[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5575 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5575

 To establish a grant program to benefit domestic minor victims of sex 
                  trafficking, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2010

Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. 
  Cohen, Mr. Poe of Texas, Ms. Richardson, and Mr. Wu) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 establish a grant program to benefit domestic minor victims of sex 
                  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 ``Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking 
Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. It is one of 
        the fastest-growing, and the second largest, criminal 
        enterprise in the world. Human trafficking generates an 
        estimated profit of $32,000,000,000 per year, world wide.
            (2) In the United States, human trafficking is an 
        increasing problem. This criminal enterprise victimizes 
        individuals in the United States, many of them children, who 
        are forced into prostitution, and foreigners brought into the 
        country, often under false pretenses, who are coerced into 
        forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation.
            (3) Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative areas of 
        human trafficking. Criminal gang members in the United States 
        are increasingly involved in recruiting young women and girls 
        into sex trafficking. Interviews with gang members indicate 
        that the gang members regard working as an individual who 
        solicits customers for a prostitute (commonly known as a 
        ``pimp'') to being as lucrative as trafficking in drugs, but 
        with a much lower chance of being criminally convicted.
            (4) National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, 
        Runaway and Throwaway Children, the definitive study of 
        episodes of missing children, found that of the children who 
        are victims of non-family abduction, runaway or throwaway 
        children, the police are alerted by family or guardians in only 
        21 percent of the cases. In 79 percent of cases there is no 
        report and no police involvement, and therefore no official 
        attempt to find the child.
            (5) In 2007, the Administration of Children and Families, 
        Department of Health and Human Services, reported to the 
        Federal Government 265,000 cases of serious physical, sexual, 
        or psychological abuse of children.
            (6) Experts estimate that each year at least 100,000 
        children in the United States are exploited through 
        prostitution.
            (7) Children who have run away from home are at a high risk 
        of becoming exploited through sex trafficking. Children who 
        have run away multiple times are at much higher risk of not 
        returning home and of engaging in prostitution.
            (8) The vast majority of children involved in sex 
        trafficking have suffered previous sexual or physical abuse, 
        live in poverty, or have no stable home or family life. These 
        children require a comprehensive framework of specialized 
        treatment and mental health counseling that addresses post-
        traumatic stress, depression, and sexual exploitation.
            (9) The average age of first exploitation through 
        prostitution is 13. Seventy-five percent of minors exploited 
        through prostitution have a pimp. A pimp can earn $200,000 per 
        year prostituting 1 sex trafficking victim.
            (10) Sex trafficking of minors is a complex and varied 
        criminal problem that requires a multi-disciplinary, 
        cooperative solution. Reducing trafficking will require the 
        Government to address victims, pimps, and johns, and to provide 
        training specific to sex trafficking for law enforcement 
        officers and prosecutors, and child welfare, public health, and 
        other social service providers.
            (11) Human trafficking is a criminal enterprise that 
        imposes significant costs on the economy of the United States. 
        Government and non-profit resources used to address trafficking 
        include those of law enforcement, the judicial and penal 
        systems, and social service providers. Without a range of 
        appropriate treatments to help trafficking victims overcome the 
        trauma they have experienced, victims will continue to be 
        exploited by criminals and unable to support themselves, and 
        will continue to require Government resources, rather than 
        being productive contributors to the legitimate economy.
            (12) Minor sex trafficking victims are under the age of 18. 
        Because minors do not have the capacity to consent to their own 
        commercial sexual exploitation, minor sex trafficking victims 
        should not be charged as criminal defendants. Instead, minor 
        victims of sex trafficking should have access to treatment and 
        services to help them recover from their sexual exploitation, 
        and should also be provided access to appropriate compensation 
        for harm they have suffered.
            (13) Several States have recently passed or are considering 
        legislation that establishes a presumption that a minor charged 
        with a prostitution offense is a severely trafficked person and 
        should instead be cared for through the child protection 
        system. Some such legislation also provides support and 
        services to minor sex trafficking victims who are under the age 
        of 18 years old. These services include safe houses, crisis 
        intervention programs, community-based programs, and law-
        enforcement training to help officers identify minor sex 
        trafficking victims.
            (14) Sex trafficking of minors is not a problem that occurs 
        only in urban settings. This crime also exists in rural areas 
        and on Indian reservations. Efforts to address sex trafficking 
        of minors should include partnerships with organizations that 
        seek to address the needs of such underserved communities.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the Attorney General should implement changes to the 
        National Crime Information Center database to ensure that--
                    (A) a child entered into the database will be 
                automatically designated as an endangered juvenile if 
                the child has been reported missing not less than 3 
                times in a 1-year period;
                    (B) the database is programmed to cross-reference 
                newly entered reports with historical records already 
                in the database; and
                    (C) the database is programmed to include a visual 
                cue on the record of a child designated as an 
                endangered juvenile to assist law enforcement officers 
                in recognizing the child and providing the child with 
                appropriate care and services;
            (2) funds awarded under subpart 1 of part E of title I of 
        the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
        U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) (commonly known as Byrne Grants) should be 
        used to provide education, training, deterrence, and prevention 
        programs relating to sex trafficking of minors;
            (3) States should--
                    (A) treat minor victims of sex trafficking as crime 
                victims rather than as criminal defendants or juvenile 
                delinquents;
                    (B) adopt laws that--
                            (i) establish the presumption that a child 
                        under the age of 18 who is charged with a 
                        prostitution offense is a minor victim of sex 
                        trafficking;
                            (ii) avoid the criminal charge of 
                        prostitution for such a child, and instead 
                        consider such a child a victim of crime and 
                        provide the child with appropriate services and 
                        treatment; and
                            (iii) strengthen criminal provisions 
                        prohibiting the purchasing of commercial sex 
                        acts, especially with minors;
                    (C) amend State statutes and regulations--
                            (i) relating to crime victim compensation 
                        to make eligible for such compensation any 
                        individual who is a victim of sex trafficking 
                        as defined in section 1591(a) of title 18, 
                        United States Code, or a comparable State law 
                        against commercial sexual exploitation of 
                        children, and who would otherwise be ineligible 
                        for such compensation due to participation in 
                        prostitution activities because the individual 
                        is determined to have contributed to, consented 
                        to, benefitted from, or otherwise participated 
                        as a party to the crime for which the 
                        individual is claiming injury; and
                            (ii) relating to law enforcement reporting 
                        requirements to provide for exceptions to such 
                        requirements for victims of sex trafficking in 
                        the same manner as exceptions are provided to 
                        victims of domestic violence or related crimes; 
                        and
            (4) demand for commercial sex with sex trafficking victims 
        must be deterred through consistent enforcement of criminal 
        laws against purchasing commercial sex.

SEC. 4. SEX TRAFFICKING BLOCK GRANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Assistant Attorney General'' means the 
        Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs 
        of the Department of Justice;
            (2) the term ``eligible entity'' means a State or unit of 
        local government that--
                    (A) has significant criminal activity involving sex 
                trafficking of minors;
                    (B) has demonstrated cooperation between State and 
                local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social 
                service providers in addressing sex trafficking of 
                minors;
                    (C) has developed a workable, multi-disciplinary 
                plan to combat sex trafficking of minors, including--
                            (i) the establishment of a shelter for 
                        minor victims of sex trafficking, through 
                        existing or new facilities;
                            (ii) the provision of rehabilitative care 
                        to minor victims of sex trafficking;
                            (iii) the provision of specialized training 
                        for law enforcement officers and social service 
                        providers for all forms of sex trafficking, 
                        with a focus on sex trafficking of minors;
                            (iv) prevention, deterrence, and 
                        prosecution of offenses involving sex 
                        trafficking of minors;
                            (v) cooperation or referral agreements with 
                        organizations providing outreach or other 
                        related services to runaway and homeless youth; 
                        and
                            (vi) law enforcement protocols or 
                        procedures to screen all individuals arrested 
                        for prostitution, whether adult or minor, for 
                        victimization by sex trafficking and by other 
                        crimes, such as sexual assault and domestic 
                        violence;
                    (D) has a victim certification process for 
                eligibility and access to State-administered medical 
                care to ensure that minor victims of sex trafficking 
                who are not eligible for interim assistance under 
                section 107(b)(F) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
                Act (22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(F)) are granted eligibility for, 
                and have access to, State-administered medical care 
                immediately upon certification as such a victim, or as 
                soon as practicable thereafter but not later than the 
                period determined by the Assistant Attorney General in 
                consultation with the Assistant Secretary for Children 
                and Families of the Department of Health and Human 
                Services; and
                    (E) provides an assurance that, under the plan 
                under subparagraph (C), a minor victim of sex 
                trafficking shall not be required to collaborate with 
                law enforcement to have access to any shelter or 
                services provided with a grant under this section;
            (3) the term ``minor victim of sex trafficking'' means an 
        individual who is--
                    (A) under the age of 18 years old, and is a victim 
                of an offense described in section 1591(a) of title 18, 
                United States Code, or a comparable State law; or
                    (B) at least 18 years old but not more than 20 
                years old, and who, on the day before the individual 
                attained 18 years of age, was described in subparagraph 
                (A) and was receiving shelter or services as a minor 
                victim of sex trafficking;
            (4) the term ``qualified non-governmental organization'' 
        means an organization that--
                    (A) is not a State or unit of local government, or 
                an agency of a State or unit of local government;
                    (B) has demonstrated experience providing services 
                to victims of sex trafficking or related populations 
                (such as runaway and homeless youth), or employs staff 
                specialized in the treatment of sex trafficking 
                victims; and
                    (C) demonstrates a plan to sustain the provision of 
                services beyond the period of a grant awarded under 
                this section; and
            (5) the term ``sex trafficking of a minor'' means an 
        offense described in subsection (a) of section 1591 of title 
        18, United States Code, the victim of which is a minor.
    (b) Grants Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Assistant Attorney General, in 
        consultation with the Assistant Secretary for Children and 
        Families of the Department of Health and Human Services, is 
        authorized to award block grants to not more than 6 eligible 
        entities in different regions of the United States to combat 
        sex trafficking, and not fewer than 1 of the block grants shall 
        be awarded to an eligible entity with a State population of 
        less than 5,000,000.
            (2) Grant amount.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations under subsection (f)(1) to carry out this 
        subsection, each grant awarded under this subsection shall be 
        for an amount not less than $2,000,000 and not greater than 
        $2,500,000.
            (3) Duration.--
                    (A) In general.--A grant awarded under this section 
                shall be for a period of 1 year.
                    (B) Renewal.--
                            (i) In general.--The Assistant Attorney 
                        General may renew a grant under this section 
                        for two 1-year periods.
                            (ii) Priority.--In awarding grants in any 
                        fiscal year after the first fiscal year in 
                        which grants are awarded under this section, 
                        the Assistant Attorney General shall give 
                        priority to applicants that received a grant in 
                        the preceding fiscal year and are eligible for 
                        renewal under this subparagraph, taking into 
                        account any evaluation of such applicant 
                        conducted pursuant to subsection (e), if 
                        available.
            (4) Consultation.--In carrying out this subsection, 
        consultation by the Assistant Attorney General with the 
        Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department 
        of Health and Human Services shall include consultation with 
        respect to grantee evaluations, the avoidance of unintentional 
        duplication of grants, and any other areas of shared concern.
    (c) Use of Funds.--
            (1) Allocation.--For each grant awarded under subsection 
        (b)--
                    (A) not less than 50 percent of the funds shall be 
                used by the eligible entity to provide shelter and 
                services (as described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) 
                of paragraph (2)) to minor victims of sex trafficking 
                through qualified nongovernmental organizations; and
                    (B) not less than 10 percent of the funds shall be 
                awarded by the eligible entity to one or more qualified 
                nongovernmental organizations with annual revenues of 
                less than $750,000, to provide services to minor 
                victims of sex trafficking or training for service 
                providers related to sex trafficking of minors.
            (2) Authorized activities.--Grants awarded pursuant to 
        subsection (b) may be used for--
                    (A) providing shelter to minor victims of 
                trafficking, including temporary or long-term placement 
                as appropriate;
                    (B) providing 24-hour emergency social services 
                response for minor victims of sex trafficking;
                    (C) providing minor victims of sex trafficking with 
                clothing and other daily necessities needed to keep 
                such victims from returning to living on the street;
                    (D) case management services for minor victims of 
                sex trafficking;
                    (E) mental health counseling for minor victims of 
                sex trafficking, including specialized counseling and 
                substance abuse treatment;
                    (F) legal services for minor victims of sex 
                trafficking;
                    (G) specialized training for law enforcement 
                personnel and social service providers, specific to 
                issues related to sex trafficking, including sex 
                trafficking of minors;
                    (H) funding salaries, in whole or in part, for law 
                enforcement officers, including patrol officers, 
                detectives, and investigators, except that the 
                percentage of the salary of the law enforcement officer 
                paid for by funds from a grant awarded under subsection 
                (b) shall not be more than the percentage of the 
                officer's time on duty that is dedicated to working on 
                cases involving sex trafficking of minors;
                    (I) funding salaries for State and local 
                prosecutors, including assisting in paying trial 
                expenses for prosecution of sex trafficking offenders;
                    (J) investigation expenses for cases involving sex 
                trafficking of minors, including--
                            (i) wire taps;
                            (ii) consultants with expertise specific to 
                        cases involving sex trafficking of minors;
                            (iii) travel; and
                            (iv) any other technical assistance 
                        expenditures;
                    (K) outreach and education programs to provide 
                information about deterrence and prevention of sex 
                trafficking of minors; and
                    (L) programs to provide treatment to individuals 
                charged or cited with purchasing or attempting to 
                purchase sex acts in cases where--
                            (i) a treatment program can be mandated as 
                        a condition of a sentence, fine, suspended 
                        sentence, or probation, or is an appropriate 
                        alternative to criminal prosecution; and
                            (ii) the individual was not charged with 
                        purchasing or attempting to purchase sex acts 
                        with a minor.
            (3) Prohibited activities.--Grants awarded pursuant to 
        subsection (b) shall not be used for medical care (as defined 
        in section 2791(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
        U.S.C. 300gg-91)), except that grants may be used for mental 
        health counseling as authorized under paragraph (2)(E).
    (d) Application.--
            (1) In general.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant 
        under this Act shall submit an application to the Assistant 
        Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and accompanied 
        by such information as the Assistant Attorney General may 
        reasonably require.
            (2) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) describe the activities for which assistance 
                under this section is sought; and
                    (B) provide such additional assurances as the 
                Assistant Attorney General determines to be essential 
                to ensure compliance with the requirements of this Act.
    (e) Evaluation.--The Assistant Attorney General shall, in 
consultation with the Comptroller General of the United States, enter 
into a contract with an academic or non-profit organization that has 
experience in issues related to sex trafficking of minors and 
evaluation of grant programs to conduct an annual evaluation of grants 
made under this section to determine the impact and effectiveness of 
programs funded with grants awarded under subsection (b).
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--For fiscal years 2011 through 
2014, there are authorized to be appropriated, to carry out the 
provisions of this section, the following sums:
            (1) $45,000,000 to fund grants awarded under subsection 
        (b).
            (2) $1,500,000 to conduct the evaluation under subsection 
        (e).
            (3) $3,500,000 to the Attorney General, to design and 
        implement improvements to the National Crime Information Center 
        database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, established 
        pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United States Code.

SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Reporting Requirement for State Child Welfare Agencies.--
            (1) Requirement for state child welfare agencies to report 
        children missing or abducted.--Section 471(a) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (32), by striking ``and'' after 
                the semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (33), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (33) the 
                following:
            ``(34) provides that the State has in effect procedures 
        that require the State agency to promptly report information on 
        missing or abducted children to the law enforcement authorities 
        for entry into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) 
        database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, established 
        pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United States Code.''.
            (2) Regulations.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services shall promulgate regulations implementing the 
        amendments made by paragraph (1). The regulations promulgated 
        under this subsection shall include provisions to withhold 
        Federal funds from any State that fails to substantially comply 
        with the requirement imposed under the amendments made by 
        paragraph (1).
            (3) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether final 
        regulations required under paragraph (2) have been promulgated.
    (b) Annual Statistical Summary.--Section 3701(c) of the Crime 
Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779(c)) is amended by inserting ``, 
which shall include the total number of reports received and the total 
number of entries made to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) 
database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, established pursuant 
to section 534 of title 28, United States Code.'' after ``this title''.
    (c) State Reporting.--Section 3702 of the Crime Control Act of 1990 
(42 U.S.C. 5780) is amended in paragraph (4)--
            (1) by striking ``(2)'' and inserting ``(3)'';
            (2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, and a photograph 
        taken within the previous 180 days'' after ``dental records'';
            (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (4) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D); 
        and
            (5) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) notify the National Center for Missing and 
                Exploited Children of each report received relating to 
                a child reported missing from a foster care family home 
                or childcare institution; and''.
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