Domestic Human Trafficking Legislation in the 114th Congress
Released: 2015-04-16T00:00:00

The 114 th Congress has made fighting trafficking in persons (TIP) within the United States a legislative priority. TIP is of significant interest to the United States as a serious human rights concern and a prolific area of contemporary criminal activity. TIP is both an international and domestic crime that involves violations of labor, public health, and human rights standards, as well as criminal law.

The United States is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subject to trafficking in persons. Human trafficking occurs in every state, and it victimizes both U.S. citizens and noncitizens. There are no current, reliable data on the number of individuals trafficked in the United States. However, some have suggested as many as 17,500 may be trafficked into the country each year, and perhaps 100,000 U.S. citizen children may be victims of trafficking within the United States. The trafficking of individuals within U.S. borders is commonly referred to as domestic human trafficking; it occurs primarily for labor, most often in domestic service, agriculture, manufacturing, janitorial services, hotel services, construction, health and elder care, hair and nail salons, and strip club dancing. However, more investigations and prosecutions have taken place for sex trafficking offenses than for labor trafficking offenses.

Noncitizens are more susceptible than U.S. citizens to labor trafficking, and more foreign victims are found in labor trafficking than in sex trafficking. Migrant labor camps tend to be common settings for labor exploitation and domestic trafficking. Although labor trafficking can happen to U.S. citizens, significantly more U.S. citizens are found in sex trafficking than in labor trafficking. Research indicates that most of the victims of sex trafficking into and within the United States are women and children.

Domestically, anti-TIP efforts include protection for victims, education of the public, and the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offenses. The Departments of Justice (DOJ), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Labor (DOL) have programs or administer grants to other entities to provide assistance specific to the needs of trafficking victims. This includes temporary housing, independent living skills, cultural orientation, transportation, job training, mental health counseling, and legal assistance. A number of federal agencies administer public awareness campaigns on recognizing human trafficking victims. The majority of cases investigated at the federal level are handled by agents in DOJ's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS') U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), among others, who coordinate as appropriate. These cases are prosecuted by DOJ.

For more than a decade, Congress has been actively legislating to counter domestic human trafficking. Through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, Division A of P.L. 106-386 ) and its four reauthorizations (TVPRAs), Congress has aimed to eliminate human trafficking within the United States by creating domestic grant programs for both victims and law enforcement, enhancing criminal laws, and conducting oversight on the effectiveness and implications of U.S. anti-TIP policy. The most recent reauthorization of the TVPA was in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Title XII of P.L. 113-4 ). In addition to making other changes to the act, Congress reauthorized the grant programs through FY2017.

This report discusses domestic human trafficking-related issues that have received legislative action or are of significant interest in the 114 th Congress. It accompanies CRS Report RL34317, Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress , by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]; and CRS Report R41878, Sex Trafficking of Children in the United States: Overview and Issues for Congress , by [author name scrubbed], [author name scrubbed], and [author name scrubbed].

Definition of Human Trafficking

Federal statutes do not formally define human trafficking or trafficking in persons. Instead, the TVPA defines "severe forms of trafficking in persons" to mean

(A) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or

(B) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

There appears to be a consensus among experts that the prostitution of minors fits the definition of "severe forms of trafficking in persons" as defined under the TVPA.

Select Anti-trafficking Legislation in the 114th Congress

This report examines the trafficking-related provisions in legislation that has at least been reported out of committee in the 114 th Congress. Where applicable, it discusses companion legislation that may not have been considered in committee and related legislation in the 113 th Congress. The legislation includes the following:

Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 159 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 181 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. To Improve the Response to Victims of Child Sex Trafficking ( H.R. 246 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation Act of 2015 (SAVE Act, H.R. 285 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015 ( H.R. 350 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. Human Trafficking Prevention Act ( H.R. 357 ), as passed by the House on January 26, 2015. Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2015 ( H.R. 398 ; S. 205 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. Human Trafficking Detection Act of 2015 ( H.R. 460 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 468 ), as passed by the House on January 26, 2015. Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 469 ), as passed by the House on January 27, 2015. Human Trafficking Prioritization Act ( H.R. 514 ), as passed by the House on January 26, 2015. International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking ( H.R. 515 ), as passed by the House on January 26, 2015. Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015 ( S. 166 ), as reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 26, 2015. Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 ( S. 178 ), as reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on February 26, 2015.

The sections that follow discuss issues raised in the bills. The issues are grouped under the following themes: (1) restoring victims through services and benefits, (2) criminal justice, (3) domestic sex trafficking of children, and (4) other issues that include inter-agency coordination, training, and sex offender registry and notification.

Restoring Victims: Services and Benefits

In general, the trafficking business feeds on continuing demand and conditions of vulnerability, such as youth, gender, poverty, and social exclusion. Actors engaged in human trafficking range from family-run organizations to sophisticated transnational organized crime syndicates. Trafficking victims are often subjected to mental and physical abuse in order to control them. Abuses may include debt bondage, social isolation, removal of identification cards and travel documents, violence, and threat of reprisals against them or their families.

A major aspect of U.S. anti-trafficking efforts is victim assistance: providing immediate services when victims are identified and helping them recover from the victimization and reclaim their lives. Pending legislation ( H.R. 181 , H.R. 159 , H.R. 350 , S. 166 , and S. 178 ) seeks to improve services to victims.

Adequacy of Services for Victims

One issue surrounding U.S. policy to combat human trafficking is whether the United States provides equal treatment of all victims—foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, as well as victims of labor trafficking and sex trafficking. Related to this is whether current services are adequate to combat sex trafficking of minors in the United States (i.e., the prostitution of children). There is confusion over whether U.S. citizens, as well as noncitizens, are eligible for services under all the anti-trafficking grant programs authorized by the TVPA, and whether Congress has provided funding for programs that target U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident (LPR) victims. Under the TVPA, DOJ, HHS, and DOL have programs or administer grants to other entities to provide services to trafficking victims. Only the DOJ and HHS programs receive specified funding for trafficking victims services.

A related issue is the overall amount of funding for victims services, especially as the focus on sex trafficking is broadening to include minor sex trafficking victims in the United States who are U.S. citizens. Between FY2002 and FY2013, Congress appropriated approximately $20 million each year for victims services, and the amount was increased to approximately $28 million in FY2014 and approximately $58 million in FY2015. Between FY2009 and FY2013, HHS used all of its appropriated money on services for trafficking victims before the end of the fiscal year—and all of the services were provided to noncitizen victims. Notably, the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report , FY2012 recommended increasing funding for relevant agencies to provide victims services. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) report a critical need for an increase in the overall funding for comprehensive services.

The 113 th Congress amended certain grant programs so that sex trafficking victims would be eligible for victims services programs. For example, the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA, P.L. 113-4 ) clarifies that victims services and legal assistance under VAWA include services and assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking who are also victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons . In addition, P.L. 113-4 amended the purpose for grants to tribal governments to combat violence against women to include sex trafficking and created a new purpose area to provide services to address the needs of youth who are victims of several crimes, including sex trafficking. The act also created a new tribal coalition grant program (administered by DOJ), which, among other purposes, seeks to enhance access to essential services for Indian women victimized by domestic and sexual violence, including sex trafficking; and to assist Indian tribes in developing and promoting state, local, and tribal laws and policies that enhance best practices for responding to violent crimes against Indian women, including sex trafficking. In addition, P.L. 113-4 amended the grant program for state and local law enforcement's anti-trafficking programs focusing on U.S. citizen victims so that these grants can be used for anti-trafficking programs for noncitizen victims as well.

Pending legislation in the 114 th Congress also aims to enhance services to trafficking victims. The Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015 ( H.R. 350 ), and S. 178 would clarify that DOJ grants for trafficking victims services could be used to provide housing. The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 159 and S. 166 ) would require, beginning in FY2017, that the Secretary of HHS make grants for a national communications system to help victims of severe forms of trafficking communicate with service providers. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 181 and S. 178 ) would, among other things, add additional rights for victims of federal crime, including the right to be informed in a timely manner of court agreements and, with some exceptions, to be informed about certain victims services.

Certification

Under the TVPA, noncitizen victims of trafficking are certified as victims by HHS, which makes them eligible for services. U.S. citizen and LPR trafficking victims are not required to be certified by HHS, and indeed would not meet the criteria to be certified because certification applies only to foreign nationals who need an immigration status (e.g., T status or continued presence) to remain in the United States. Thus, an issue that has arisen is whether U.S. citizen and LPR victims are eligible for certain victims services (e.g., those funded by HHS and DOL) since they do not need to undergo certification. H.R. 181 and S. 178 would clarify that U.S. citizen and LPR victims of trafficking are not required to be certified by HHS in order to be eligible for HHS-provided services for trafficking victims.

Job Corps Program

Job Corps is an employment and job training program for 16-to-24 year olds that is administered by DOL. H.R. 159 and S. 166 would amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (which supersedes the Workforce Investment Act as of July 1, 2015) to specify that victims of a severe form of trafficking (as defined in the TVPA) do not need to meet the income requirement to be eligible for the Job Corps program.

Restitution and Damages

Victims of human trafficking often suffer injuries that can affect them for the rest of their lives. Medical care, psychological treatment, job training, and more may be necessary to assist victims in recovering. Current law allows a victim of peonage, slavery, or trafficking in persons to bring a civil action against his/her perpetrator and obtain civil remedies. H.R. 159 and S. 166 would require the Attorney General to collect and tabulate data on mandatory restitution orders (the TVPA requires the court to order restitution—paid by the defendant to the victim—for any crime of peonage, slavery, or trafficking in persons) including demographic data on the perpetrators. S. 178 would provide for the forfeiture of property involved in human trafficking offenses; these properties (or the proceeds from their sale) would be used to satisfy victim restitution orders. It would also require DOJ to provide training for certain court officers to assist in seeking restitution. (See the section entitled " Training ".)

Criminal Justice

While the United States has a number of statutes that can and have been used to combat human trafficking, law enforcement and policymakers remain interested in ways to enhance investigations and prosecutions of individuals who commit trafficking offenses. In general, federal law enforcement has targeted criminal networks that may involve individuals operating in a number of capacities.

In an effort to help law enforcement combat the advertising side of commercial sexual exploitation, H.R. 285 aims to permit the prosecution of entities (including websites) that advertise a person "knowing", or in reckless disregard of the fact, that force or fraud has been used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act or that the victim is a minor. For entities that have not advertised but "benefit" from participating in a venture that has engaged in such advertising, reckless disregard of the fact that force or fraud has been used or that a minor was involved would not be enough; they would have to know either fact exists.

H.R. 181 and S. 178 would expand the ability of federal, state, and local prosecutors to obtain wiretap orders from courts for certain investigations by including additional trafficking-related offenses as allowable investigations. H.R. 181 and S. 178 would also expand law enforcement's "toolbox" for prosecuting individuals who transport minors for illegal sexual activity by requiring prosecutors to show "clear and convincing evidence" rather than a "preponderance of evidence" that the defendants knew that the individual with whom they had engaged in sexual activity had not attained 18 years of age. H.R. 159 and S. 166 would clarify that the U.S. Marshals Service has the authority to help (upon request) federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in locating and recovering missing children.

Enhanced Financial Penalties

S. 178 would impose an additional $5,000 penalty on anyone convicted of offenses including peonage, slavery, or trafficking in persons; sexual abuse; sexual exploitation and other child abuse; transportation for illegal sexual activity; and certain human smuggling offenses. These monies would be deposited into a Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund that S. 178 would also establish. Money from the fund could be used to award certain grants authorized by the TVPA or enhance victims' programming under the Victims of Child Abuse Act, including for victims of child pornography. The bill would prohibit the use of money from the fund for abortions or for health benefits coverage that includes abortion coverage, except in instances where the pregnancy is the result of a rape or incest or where the mother's life would be in danger without an abortion. Unobligated money in the fund would be transferred to the Crime Victims Fund at the end of each fiscal year.

Reducing Demand

Experts widely agree that any efforts to reduce the prevalence of trafficking should address not only the supply but also the demand . While statutes exist to allow federal law enforcement to prosecute the buyers of commercial sex, federal legislation has focused more extensively on penalizing the traffickers and placed less emphasis on the buyers. To increase focus on combating the demand for sex trafficking, H.R. 181 and S. 178 would, among other things, explicitly prohibit the patronizing or soliciting of commercial sex (or benefiting from these activities). These bills would also clarify that federal prosecutors need not prove that a defendant both knew and disregarded the fact that a victim had not yet attained 18 years of age. In addition, H.R. 181 and S. 178 would require the Attorney General to ensure that working groups and task forces within the Violent Crimes Against Children program (which includes the Innocence Lost National Initiative) work to enhance state and local law enforcement investigative capabilities to detect, investigate, and prosecute individuals who patronize or solicit children for sex. The Innocence Lost National Initiative is a partnership between the FBI, DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that develops task forces and working groups to recover children who are prostituted and prosecutes the perpetrators of child sex trafficking. S. 178 would also require the Bureau of Justice Statistics to report annually on statistics related to the arrest and prosecution of buyers.

Cyber Crimes Unit in Immigration and Customs Enforcement

S. 178 would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to operate a Cyber Crimes Center (the Center) within ICE to provide investigative assistance, training, and equipment support to ICE's domestic and international investigations of cyber-related crimes. Within the Center there would be a Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (CEIU), Computer Forensics Unit (CFU), and Cyber Crimes Unit (CCU). The CEIU would be charged with coordinating all ICE child exploitation initiatives and investigations into child exploitation, child pornography, child victim identification, child sex tourism, and forced child labor. The CEIU would also provide: training, technical expertise, and support, as needed, to law enforcement agencies and personnel; support and counseling services to ICE personnel engaged in child exploitation prevention; and outreach and training activities. The CEUI would also collect and maintain data regarding law enforcement activities of ICE, and produce reports using this data.

The CFU would, among other duties, provide technical and digital forensics to ICE personnel as well as, subject to available funding, other federal, state, local, tribal, military and foreign law enforcement agencies investigating crimes, and research and develop digital forensics. Furthermore, CCU would oversee ICE's cyber security strategy and operations, and to enhance ICE's ability to combat criminal enterprises operating on or through the Internet. The CEUI, CFU, and CCU would be authorized to collaborate with the Department of Defense and National Association to Protect Children to recruit, train and hire wounded, ill and injured veterans and transitioning service members.

Domestic Sex Trafficking of Children

Domestic sex trafficking of children is trafficking within the United States involving a commercial sex act in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age. Regardless of whether a child is believed to have consented to sex or whether the child represents himself/herself as an adult, the child is considered a trafficking victim under federal law. The exact number of child victims of sex trafficking in the United States is unknown because of challenges in defining the population and varying methodologies used to arrive at estimates. Most of the victims are U.S. citizens and LPRs.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children appears to be fueled by a variety of individual (e.g., homelessness or history of child abuse), relationship (e.g., family conflict or dysfunction), community (e.g., peer pressure or gang involvement), and societal (e.g., sexualization of children) variables. These factors may interact in ways that can increase the risk of exploitation. As part of its 2013 report on child sex trafficking, the National Academy of Sciences recommended that multiple stakeholders—such as the federal government, state and local governments, academic and research institutions, foundations and nongovernmental organizations, and the commercial sector—collaborate to address this issue.

The 113 th Congress passed legislation to address sex trafficking of children, including the E. Clay Shaw, Jr. Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act ( P.L. 113-38 ) and the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act ( P.L. 113-183 ). P.L. 113-38 directs DOJ's Missing and Exploited Children's program to provide assistance to responders that assist child sex trafficking victims, and P.L. 113-183 requires child welfare agencies to identify and determine appropriate services for certain children who are victims of sex trafficking, or are at risk of victimization. In addition, the 2013 TVPA reauthorization act ( P.L. 113-4 ) created a new discretionary grant program for child sex trafficking victims. The new grant program authorizes DOJ, in consultation with HHS, to award one-year grants to six grantees to combat sex trafficking of children in the United States, with a focus on providing direct services to victims.

The 114 th Congress continues to consider legislation on sex trafficking of children. Many of these bills touch on a variety of policy areas, including missing and runaway youth, the child welfare system, and juvenile justice. For instance, the House has passed three bills that seek to strengthen the federal and state responses to trafficking through a variety of service systems. H.R. 246 would ensure that reports to a federally funded tipline of sexually exploited children can include children who are victims of sex trafficking. H.R. 468 would require the Runaway and Homeless Youth program to prioritize staff training on sexual exploitation and sex trafficking and target certain services to youth who are vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking. H.R. 469 would reinforce the type of requirements enacted under P.L. 113-183 for state child welfare agencies to respond to child sex trafficking and would further specify that these agencies can respond to child victims of labor trafficking.

Missing and Exploited Children

The Missing and Exploited Children's (MEC) program, administered by DOJ, authorizes supports for children who are missing and/or sexually exploited. The Missing Children's Assistance Act requires DOJ to provide an annual grant to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which serves as a clearinghouse for assisting law enforcement and other stakeholders in responding to cases involving these children.

As noted, the E. Clay Shaw, Jr. Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act ( P.L. 113-38 ) addressed child sex trafficking through amendments to the Missing Children's Assistance Act. In addition to reauthorizing the MEC Program, it added a requirement for NCMEC that pertains to child sex trafficking. Specifically, the law directed NCMEC to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies and first responders in identifying, locating, and recovering victims of, and children at risk for, child sex trafficking. Although this responsibility was not specified in the law before P.L. 113-38 was enacted, generally such activities have been carried out by NCMEC in recent years.

H.R. 246 and S. 178 in the 114 th Congress would make additional changes to the Missing Children's Assistance Act. Currently, the law specifies that NCMEC is to operate a tipline for online users and electronic service providers to report Internet-related child sexual exploitation. The act currently outlines eight categories that can be reported to the tipline (referred to as the CyberTipline), including child prostitution. Both bills would strike "child prostitution" and replace it with "child sex trafficking, including child prostitution." In practice, NCMEC already refers to this category as "child sex trafficking."

H.R. 181 and S. 178 would amend the Crime Control Act of 1990 concerning reporting children to the federal National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File. The NCIC is a computerized index of information on crimes and criminals that is maintained by the FBI. Under current federal law, (1) no law enforcement agency within a state may establish or maintain policies that require a waiting period before accepting a missing child or unidentified person report; (2) no law enforcement agency may establish or maintain any policy that requires the removal of a missing person entry from the NCIC (or the state law enforcement system) solely based on the age of the person; and (3) the report of each missing child must include certain items, such as demographic information, location of the last known contact with the child, and the category under which the child is reported. States must further ensure that law enforcement agencies enter the profile of each child—including young adults ages 18 to 21—to the NCIC (and state law enforcement database) within two hours of receiving a report that he or she is missing. Within 60 days after the profile is entered, the law enforcement agency must verify and update records with any additional information, including medical and dental records, and they must make these records available to the state's missing children information clearinghouse or other agency designated within the state to receive such reports. Finally, the law enforcement agency must also institute or assist with appropriate search and investigative procedures, and maintain close contact with NCMEC to exchange information and receive technical assistance.

In order to gain information on one pool of potential human trafficking victims, H.R. 181 and S. 178 would require law enforcement agencies submitting information to NCIC on a missing child to include a recent (within 180 days) photograph and to notify NCMEC of each report that relates to a child reportedly missing from foster care. S. 178 would also change the period of time for verifying and updating records of missing children, from 60 days to 30 days. S. 178 would further specify that the record be updated, where available, with a photograph taken within the prior 180 days of the original entry into the NCIC and the state law enforcement database. The bill would also require the applicable state law enforcement agency to notify NCMEC of each report that relates to a child reportedly missing from foster care. In addition, it would require the state law enforcement agency to grant permission to the NCIC Terminal Contractor for the state to update the missing person record in the NCIC with additional information on the missing child that is learned during the investigation.

Runaway and Homeless Youth

The Runaway and Homeless Youth program is administered by HHS and authorized under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. The act funds organizations throughout the country to provide services to youth who have run away and/or experienced homelessness. It also supports research, evaluations, and technical assistance for grantees.

The Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims for Youth Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 468 ) and S. 178 would amend provisions in the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act on grants for research, evaluation, demonstration, and service projects. Specifically, the bill would expand on the types of research and other projects that HHS should prioritize, including projects that address staff training on (1) the behavioral and emotional effects of severe forms of trafficking (both sex and labor trafficking) and sex trafficking, (2) responding to youth showing effects of such trafficking victimization, and (3) agency-wide strategies for working with runaway and homeless youth who have been sexually victimized, including victims of sex trafficking. The bills would separately amend the Street Outreach Program (SOP) to make a change to the law that addresses HHS' authority to make grants under the program. Current law specifies that the SOP is to serve runaway and homeless youth, and street youth, who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse, prostitution, or sexual exploitation. The bills would add severe forms of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking, as defined by the TVPA, to the list of victimization categories. By referencing the TVPA definitions of "severe forms of trafficking in persons" and "sex trafficking" for both the SOP and the provisions on research and other projects, the bills encompass child and adult victims of sex and labor trafficking.

Improving Investigations and Prosecutions of Child Abuse

Subtitle A of the Victims of Child Abuse Act supports improving investigation and prosecution of child abuse through the expansion and improvement of Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs). In addition, it provides for related technical assistance and training, including training for attorneys or others involved in the prosecution of child abuse.

CACs are intended to coordinate a multi-disciplinary response to child abuse (e.g., law enforcement, child protection/social service, medical, mental health) in a manner that ensures child abuse victims (and any nonoffending family members) receive the support services they need and do not experience added trauma as a result of the investigation of child abuse. CACs are located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The law also requires the establishment and support of four regional children's advocacy centers to increase the number of communities with CACs, help improve their practices, and support development of state chapter organizations for CACs.

H.R. 181 and S. 178 would amend Subtitle A of the Victims of Child Abuse Act by expanding the definition of "child abuse" used by CACs—meaning physical or sexual abuse or neglect of a child—to include the production of child pornography and human trafficking. In addition, H.R. 181 would direct grantees receiving funding for CACs or training and technical assistance to meet certain oversight and accountability requirements, and to disclose other sources of federal funding. Separately, the bills would enable DOJ to make grants for the development and implementation of specialized programs to identify and provide direct services to victims of child pornography.

As mentioned, S. 178 would establish a Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund. The bill would direct the Attorney General, in coordination with the HHS Secretary, to use the amounts available in the fund to, among other things, award grants or enhance victims programming provided through grants for CACs (and specified activities under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act). Of the amounts available in the fund, and assuming enough funds are available in a given fiscal year, not less than $2 million could be used for such services.

Response by the Child Welfare System

State and local child welfare agencies are responsible for carrying out child welfare policies that are intended to promote the safety, well-being, and permanency of all children. Child victims of sex trafficking may come to the attention of a child welfare agency if they are reported to an agency's child protective services (CPS) hotline. Children in foster care—who are placed out of their homes typically due to abuse or neglect by their parents or caregivers—may be vulnerable to trafficking. Youth who run away from foster care are perceived to be especially susceptible to this type of victimization. The capacity for state and local child welfare agencies to respond to the needs of sex trafficking victims is believed to be limited. This may be due, in part, to inadequate training, insufficient resources, high caseloads, and the perception that victims should be handled in the juvenile justice system. In addition, states may not have mechanisms in place to "screen in" cases involving a child who is sex trafficked because the perpetrator involved is not the child's parent or caregiver as these terms are defined under state law.

The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act ( P.L. 113-183 ), enacted in September 2014, specified a new role for state child welfare agencies in responding to child sex trafficking. Specifically, it amended the federal foster care program (authorized in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act) to require state child welfare agencies to develop and implement procedures to identify, document in agency records, and determine appropriate services for certain children or youth who are victims of sex trafficking, or at risk of being such victims. The procedures need to ensure relevant training for caseworkers and must be developed in consultation with state and local law enforcement, juvenile justice systems, health care providers, education agencies, and organizations with experience in dealing with at-risk children and youth.

The law further requires state child welfare agencies to report (1) information it receives on missing and abducted children to NCMEC and to law enforcement authorities for inclusion in the NCIC database; and (2) to HHS annually on the total number of children and youth who are sex trafficking victims. The procedures to identify, document in agency records, and determine services for victims of, or those at risk of, sex trafficking must apply to all children in the care, placement, or supervision of the state child welfare agency. In addition, a state may elect to use these procedures to identify individuals up to the age of 26 who are victims, or at risk of becoming victims, of sex trafficking without regard to whether the youth was ever in foster care. Separately, HHS is required under the law to establish a national advisory committee on child sex trafficking that must develop policies on improving the nation's response to domestic sex trafficking, among other responsibilities.

A pending bill, the Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 469 ), seeks to reinforce some of these same concepts via the state grants program under Section 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The bill would seek to ensure that initial investigation and assessment of child trafficking occurs, and to support states in developing procedures with regard to child victims of labor trafficking as well. Funding for CAPTA state grants is provided to help states improve their child welfare systems and may be used for a range of purposes specified in the law. As part of their CAPTA state plans submitted to HHS, states are required to have a statewide law or program to receive and respond to allegations of child abuse or neglect, ensure children's safety, and provide appropriate referrals; and to have in place other procedures to respond to abused and neglected children.

H.R. 469 would add that the state plans must include provisions and procedures related to sex trafficking of children. Specifically, such provisions and procedures would have to address (1) identifying and assessing reports involving children who are sex trafficking victims, (2) training representatives of the state child protective services about identifying and assessing such children, and (3) identifying services (including services provided by state law enforcement officials, the state juvenile justice system, and social service agencies such as runaway and homeless youth shelters) and procedures for appropriately referring child victims of sex trafficking to address their needs. Further, the bill would permit states to develop these same provisions and procedures for children who are victims of labor trafficking. States would also be required to include in their annual data reports to HHS the number of children identified as sex trafficking victims, and if applicable, labor trafficking victims.

Separately, H.R. 469 would direct HHS to report to Congress on child sex and labor trafficking, including (1) the specific type and prevalence of severe forms of trafficking (both sex and labor trafficking) perpetrated against children who have been identified for services or intervention while under the care and placement of the child welfare agency (including a state or Indian child welfare agency or Indian tribe); (2) the practices and protocols used by states under the CAPTA state grants program to identify and serve children who are, or are at-risk of becoming, victims of trafficking; and (3) any barriers in federal laws or regulations that may prevent identifying and assessing children who are such victims, including an evaluation of the extent to which states are able to address the needs of trafficked children without amending the definition of "abuse and neglect" under CAPTA.

Grant Programs for Domestic Minor Victims of Sex Trafficking

One overriding issue concerning minor victims of sex trafficking is the extent to which federal agencies can and do provide services to U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident (LPR) minor sex trafficking victims. The 2013 TVPA reauthorization law ( P.L. 113-4 ) created a discretionary new grant program for child sex trafficking victims. The new grant program authorizes DOJ, in consultation with HHS, to award one-year grants to six grantees to combat sex trafficking of children in the United States. Of the grant amounts, at least 67% must be allocated to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to provide counseling, legal services, shelter, clothing, and other social services to victims, while not less than 10% must be allocated to provide services to victims or training for service providers on sex trafficking of children.

Likewise, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 ( H.R. 181 and S. 178 ) would authorize the Attorney General to make grants to an eligible entity to develop, improve, or expand domestic child human trafficking deterrence programs designed to aid victims while investigating and prosecuting the trafficking offenses. An eligible entity is a state or unit of local government that meets specified criteria. The grants could be used to establish or enhance specialized training programs on the prevention of child trafficking for law enforcement, first responders, health care officials, child welfare officials, juvenile justice personnel, prosecutors, and judicial personnel; establish law enforcement and prosecution units dedicated to fighting trafficking of children; and establish or enhance court programs to assist child trafficking victims. S. 178 would authorize DOJ to use the Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund (as would be established by the bill) to carry out these grants. Furthermore, both bills would direct DOJ to audit the grantees every year to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of the grant monies.

Juvenile Justice76

Under the TVPA, the federal government treats individuals under the age of 18 who are involved in commercial sexual activity as victims rather than perpetrators, and victims are eligible for specialized services. The same is not always true at the state level; at times, minors involved in commercial sexual activity may be labeled as child prostitutes or juvenile delinquents and treated as criminals rather than being labeled and treated as victims.

The 2013 TVPA reauthorization ( P.L. 113-4 ) specified that the model state anti-trafficking laws created by the Attorney General should include safe harbor provisions that treat an individual under 18 years of age who has been arrested for prostitution as a victim of a severe form of trafficking, prohibit the prosecution of such a person, and refer them to service providers who provide assistance to victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

H.R. 159 and S. 166 would incentivize states to enact safe harbor laws that would (1) treat each minor involved in commercial sexual activity as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, (2) discourage the charging and prosecution of these minors for prostitution or sex trafficking offenses, and (3) encourage the diversion of these minors to child protection services. These bills would allow DOJ to give community policing grants preference to applicants from states that had adopted safe harbor laws.

Other Issues

Inter-agency Coordination/Efficiency

There have been concerns about possible duplication of efforts and a lack of coordination among the agencies that conduct anti-trafficking activities, and whether the fact that so many agencies are involved with anti-trafficking policy leads to duplication or funds not being used in the most efficient manner. The TVPA, as amended, established both the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (PITF) and the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG) in part to facilitate coordination on anti-trafficking policy across U.S. government agencies to ensure that there is not a duplication of efforts. In addition, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act ( P.L. 113-183 ) requires HHS to establish, by September 2016, the National Advisory Committee on Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States to improve the nation's response to sex trafficking and develop best practices and recommendations for states to combat sex trafficking of children, among other duties.

The federal government does not currently have a national strategy broadly directed at combating human trafficking. H.R. 350 and S. 178 would direct the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to conduct a review of human trafficking within the United States. The report would include (1) cataloging the U.S. government's efforts to prevent individuals from committing trafficking offenses and prevent children from becoming victims; (2) surveying the literature related to deterring individuals from trafficking, and preventing children from becoming victims; (3) identifying best practices related to preventing human trafficking of children; and (4) identifying gaps in research and data that would be helpful in formulating strategies to prevent child trafficking. H.R. 350 and S. 178 would also require a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress that would include information on federal and state law enforcement agencies' efforts to combat human trafficking, and information on each federal grant program that has an anti-trafficking purpose.

S. 178 would create the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking (Council) which would be comprised of between 8 and 14 human trafficking survivors. The Council would serve as an advisory body to the Senior Policy Operating Group on Trafficking in Persons, reviewing federal anti-trafficking policy and programs. In addition, the group would serve as the point of contact for federal agencies seeking input of trafficking survivors on programs and policies. The group would also formulate assessments and recommendations to ensure that policies of the federal government conform, to the extent practicable, to the best practices in the field of human trafficking prevention. The Council would also be required to produce an annual report regarding its review of anti-trafficking policies and programs. Council members would be eligible for travel expenses and a per diem but would not be federal employees. The Council would terminate at the end of FY2020.

The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015 ( S. 166 ) would direct the Attorney General to implement and maintain a National Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking that includes (1) integrating federal, state, local, and tribal efforts to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases; (2) coordinating cases within the Department of Justice; (3) addressing annual budget priorities and federal efforts dedicated to preventing and combating human trafficking; (4) continually assessing future trends, challenges, and opportunities to enhance federal, state, local, and tribal efforts to combat human trafficking; and (5) encouraging the cooperation, coordination, and mutual support between the private sector and federal agencies to combat human trafficking.

Among other things, the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act ( H.R. 514 ) would change the status of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking within the Department of State (DOS) to that of the Bureau to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The bill would also require that DOS report to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on whether DOS intends to designate one of the Assistant Secretary of State positions as the Assistant Secretary of State to Combat Trafficking in Persons, and the reasons for that decision. According to the bill's Sense of Congress statement, changing the status of the office "would be more effective in carrying out the duties mandated by Congress in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 if the Bureau were headed by an Assistant Secretary with direct access to the Secretary of State, rather than an Ambassador-at-Large."

Training

While U.S. Inspections and Customs Enforcement is one of the two lead agencies responsible for human trafficking investigations, personnel from several agencies within DHS may encounter instances and victims of trafficking during the course of their regular duties. For example, agents from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may encounter trafficking victims at airports as traffickers attempt to move the victims around the country. The Human Trafficking Detection Act of 2015 ( H.R. 460 ) would direct the Secretary of DHS, within 180 days, to implement a training program on deterring, detecting, and disrupting human trafficking during the course of their primary roles and responsibilities for personnel from TSA, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and any other agency that the Secretary deems appropriate. The bill would also require the Secretary to ensure that such personnel regularly receive current information related to the detection of human trafficking. The Secretary would be required to certify to the appropriate congressional committees no later than one year after enactment that the training has been completed. The bill would also require the Secretary to submit an annual report to the committees on the effectiveness of the training program required under the bill, including the number of cases in which DHS personnel suspected human trafficking, and the number of confirmed cases of human trafficking. The bill would allow the Secretary to provide the training curricula to any state, local or private government, or any private organization to assist such entities in creating their own programs to identify human trafficking.

S. 178 would require the Attorney General to assure that each DOJ anti-trafficking program, including training programs for federal, state, or local law enforcement include technical training on effective measures for: (1) investigating and prosecuting an individual who obtains, patronizes, or solicits a commercial sex act involving a trafficking victim; and (2) facilitating the provision of physical and mental health services to trafficking victims. It would also require that any DOJ anti-trafficking program for U.S. Attorneys or other federal prosecutors include training on seeking restitution for trafficking offenses. S. 178 would also require that the Federal Judicial Center provide training to judges related to ordering restitution for trafficking offenses.

H.R. 357 , the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, would amend the TVPA to include members of the Foreign Service as persons who are required to be trained on how to identify and protect trafficking victims. The bill would also specify minimum requirements for the training. For example, the bill would require that all ambassadors and deputy chiefs of mission receive a briefing on trafficking issues prior to departing for their posts.

Separately, the Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2015 ( H.R. 398 ) would require HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to competitively award a grant to one medical or nursing school for developing best practices for health care professionals to recognize and appropriately respond to victims of severe forms of human trafficking. This entity would be required to analyze and evaluate, in consultation with others, existing best practices for interprofessional collaboration, and develop trainings for health care professionals on such best practices. Further, the grantee would make a subgrant to one entity near an established anti-human trafficking task force initiative in each of the 10 administrative regions of HHS to establish a pilot program that uses the best practices and training, and to analyze the results of the pilot programs. The bill would further require AHRQ to post and disseminate the best practices identified by the medical or nursing school.

As noted previously, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act ( P.L. 113-183 ) amended federal child welfare law to require state child welfare agencies to develop procedures needed to ensure relevant training for caseworkers. These procedures must be developed in consultation with state and local law enforcement, juvenile justice systems, health care providers, education agencies, and organizations with experience in dealing with at-risk children and youth. H.R. 469 would similarly amend a separate child welfare law to ensure that state child welfare agencies develop provisions and procedures for training child protective services (CPS) workers about identifying and assessing children who are victims of sex trafficking (and may develop such procedures with regard to victims of labor trafficking).

Sex Offender Registry

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) provides a set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. SORNA defines sex offenders according to three tiers. Tier III is the highest classification and includes those individuals convicted of the most egregious crimes (predicate offenses for sex offender registration and notification). The SORNA requirements involve Tier III offenders being subject to the strictest registration and notification requirements.

Tier I: Predicate offenses include whatever offenses do not support a higher classification, such as misdemeanor registration offenses and child pornography possession.

Tier II: Predicate offenses include most felonious sexual abuse or sexual exploitation crimes involving victims who are minors, including distribution and production of child pornography.

Tier III: Predicate offenses generally encompass sexual assaults involving sexual acts regardless of victim age, sexual contact offenses against children below the age of 13, nonparental kidnapping of minors, and attempts or conspiracies to commit such offenses.

H.R. 515 would direct the Secretary of DHS to establish a center in ICE, to be known as the "Angel Watch Center." The Angel Watch Center would receive information on travel by child-sex offenders, and would establish procedures for notifying or making the decision not to notify a destination country of current or impending travel by a child-sex offender. H.R. 515 would also express a sense of Congress that the President should negotiate bilateral agreements with foreign governments to transmit and receive information on international travel by child-sex offenders, including U.S. citizens who are arrested or convicted for child-sex offenses in a foreign country.

Appendix. Pending Human Trafficking Bills that Have Received Congressional Action or Are of Significant Congressional Interest