring the urgent need for the expansion of
training programs to increase awareness and prevention
activities in communities across the United States.
SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO TRAIN STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND SCHOOL
PERSONNEL TO UNDERSTAND, RECOGNIZE, PREVENT, AND RESPOND
TO SIGNS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND CHILD EXPLOITATION.
Section 582 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh-1) is
amended--
(1) by resdesignating subsections (j) and (k) as
subsections (k) and (l), respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
``(j) Demonstration Project To Train Students, Teachers, and School
Personnel To Understand, Recognize, Prevent, and Respond to Signs of
Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation.--
``(1) In general.--The Director of the Office on
Trafficking in Persons of the Administration for Children and
Families (in this subsection referred to as the `Director')
shall carry out a demonstration project for training students,
teachers, and school personnel at elementary schools and
secondary schools to understand, recognize, prevent, and
respond to signs of human trafficking and exploitation in
children and youth.
``(2) Project activities.--In carrying out the
demonstration project under this subsection, the Director
shall--
``(A) approve vendors pursuant to paragraph (3);
``(B) award grants pursuant to paragraph (4);
``(C) develop a reliable methodology for vendors
and grantees to collect, and report to the Director, in
a manner that prevents disclosure of individually
identifiable information consistent with all applicable
privacy laws and regulations, data on the number of
human trafficking survivors identified and served
pursuant to this subsection, the number of students in
elementary school or secondary school identified as
being at risk of being trafficked or exploited, and the
demographics of such survivors and students at risk;
and
``(D) assist entities that are eligible for grants
under paragraph (4) in developing proper protocols and
procedures to--
``(i) work with law enforcement to report,
and facilitate communication with, human
trafficking survivors and exploited children;
and
``(ii) refer human trafficking survivors
and exploited children to appropriate social or
survivor service agencies or organizations.
``(3) Vendors.--
``(A) In general.--In carrying out the
demonstration project under this subsection, the
Director shall approve a list of nonprofit
organizations as verified vendors--
``(i) to develop or make available
curricula for the training described in
paragraph (1); and
``(ii) to implement such training in
accordance with such curricula.
``(B) Considerations.--In approving vendors under
this subsection, the Director shall give consideration
to whether the nonprofit organization--
``(i) engages stakeholders, including
survivors of human trafficking, and Federal,
State, local, and Tribal partners, to develop
the curricula; and
``(ii) has a demonstrated expertise in--
``(I) developing age-appropriate,
culturally competent, and gender-
responsive human trafficking and
exploitation prevention curricula for
students, teachers, or school personnel
in elementary school and secondary
school;
``(II) training students, teachers,
or school personnel described in
paragraph (1); and
``(III) creating a scalable,
repeatable program that employs
appropriate technology tools and
methodologies, including measurement
and training curricula.
``(4) Grants.--
``(A) In general.--In carrying out the
demonstration project under this subsection, the
Director shall award grants to eligible entities to
implement the training described in paragraph (1) in
accordance with the curricula developed and made
available by verified vendors pursuant to paragraph
(3).
``(B) Diversity of grants.--In awarding grants
under this subsection, the Director shall--
``(i) consult with the Director of the
Bureau of Justice Assistance and the head of
the Office of Partnership and Engagement of the
Department of Homeland Security to identify the
geographic areas in the United States with the
highest prevalence of reported human
trafficking instances for children, aged 5
through 17;
``(ii) consult, as appropriate, with the
Secretary of Education, the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of
Labor, and the Attorney General of the United
States to identify the geographic areas in the
United States with the highest prevalence of at
risk, vulnerable, or underserved populations,
including homeless youth, foster youth, youth
involved in the child welfare system, and
runaways; and
``(iii) give priority to eligible entities
located in, or primarily serving, one or more
areas identified pursuant to clause (i) or
(ii).
``(C) Allocation of grant funding.--The Director
shall ensure that--
``(i) 40 percent of the grant funds under
this subsection are awarded to applicants to
serve elementary school students and teachers;
``(ii) 40 percent of the grant funds under
this subsection are awarded to applicants to
serve middle grades students and teachers; and
``(iii) 20 percent of the grant funds under
this subsection are awarded to applicants to
serve high school students and teachers.
``(D) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term
`eligible entity' includes a nonprofit organization, an
elementary school, a local educational agency, a
secondary school, and a State educational agency.
``(5) Data collection and reporting.--
``(A) In general.--The Director shall collect, and
report to the Congress, data on the following:
``(i) The total number of entities that
received a grant under this subsection.
``(ii) The total number of elementary and
secondary schools that established proper
protocols and procedures through program
development.
``(iii) The total number and geographic
distribution of students, teachers, and school
personnel trained pursuant to this subsection.
``(iv) The results of pretraining and
posttraining surveys to gauge increased
understanding and recognition of signs of human
trafficking and exploitation in children and
youth.
``(v) The number of human trafficking
survivors and exploited children identified and
served by vendors and grantees under this
subsection, excluding any individually
identifiable information about such survivors
and children.
``(vi) The number of students in elementary
school or secondary school identified by
vendors and grantees under this subsection as
being at risk of being trafficked or exploited,
excluding any individually identifiable
information about such survivors.
``(vii) The demographics of human
trafficking survivors, exploited children, and
students at risk of being trafficked or
exploited described in clauses (v) and (vi),
excluding any individually identifiable
information about such survivors, children, and
students.
``(viii) Any best practices identified by
the grantees under this subsection.
``(B) Annual report.--The Director shall--
``(i) submit a report under subparagraph
(A) not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this subsection and annually
thereafter; and
``(ii) prepare and submit each such report
in a manner that prevents the disclosure of
individually identifiable information
consistent with all applicable privacy laws and
regulations.
``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) The terms `elementary school', `local
educational agency', `middle grades', `secondary
school', and `State educational agency' have the
meanings given to those terms in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(B) The term `school personnel' includes school
resource officers, school nurses, school counselors,
school principals, school administrators, and other
school leadership.''; and
(3) in subsection (k) (authorizing appropriations), as
redesignated by paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section'' and inserting
the following:
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section (other than subsection (j))''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Demonstration project funding.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to carry out subsection (j) $15,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.''.
<all>
Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act of 2019
#4388 | HR Congress #116
Policy Area: Health
Subjects: Child healthChild safety and welfareCongressional oversightCrime preventionCrime victimsEducation programs fundingElementary and secondary educationEmployment and training programsHealth programs administration and fundingHuman traffickingLaw enforcement administration and fundingSchool administrationTeaching, teachers, curricula
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (9/19/2019)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text