I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2730 

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to better enable 

State child welfare agencies to prevent human trafficking of children 

and serve the needs of children who are victims of human trafficking, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2011 

Ms. BASS of California (for herself, Mr. MARINO, Mr. PAYNE, and Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to better enable State child welfare agencies to prevent 

human trafficking of children and serve the needs of 

children who are victims of human trafficking, 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 ‘‘Strengthening the 

5 Child Welfare Response to Human Trafficking Act of 

6 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING LOCAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT TRAF2 FICKING AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION. 

3 (a) EMPLOYEE TRAINING GUIDELINES AND RE4 SOURCES.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

5 shall develop and publish guidelines (including a list of 

6 recommended experts in the field) for use by State child 

7 welfare agencies in training appropriate child welfare em8 ployees and court employees in identifying, documenting, 

9 educating, and counseling children being provided services 

10 by the agencies who are at risk of becoming a victim of 

11 trafficking (as defined in section 103(14) of the Traf12 ficking Victims Protection Act of 2000) or who are human 

13 trafficking victims who may need to be in the care of the 

14 child welfare system. The guidelines should also include 

15 tips on how the child welfare employee can effectively en16 gage, educate, and support the parents of such a child vic17 tims, if appropriate. 

18 (b) BEST PRACTICES TOOLKIT.—The Secretary of 

19 Health and Human Services shall develop and publish 

20 guidelines that contain recommendations on how State 

21 child welfare agencies may prevent children from becoming 

22 a victim of trafficking (as defined in section 103(14) of 

23 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000), which 

24 should include advice on how State and local law enforce25 ment agencies may collaborate proactively with non-profit 

26 organizations on how to manage cases involving a child 


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1 who is such a victim. In developing the best practices tool2 kit, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is en3 couraged to utilize multi-disciplinary research, peer-re4 viewed research, evidence-based treatments and programs, 

5 and input from child welfare agencies that have developed 

6 human trafficking specific programs, and to consult ap7 propriate agencies throughout the Federal Government 

8 such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Traf9 ficking in Persons Office of the Department of State. The 

10 Secretary of Health and Human Services should also con11 sider how the Department of Health and Human Services 

12 can best provide support to monitor and evaluate existing 

13 and related programs at State and county agencies and 

14 outline these support mechanisms in the best practices 

15 toolkit. 

16 (c) RESIDENTIAL SAFE HAVENS.—The Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services shall draft recommendations 

18 for State child welfare agencies on how to best update li19 censing requirements for child-care institutions so that 

20 specialized, long-term residential facilities or safe havens 

21 serving children who are human trafficking victims can 

22 qualify as child-care institutions under part E of title IV 

23 of the Social Security Act, so that such children who are 

24 in the care of the State may receive the best care and 

25 services possible. 


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1 (d) STREAMLINE DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT2 ING.—Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

5 (32); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (33) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(34) provides that— 

10 ‘‘(A) the records of the agency classify 

11 each child to whom the agency is providing 

12 child welfare services and whom the agency has 

13 identified as being a victim of trafficking (as 

14 defined in section 103(14) of the Trafficking 

15 Victims Protection Act of 2000), as a child 

16 trafficking victim, and specify the reasons why 

17 the child is so classified; 

18 ‘‘(B) each report submitted by the agency 

19 to the data collection system established under 

20 section 479 includes information on each child 

21 so classified; and 

22 ‘‘(C) the agency shall report the identity of 

23 each child to whom the agency is providing 

24 child welfare services and who is missing or has 

25 been abducted, immediately to appropriate law 


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1 enforcement agencies for entry into the Na2 tional Crime Information Center database.’’. 

3 (e) DOCUMENTATION OF CHILD SAFETY AND RE4 LATED SPECIALIZED SERVICES.—Section 475(1) of such 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 675(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(H) In the case of a child classified by 

8 the State agency as a victim of trafficking (as 

9 defined in section 103(14) of the Trafficking 

10 Victims Protection Act of 2000), a documenta11 tion of the measures taken to ensure the safety 

12 of the child in the placement and of the extent 

13 to which the child is receiving services designed 

14 specifically to meet the needs of trafficked chil15 dren, such as intensive case management, men16 tal health counseling, security services, lan17 guage, and cultural competency.’’. 

18 (f) EXTEND SERVICES FOR TRAFFICKED YOUTH TO

19 AGE 21.—Section 477(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 677(a)) 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (6); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(8) to ensure that each child in foster care and 

2 each former foster care recipient who is a victim of 

3 trafficking (as defined in section 103(14) of the 

4 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000) is able 

5 to access the services described in section 475(1)(H) 

6 of this Act until the child attains 21 years of age.’’. 

7 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro9 vided in this section, this section and the amend10 ments made by this section shall take effect on Jan11 uary 1, 2012. 

12 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

13 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved 

14 under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

15 which the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

16 determines requires State legislation (other than leg17 islation appropriating funds) in order for the plan to 

18 meet the additional requirements imposed by this 

19 section, the State plan shall not be regarded as fail20 ing to comply with the requirements of such part 

21 solely on the basis of the failure of the plan to meet 

22 such additional requirements before the 1st day of 

23 the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the close of 

24 the 1st regular session of the State legislature that 

25 ends after the 1-year period beginning with the date 


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1 of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of the 

2 preceding sentence, in the case of a State that has 

3 a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session 

4 is deemed to be a separate regular session of the 

5 State legislature. 

6 SEC. 3. PROVISION OF SERVICES BY CHILD WELFARE 

7 AGENCIES TO PREVENT HUMAN TRAF8 FICKING OF CHILDREN, AND TO SERVE THE 

9 NEEDS OF CHILDREN WHO ARE VICTIMS OF 

10 HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

11 Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 671(a)), as amended by section 2(d) of this Act, is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

15 (33); 

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (34) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(35) not later than January 1, 2013, describes 

20 the practices and future plans of the State child wel21 fare agency regarding the human trafficking and 

22 commercial sexual exploitation of foreign, United 

23 States citizen, and legal resident children, includ24 ing— 


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1 ‘‘(A) collaborations with local and State 

2 agencies and nonprofit organizations to identify 

3 and care for children believed or confirmed to 

4 be, or at-risk of becoming victims of a severe 

5 form of human trafficking; 

6 ‘‘(B) training for the child welfare employ7 ees who are likely to come into contact with 

8 child victims of human trafficking; 

9 ‘‘(C) jurisdictional limits and other issues 

10 that hinder State child welfare response to aid 

11 child victims of human trafficking; 

12 ‘‘(D) data collection regarding children 

13 identified by child welfare services as victims of 

14 trafficking and, if known, the relationship be15 tween the child and the exploiter; and 

16 ‘‘(E) prevention education to families and 

17 at-risk children, including runaway and home18 less youth, regarding human trafficking and 

19 commercial sexual exploitation.’’. 

Æ 


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