I 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Trafficking 

5 and Exploitation Prevention Training Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the National Human Traf4 ficking Hotline, operated by the National Human 

5 Trafficking Resource Center, there is no single pro6 file for trafficking survivors—trafficking survivors 

7 include adults and minors from rural, suburban, and 

8 urban communities across the country. Survivors of 

9 human trafficking have diverse socioeconomic back10 grounds, varied levels of education, and may be doc11 umented or undocumented. According to the 2018 

12 Trafficking In Persons Report produced by the De13 partment of State, the Department of Justice, the 

14 National Human Trafficking Resource Center, and 

15 Youth.gov, vulnerable populations and risk factors 

16 for human trafficking include— 

17 (A) children in the child welfare and juve18 nile justice systems; 

19 (B) runaway youth; 

20 (C) homeless youth; 

21 (D) youth forced to leave home by parents 

22 or caregivers with no alternate care arranged; 

23 (E) unaccompanied children; 

24 (F) American Indians and Alaska Natives; 


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1 (G) migrant laborers, including undocu2 mented workers and individuals with temporary 

3 visas; 

4 (H) recent migration or relocation; 

5 (I) persons with disabilities; 

6 (J) LGBTI individuals; 

7 (K) people of color; 

8 (L) those with limited-English proficiency; 

9 (M) low literacy; 

10 (N) substance abuse; 

11 (O) mental health issues; 

12 (P) past trauma or violence; 

13 (Q) stigma or discrimination; 

14 (R) family conflict, disruption, or dysfunc15 tion; 

16 (S) community-level risk factors such as 

17 peer pressure, social norms, social isolation, 

18 gang involvement, and living in an under19 resourced school, neighborhood, or community; 

20 and 

21 (T) society-level risk factors such as lack 

22 of awareness of commercial exploitation and 

23 human trafficking, sexualization of children, 

24 and lack of resources. 


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1 (2) According to the National Human Traf2 ficking Resource Center, human trafficking survivors 

3 have been identified in cities, suburbs, and rural 

4 areas in all 50 States, and in Washington, DC. The 

5 3 States with the highest incidents of human traf6 ficking cases reported via phone calls, emails, and 

7 online tips to the National Human Trafficking Hot8 line in 2018 were California, Texas, and Florida, re9 spectively. 

10 (3) According to the National Human Traf11 ficking Resource Center, the top recruitment meth12 ods used by sex traffickers based on self-reported 

13 data from survivors involve an intimate partner or 

14 marriage proposition, family members, individuals 

15 posing as a benefactor, offers of employment, or in16 dividuals perpetrating fraud or offering false prom17 ises. 

18 (4) According to the National Center on Safe 

19 Supportive Learning Environments, traffickers may 

20 systematically target vulnerable children by fre21 quenting locations where children congregate—malls, 

22 schools, bus and train stations, and group homes, 

23 among other locations. Traffickers also use peers or 

24 classmates who befriend the target and slowly groom 

25 the child for the trafficker by bringing the child 


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1 along to parties and other activities. According to 

2 Common Sense Media, nearly all children age 8 and 

3 under live in a home with some type of mobile device 

4 and use it every day. This is especially concerning 

5 given that traffickers often recruit through social 

6 media platforms and other websites. 

7 (5) Those within vulnerable populations are 

8 often exploited or groomed for entry into human 

9 trafficking at a very young age. According to a 2005 

10 clinical report, ‘‘The Evaluation of Sexual Abuse in 

11 Children’’, published by the American Academy of 

12 Pediatrics, studies have suggested that each year ap13 proximately 739,000 children experience some form 

14 of sexual abuse, resulting in the sexual victimization 

15 of 12 percent to 25 percent of girls and 8 percent 

16 to 10 percent of boys before the age of 18. 

17 (6) Sex trafficking and exploitation can take 

18 many harmful forms, including a lesser-known but 

19 just as damaging form of uncoerced exploitation re20 ferred to as ‘‘survival sex’’, meaning the exchange of 

21 sex for basic needs including clothing, food, shelter, 

22 or other basic necessities. Survival sex does not in23 volve a third-party trafficker or exploiter, and often 

24 affects youth, including those who are homeless, 

25 runaways, or housing-insecure, who lack the finanVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4388.IH H4388

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1 cial resources, job readiness, support system, or op2 portunity to afford or access these basic necessities. 

3 (7) Training students, teachers, and school per4 sonnel to understand, recognize, and respond to 

5 signs of human trafficking and exploitation in chil6 dren and youth is invaluable in the effort to identify 

7 and prevent human trafficking and exploitation be8 fore it occurs. According to the National Human 

9 Trafficking Resource Center, the widespread lack of 

10 awareness and understanding of human trafficking 

11 leads to low levels of survivor identification by the 

12 people who most often encounter them. Survivors of 

13 human trafficking are often forced to work or pro14 vide commercial sex against their will in legal and le15 gitimate business settings or underground markets. 

16 It is often the case that those who are being ex17 ploited or trafficked are in plain view and may inter18 act with community members, underscoring the ur19 gent need for the expansion of training programs to 

20 increase awareness and prevention activities in com21 munities across the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO TRAIN STUDENTS, 

2 TEACHERS, AND SCHOOL PERSONNEL TO UN3 DERSTAND, RECOGNIZE, PREVENT, AND RE4 SPOND TO SIGNS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING 

5 AND CHILD EXPLOITATION. 

6 Section 582 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 290hh–1) is amended— 

8 (1) by resdesignating subsections (j) and (k) as 

9 subsections (k) and (l), respectively; 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(j) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO TRAIN STU13 DENTS, TEACHERS, AND SCHOOL PERSONNEL TO UN14 DERSTAND, RECOGNIZE, PREVENT, AND RESPOND TO

15 SIGNS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND CHILD EXPLOI16 TATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office 

18 on Trafficking in Persons of the Administration for 

19 Children and Families (in this subsection referred to 

20 as the ‘Director’) shall carry out a demonstration 

21 project for training students, teachers, and school 

22 personnel at elementary schools and secondary 

23 schools to understand, recognize, prevent, and re24 spond to signs of human trafficking and exploitation 

25 in children and youth. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROJECT ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the 

2 demonstration project under this subsection, the Di3 rector shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) approve vendors pursuant to para5 graph (3); 

6 ‘‘(B) award grants pursuant to paragraph 

7 (4); 

8 ‘‘(C) develop a reliable methodology for 

9 vendors and grantees to collect, and report to 

10 the Director, in a manner that prevents disclo11 sure of individually identifiable information con12 sistent with all applicable privacy laws and reg13 ulations, data on the number of human traf14 ficking survivors identified and served pursuant 

15 to this subsection, the number of students in el16 ementary school or secondary school identified 

17 as being at risk of being trafficked or exploited, 

18 and the demographics of such survivors and 

19 students at risk; and 

20 ‘‘(D) assist entities that are eligible for 

21 grants under paragraph (4) in developing prop22 er protocols and procedures to— 

23 ‘‘(i) work with law enforcement to re24 port, and facilitate communication with, 


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1 human trafficking survivors and exploited 

2 children; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) refer human trafficking survivors 

4 and exploited children to appropriate social 

5 or survivor service agencies or organiza6 tions. 

7 ‘‘(3) VENDORS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

9 demonstration project under this subsection, 

10 the Director shall approve a list of nonprofit or11 ganizations as verified vendors— 

12 ‘‘(i) to develop or make available cur13 ricula for the training described in para14 graph (1); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) to implement such training in ac16 cordance with such curricula. 

17 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In approving 

18 vendors under this subsection, the Director 

19 shall give consideration to whether the non20 profit organization— 

21 ‘‘(i) engages stakeholders, including 

22 survivors of human trafficking, and Fed23 eral, State, local, and Tribal partners, to 

24 develop the curricula; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) has a demonstrated expertise 

2 in— 

3 ‘‘(I) developing age-appropriate, 

4 culturally competent, and gender-re5 sponsive human trafficking and ex6 ploitation prevention curricula for stu7 dents, teachers, or school personnel in 

8 elementary school and secondary 

9 school; 

10 ‘‘(II) training students, teachers, 

11 or school personnel described in para12 graph (1); and 

13 ‘‘(III) creating a scalable, repeat14 able program that employs appro15 priate technology tools and methodolo16 gies, including measurement and 

17 training curricula. 

18 ‘‘(4) GRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

20 demonstration project under this subsection, 

21 the Director shall award grants to eligible enti22 ties to implement the training described in 

23 paragraph (1) in accordance with the curricula 

24 developed and made available by verified ven25 dors pursuant to paragraph (3). 


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1 ‘‘(B) DIVERSITY OF GRANTS.—In award2 ing grants under this subsection, the Director 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) consult with the Director of the 

5 Bureau of Justice Assistance and the head 

6 of the Office of Partnership and Engage7 ment of the Department of Homeland Se8 curity to identify the geographic areas in 

9 the United States with the highest preva10 lence of reported human trafficking in11 stances for children, aged 5 through 17; 

12 ‘‘(ii) consult, as appropriate, with the 

13 Secretary of Education, the Secretary of 

14 Housing and Urban Development, the Sec15 retary of Labor, and the Attorney General 

16 of the United States to identify the geo17 graphic areas in the United States with 

18 the highest prevalence of at risk, vulner19 able, or underserved populations, including 

20 homeless youth, foster youth, youth in21 volved in the child welfare system, and 

22 runaways; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) give priority to eligible entities 

24 located in, or primarily serving, one or 


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1 more areas identified pursuant to clause (i) 

2 or (ii). 

3 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDING.— 

4 The Director shall ensure that— 

5 ‘‘(i) 40 percent of the grant funds 

6 under this subsection are awarded to appli7 cants to serve elementary school students 

8 and teachers; 

9 ‘‘(ii) 40 percent of the grant funds 

10 under this subsection are awarded to appli11 cants to serve middle grades students and 

12 teachers; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) 20 percent of the grant funds 

14 under this subsection are awarded to appli15 cants to serve high school students and 

16 teachers. 

17 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

18 term ‘eligible entity’ includes a nonprofit orga19 nization, an elementary school, a local edu20 cational agency, a secondary school, and a State 

21 educational agency. 

22 ‘‘(5) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 

24 collect, and report to the Congress, data on the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The total number of entities that 

2 received a grant under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The total number of elementary 

4 and secondary schools that established 

5 proper protocols and procedures through 

6 program development. 

7 ‘‘(iii) The total number and geo8 graphic distribution of students, teachers, 

9 and school personnel trained pursuant to 

10 this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(iv) The results of pretraining and 

12 posttraining surveys to gauge increased 

13 understanding and recognition of signs of 

14 human trafficking and exploitation in chil15 dren and youth. 

16 ‘‘(v) The number of human trafficking 

17 survivors and exploited children identified 

18 and served by vendors and grantees under 

19 this subsection, excluding any individually 

20 identifiable information about such sur21 vivors and children. 

22 ‘‘(vi) The number of students in ele23 mentary school or secondary school identi24 fied by vendors and grantees under this 

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1 ficked or exploited, excluding any individ2 ually identifiable information about such 

3 survivors. 

4 ‘‘(vii) The demographics of human 

5 trafficking survivors, exploited children, 

6 and students at risk of being trafficked or 

7 exploited described in clauses (v) and (vi), 

8 excluding any individually identifiable in9 formation about such survivors, children, 

10 and students. 

11 ‘‘(viii) Any best practices identified by 

12 the grantees under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) submit a report under subpara16 graph (A) not later than 1 year after the 

17 date of enactment of this subsection and 

18 annually thereafter; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) prepare and submit each such re20 port in a manner that prevents the disclo21 sure of individually identifiable information 

22 consistent with all applicable privacy laws 

23 and regulations. 

24 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The terms ‘elementary school’, ‘local 

2 educational agency’, ‘middle grades’, ‘secondary 

3 school’, and ‘State educational agency’ have the 

4 meanings given to those terms in section 8101 

5 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

6 Act of 1965. 

7 ‘‘(B) The term ‘school personnel’ includes 

8 school resource officers, school nurses, school 

9 counselors, school principals, school administra10 tors, and other school leadership.’’; and 

11 (3) in subsection (k) (authorizing appropria12 tions), as redesignated by paragraph (1)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘There is authorized to be 

14 appropriated to carry out this section’’ and in15 serting the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

17 appropriated to carry out this section (other than 

18 subsection (j))’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FUNDING.— 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

22 subsection (j) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

23 2020 through 2024.’’. 

Æ 


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