Title: Put Trafficking Victims First Act of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Enforcing Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2017
This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ), in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, to provide training and technical assistance to help federal, state, local, and tribal governments combat, and assist victims of, human trafficking.
The National Institute of Justice must:
DOJ must report on efforts to increase mandatory restitution orders and asset forfeiture to provide restitution to victims of trafficking.
Finally, the bill encourages states to implement certain protections for victims of trafficking.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2473 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2473

To ensure compliance with the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 
  2015, to make strides toward eradicating human trafficking, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 16, 2017

 Mrs. Wagner introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure compliance with the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 
  2015, to make strides toward eradicating human trafficking, 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 ``Enforcing Justice for Victims of 
Trafficking Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. TRAINING FOR PROSECUTIONS OF TRAFFICKERS AND SUPPORT FOR STATE 
              SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING.

    The Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, provide training and technical assistance 
for Federal, State, and units of local and tribal government, including 
Federal, State, local, and tribal prosecutors and law enforcement 
officers, in--
            (1) investigating, prosecuting, and preventing severe forms 
        of trafficking in persons through a trauma-informed and victim-
        centered approach that provides services and protections for 
        victims;
            (2) facilitating the provision of evidence-based, trauma-
        informed care and physical and mental health services to 
        persons subject to severe forms of trafficking;
            (3) ensuring that all victims of trafficking who are United 
        States citizens, lawful permanent residents, and foreign 
        nationals are eligible for services;
            (4) ensuring that law enforcement officers and prosecutors 
        make every attempt to determine an individual's participation 
        in human trafficking is free from force, fraud, or coercion of 
        any means before arresting or convicting them;
            (5) facilitating access for child trafficking victims to 
        the same type of court procedures and legal protections 
        accessible to child victims of sexual assault, rape, child 
        sexual abuse, or incest, including the right to not be treated 
        as a criminal; and
            (6) encouraging States to identify victims where they are 
        located, including through efforts that utilize internet 
        outreach, through methods informed by survivors of human 
        trafficking, and to offer help and services that are responsive 
        to victims' needs.

SEC. 3. WORKING TO DEVELOP METHODOLOGY TO ASSESS PREVALENCE OF HUMAN 
              TRAFFICKING.

    (a) Working Group.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National 
        Institute of Justice shall establish an expert working group to 
        identify the methodological barriers hampering data collection 
        on human trafficking, the information that should be collected, 
        and current practices by agencies, task forces, States, cities, 
        research institutions, and organizations working on human 
        trafficking that could be standardized as replicable best 
        practices.
            (2) Pilot testing.--Not later than 3 years after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National 
        Institute of Justice shall implement a series of pilot studies 
        to test promising methodologies studied under paragraph (1).
    (b) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National 
        Institute of Justice, in consultation with the Secretary of 
        Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of the Human 
        Smuggling and Trafficking Center, shall submit to Congress a 
        report on the efforts made in developing a comprehensive 
        national methodology to determine the prevalence of human 
        trafficking in the United States, recommended examples and best 
        practices to determine the prevalence of human trafficking, and 
        the effectiveness of current policies and procedures to address 
        victims' needs, and identify the varying characteristics of 
        victims in different regions.
            (2) Availability of report.--The report required under 
        subsection (a) shall be made publicly available on the website 
        of the Department of Justice.
            (3) Input from relevant parties.--In developing the report 
        under paragraph (1), the Director shall seek input from the 
        United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, victims of 
        human trafficking, human trafficking survivor advocates, and 
        the President's Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking.
    (c) Census.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of Justice, in 
coordination with Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, and 
private organizations, including victim service providers and expert 
researchers, shall develop and execute a census of survivors seeking 
services in a single 24-hour period throughout the United States, as 
pioneered by the domestic violence field, to estimate the prevalence of 
human trafficking in the United States. Census results shall be made 
publicly available on the website of the Department of Justice.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON PROSECUTORS SEEKING MANDATORY RESTITUTION IN 
              TRAFFICKING CASES.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on efforts to 
increase mandatory restitution orders and use of asset forfeiture to 
provide restitution to victims of trafficking that shall be posted on a 
publicly available website, which shall include the following:
            (1) Information on the Department of Justice's training 
        programs on mandatory restitution and the use of asset 
        forfeiture to provide restitution to victims of trafficking, 
        and recommendations of necessary additional training to ensure 
        mandatory restitution is ordered in all relevant human 
        trafficking cases.
            (2) An assessment of obstacles that continue to prevent 
        Federal prosecutors and Federal courts from ordering 
        restitution.
            (3) An assessment of whether the Justice for Victims of 
        Trafficking Act's civil asset forfeiture provisions have helped 
        increase requests to transfer forfeited proceeds for 
        restitution, including how many requests have been made and how 
        many of those requests have been approved, and whether 
        Assistant United States Attorneys Offices are properly informed 
        about requesting transfers.
            (4) An assessment of how establishing trauma-informed, 
        victim-centered investigative and prosecutorial procedures can 
        help improve mandatory restitution orders, such as by 
        encouraging victims to cooperate in criminal cases, to equip 
        victims with proper assistance during criminal proceedings, and 
        to help victims secure mandatory restitution.

SEC. 5. ENCOURAGING STATES TO ADOPT PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF 
              TRAFFICKING.

    Congress recognizes and applauds the State legislative bodies that 
have taken tremendous steps to adopt protections and services for 
victims of trafficking. Congress encourages States to do the following:
            (1) Uphold the basic rights and dignity of human 
        trafficking survivors.
            (2) Implement screening mechanisms for all children 
        entering child welfare services and the juvenile justice 
        system, and for unaccompanied children migrating into the 
        country, to identify child trafficking victims and connect them 
        with appropriate services.
            (3) Ensure that child trafficking victims are provided with 
        the full range of protections, including access to child 
        welfare services, trauma-informed programming, and the same 
        legal rights afforded to other children who experience sexual 
        abuse, rape, or incest, including ensuring that criminals who 
        exploit child sex trafficking victims are not given lesser 
        sentences and penalties than criminals who exploit children 
        through sexual abuse, rape, or incest; and ensuring that child 
        trafficking victims are never referred to as ``child 
        prostitutes'' or ``underage sex workers'' in law or official 
        documents and proceedings.
            (4) Develop a 24-hour emergency response plan to provide 
        victims of labor and sex trafficking with immediate protection 
        and support when they are first identified, which may include 
        physically moving victims of trafficking to a place of safety, 
        attending to the immediate medical and emotional needs of 
        survivors, assessing whether survivors are under risk for harm, 
        retaliation, or intimidation, and directly connecting survivors 
        with victim advocates, housing, and service providers.
            (5) Adopt protections for victims of human trafficking that 
        include the right--
                    (A) to be treated as a victim of crime and afforded 
                justice, respect, and dignity;
                    (B) to protection if the victim's safety is at risk 
                or if there is danger of harm, retaliation, or 
                recapture by the trafficker;
                    (C) to comprehensive trauma-informed, long-term, 
                culturally competent care and healing services oriented 
                toward emotional, physical, psychological, and family 
                healing;
                    (D) to evidence-based screening and assessment 
                tools, treatment plans, and therapy to address 
                traumatic stress and associated mental health symptoms;
                    (E) to safe and effective emergency and long-term 
                housing; education, vocational, and job assistance and 
                training; mentoring programs; language assistance; drug 
                and substance abuse services; and legal services;
                    (F) for child sex trafficking victims to be treated 
                as children in need of child protective services and to 
                be served through the child welfare system, where 
                appropriate, in place of the juvenile justice system;
                    (G) for all victims of trafficking who are United 
                States citizens, lawful permanent residents, and 
                foreign nationals to be eligible for services;
                    (H) to have convictions and adjudications related 
                to prostitution and nonviolent offenses vacated and 
                such records cleared and expunged if offenses were 
                committed as a direct result of the victim being 
                trafficked, and protection for foreign nationals from 
                being removed, being determined to be inadmissible, or 
                losing any immigration benefit because of such 
                conviction or arrests;
                    (I) to the same type of court procedures and legal 
                protections accessible to victims of sexual assault, 
                rape, child sexual abuse, or incest, including the 
                right to not be treated as a criminal;
                    (J) to be informed and notified in writing of the 
                survivor's legal rights, including the availability of 
                victim compensation, mandatory restitution, and a civil 
                cause of action; the availability of protective orders 
                and policies related to their enforcement; and the 
                rights and services available to the victim under 
                section 2771 of title 18, United States Code; and
                    (K) to retain all rights regardless of whether the 
                crime has been reported to law enforcement.
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