Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act
Bill: H.R.4989 | Sponsor: Rep. Buchanan, Vern (R-FL)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act
This bill establishes demonstration grants to train students, teachers, and school personnel how to better understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to human trafficking and the exploitation of children and youth. Eligible grantees include nonprofits, state and local educational agencies, and elementary and secondary schools.
The Office on Trafficking in Persons within the Administration for Children and Families must award the grants.

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''.

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 human trafficking 
                                and exploitation prevention curricula 
                                for students, teachers, or school 
                                personnel in elementary school and 
                                secondary school that is--
                                            ``(aa) age-appropriate;
                                            ``(bb) culturally 
                                        competent;
                                            ``(cc) evidence based;
                                            ``(dd) validated by 
                                        university research partners;
                                            ``(ee) inclusive of K-12 
                                        students;
                                            ``(ff) adaptive to all 
                                        regions;
                                            ``(gg) inclusive of all 
                                        children; and
                                            ``(hh) based on vetted and 
                                        proven materials that have been 
                                        tested over a 3-year run of 
                                        success;
                                    ``(II) training students, teachers, 
                                or school personnel in identification 
                                and proper response to human 
                                trafficking described in paragraph (1); 
                                and
                                    ``(III) creating a scalable, 
                                repeatable `Train the Trainer' program 
                                (defined as a program that trains 
                                instructors who can teach material to 
                                other instructors) 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, the Administrator 
                        for the Office of Juvenile Justice and 
                        Delinquency Prevention, the Director of the 
                        Office for Victims of Crime, 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 all grant funds under this subsection 
                are awarded to applicants who serve K-12 students.
                    ``(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 2022 through 2026.''.
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