119-hr1185

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1185 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1185

 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.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 11, 2025

 Mr. Buchanan (for himself and Ms. Wasserman Schultz) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
 Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 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 redesignating 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 2026 through 2029.''.
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