SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2015

To establish the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training pilot program to address human trafficking in the health care system. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2015 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) Human trafficking The term human trafficking severe forms of trafficking in persons 22 U.S.C. 7102 (2) Secretary The term Secretary 3. Pilot program establishment (a) In general The Secretary shall establish a pilot program to be known as Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training SOAR to Health and Wellness Training pilot program (b) Objectives The objectives of the pilot program established under subsection (a) shall be to train health care providers and other related providers to enable such providers to— (1) identify potential human trafficking victims; (2) implement proper protocols and procedures for working with law enforcement to report, and facilitate communication with such victims, in accordance with all applicable Federal, State, local, and tribal requirements, including legal confidentiality requirements for patients and health care providers; (3) implement proper protocols and procedures for referring such victims to appropriate social or victims service agencies or organizations; (4) provide such victims care that is— (A) coordinated; (B) victim centered; (C) culturally relevant; (D) comprehensive; (E) evidence based; (F) gender responsive; (G) age appropriate, with a focus on care for youth; and (H) trauma informed; and (5) consider the potential for integrating the training described in paragraphs (1) through (4) with training programs, in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child maltreatment, and child sexual exploitation. (c) Functions (1) In general The functions of the pilot program established under subsection (a) shall include the functions of the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training program that was operating on the day before the date of enactment of this Act and the authorized initiatives described in paragraph (2). (2) Authorized initiatives The authorized initiatives of the pilot program established under subsection (a) shall include— (A) engaging stakeholders, including victims of human trafficking and any Federal, State, local, or tribal partners, to develop a flexible training module— (i) for achieving the objectives described in subsection (b); and (ii) that adapts to changing needs, settings, health care providers, and other related providers; (B) making grants available to support training in health care sites that represent diversity in— (i) geography; (ii) the demographics of the population served; (iii) the predominate types of human trafficking cases; and (iv) health care provider profiles; (C) providing technical assistance for health education programs to implement nationwide health care protocol, or develop continuing education training materials, that assist in achieving the objectives described in subsection (b); (D) developing a strategy to incentivize the utilization of training materials developed under subparagraph (C) and the implementation of nationwide health care protocol described in such subparagraph, as the Secretary determines appropriate; and (E) developing a reliable methodology for collecting data, and reporting such data, on the number of human trafficking victims identified and served in health care settings or other related provider settings. (d) Termination The pilot program established under subsection (a) shall terminate on October 1, 2021. 4. Data collection and reporting requirements (a) Data collection During each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020, the Secretary shall collect data on each of the following: (1) The total number of facilities that were operating under the pilot program established under section 3(a)— (A) during the previous fiscal year; (B) between the previous fiscal year and the date of enactment of this Act; and (C) between the date of enactment of this Act and the date of establishment of the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training program that was operating on the day before the date of enactment of this Act. (2) The total number of health care providers and other related providers trained through the pilot program established under such section— (A) during the previous fiscal year; (B) between the previous fiscal year and the date of enactment of this Act; and (C) between the date of enactment of this Act and the date of establishment of the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training program that was operating on the day before the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Reporting Not later than 90 days after the first day of each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress a report on the data collected under subsection (a). 5. Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020.

Summary: SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2015 This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a pilot program, to be known as Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training (or SOAR to Health and Wellness Training), to provide training to health care providers and other related providers on human trafficking. The objectives of the pilot program shall be to provide training to enable such providers to: identify potential human trafficking victims; implement proper protocols and procedures for working with law enforcement to report and facilitate communication with victims in accordance with all applicable federal, state, local, and tribal requirements; implement proper protocols and procedures for referring victims to social or victims service agencies or organizations; provide such victims care that is coordinated, victim centered, culturally relevant, comprehensive, evidence based, gender responsive, age appropriate, and trauma informed; and consider the potential for integrating such training with existing training programs for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child maltreatment, and child sexual exploitation. Functions of the pilot program shall include the functions of the training program that was operating on the day before this Act's enactment and the following authorized initiatives: engaging stakeholders, including human trafficking victims and any federal, state, local, or tribal partners, to develop a flexible training module that achieves such pilot program objectives and that adapts to changing needs, settings,and providers; making grants available to support training in health care sites that represent diversity in geography, the demographics of the population served, the predominate types of human trafficking cases, and health care provider profiles; providing technical assistance for health education programs to implement a nationwide health care protocol, or to develop continuing education training materials, that assist in achieving such objectives; developing a strategy to incentivize the utilization of training materials developed under this Act and the implementation of a nationwide health care protocol; and developing a reliable methodology for collecting and reporting data on the number of human trafficking victims identified and served in health care settings or other related provider settings. The program shall terminate on October 1, 2021. The bill requires HHS, during each of FY2016-FY2020, to collect data on the number of facilities that were operating under the program, and the total number of health care and related providers trained through the program, during such periods.