[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2730 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2730

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to better enable 
 State child welfare agencies to prevent human trafficking of children 
 and serve the needs of children who are victims of human trafficking, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 2011

  Ms. Bass of California (for herself, Mr. Marino, Mr. Payne, and Ms. 
Jackson Lee of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to better enable 
 State child welfare agencies to prevent human trafficking of children 
 and serve the needs of children who are victims of human trafficking, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening the Child Welfare 
Response to Human Trafficking Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING LOCAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING AND SEXUAL 
              EXPLOITATION.

    (a) Employee Training Guidelines and Resources.--The Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall develop and publish guidelines 
(including a list of recommended experts in the field) for use by State 
child welfare agencies in training appropriate child welfare employees 
and court employees in identifying, documenting, educating, and 
counseling children being provided services by the agencies who are at 
risk of becoming a victim of trafficking (as defined in section 103(14) 
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000) or who are human 
trafficking victims who may need to be in the care of the child welfare 
system. The guidelines should also include tips on how the child 
welfare employee can effectively engage, educate, and support the 
parents of such a child victims, if appropriate.
    (b) Best Practices Toolkit.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall develop and publish guidelines that contain 
recommendations on how State child welfare agencies may prevent 
children from becoming a victim of trafficking (as defined in section 
103(14) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000), which 
should include advice on how State and local law enforcement agencies 
may collaborate proactively with non-profit organizations on how to 
manage cases involving a child who is such a victim. In developing the 
best practices toolkit, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is 
encouraged to utilize multi-disciplinary research, peer-reviewed 
research, evidence-based treatments and programs, and input from child 
welfare agencies that have developed human trafficking specific 
programs, and to consult appropriate agencies throughout the Federal 
Government such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the 
Trafficking in Persons Office of the Department of State. The Secretary 
of Health and Human Services should also consider how the Department of 
Health and Human Services can best provide support to monitor and 
evaluate existing and related programs at State and county agencies and 
outline these support mechanisms in the best practices toolkit.
    (c) Residential Safe Havens.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall draft recommendations for State child welfare agencies 
on how to best update licensing requirements for child-care 
institutions so that specialized, long-term residential facilities or 
safe havens serving children who are human trafficking victims can 
qualify as child-care institutions under part E of title IV of the 
Social Security Act, so that such children who are in the care of the 
State may receive the best care and services possible.
    (d) Streamline Data Collection and Reporting.--Section 471(a) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (32);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (33) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(34) provides that--
                    ``(A) the records of the agency classify each child 
                to whom the agency is providing child welfare services 
                and whom the agency has identified as being a victim of 
                trafficking (as defined in section 103(14) of the 
                Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000), as a child 
                trafficking victim, and specify the reasons why the 
                child is so classified;
                    ``(B) each report submitted by the agency to the 
                data collection system established under section 479 
                includes information on each child so classified; and
                    ``(C) the agency shall report the identity of each 
                child to whom the agency is providing child welfare 
                services and who is missing or has been abducted, 
                immediately to appropriate law enforcement agencies for 
                entry into the National Crime Information Center 
                database.''.
    (e) Documentation of Child Safety and Related Specialized 
Services.--Section 475(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 675(1)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
                    ``(H) In the case of a child classified by the 
                State agency as a victim of trafficking (as defined in 
                section 103(14) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
                Act of 2000), a documentation of the measures taken to 
                ensure the safety of the child in the placement and of 
                the extent to which the child is receiving services 
                designed specifically to meet the needs of trafficked 
                children, such as intensive case management, mental 
                health counseling, security services, language, and 
                cultural competency.''.
    (f) Extend Services for Trafficked Youth to Age 21.--Section 477(a) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 677(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (6);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (7) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) to ensure that each child in foster care and each 
        former foster care recipient who is a victim of trafficking (as 
        defined in section 103(14) of the Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Act of 2000) is able to access the services 
        described in section 475(1)(H) of this Act until the child 
        attains 21 years of age.''.
    (g) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
        section, this section and the amendments made by this section 
        shall take effect on January 1, 2012.
            (2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--In the 
        case of a State plan approved under part E of title IV of the 
        Social Security Act which the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services determines requires State legislation (other than 
        legislation appropriating funds) in order for the plan to meet 
        the additional requirements imposed by this section, the State 
        plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the 
        requirements of such part solely on the basis of the failure of 
        the plan to meet such additional requirements before the 1st 
        day of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the close of 
        the 1st regular session of the State legislature that ends 
        after the 1-year period beginning with the date of the 
        enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 
        in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, 
        each year of the session is deemed to be a separate regular 
        session of the State legislature.

SEC. 3. PROVISION OF SERVICES BY CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES TO PREVENT 
              HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN, AND TO SERVE THE NEEDS OF 
              CHILDREN WHO ARE VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

    Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)), as 
amended by section 2(d) of this Act, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (33);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (34) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(35) not later than January 1, 2013, describes the 
        practices and future plans of the State child welfare agency 
        regarding the human trafficking and commercial sexual 
        exploitation of foreign, United States citizen, and legal 
        resident children, including--
                    ``(A) collaborations with local and State agencies 
                and nonprofit organizations to identify and care for 
                children believed or confirmed to be, or at-risk of 
                becoming victims of a severe form of human trafficking;
                    ``(B) training for the child welfare employees who 
                are likely to come into contact with child victims of 
                human trafficking;
                    ``(C) jurisdictional limits and other issues that 
                hinder State child welfare response to aid child 
                victims of human trafficking;
                    ``(D) data collection regarding children identified 
                by child welfare services as victims of trafficking 
                and, if known, the relationship between the child and 
                the exploiter; and
                    ``(E) prevention education to families and at-risk 
                children, including runaway and homeless youth, 
                regarding human trafficking and commercial sexual 
                exploitation.''.
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