[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1823 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1823

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 13 (legislative day, December 11), 2013

 Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mrs. Hagan) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 2013''.

SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES GUIDELINES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN.

    Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall develop and publish 
guidelines to assist State, Indian tribe, and tribal organization child 
welfare agencies and juvenile and family courts in efforts to 
appropriately serve youth who are victims of trafficking (as defined in 
section 103(15) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 
U.S.C. 7102(15))) and youth who are at-risk of becoming such a victim. 
In developing the guidelines, the Secretary shall consult appropriate 
agencies throughout the Federal Government, including the Department of 
Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of 
Homeland Security, the Department of Education, the Department of 
Labor, and the Trafficking in Persons Office of the Department of 
State. In developing the guidelines, the Secretary should also utilize 
multi-disciplinary research, evidence-based and promising models and 
programs, and is encouraged to include input from child welfare 
agencies that have developed trafficking-specific programs, juvenile 
and family courts, law enforcement agencies with anti-human trafficking 
protocols in place, runaway and homeless youth organizations, anti-
human trafficking nonprofit organizations, and human trafficking 
survivors. The guidelines shall include sections on the following:
            (1) Personnel resources.--Sample training materials, 
        protocols, and screening tools that prepare child welfare 
        personnel to identify and serve youth who are victims of 
        trafficking (as so defined) or are at-risk of becoming such a 
        victim.
            (2) Service delivery.--Specific strategies to identify 
        victims, manage cases, and improve services to meet the unique 
        needs of foster youth who are also victims of trafficking (as 
        so defined). The strategies should be comprehensive, multi-
        disciplinary, client-centered, strength-based, trauma-informed, 
        and inclusive of all genders.
            (3) Collaboration.--Sample protocols for effective, cross-
        system collaboration between local agencies and non-profit 
        organizations, including child welfare, medical and health 
        professionals, Federal, State, and local police, juvenile 
        detention centers and courts, and runaway and homeless youth 
        programs, schools, and organizations already serving victims of 
        trafficking (as so defined).
            (4) Residential placement.--A list of recommendations to 
        establish safe residential placements for foster youth who have 
        been trafficked (as so defined) as well as training guidelines 
        for caregivers that serve youth being cared for outside the 
        home.
            (5) Documentation and data.--Sample protocols and 
        recommended strategies in order to identify victims as well as 
        collect, document, and share data across systems. 
        Recommendations should be designed to help agencies better 
        understand the type of trafficking involved, the scope of the 
        problem, the specific needs of the population to be served, and 
        the degree of victim interaction with multiple systems. 
        Recommendations may address incorporating human trafficking 
        designations in existing statewide automated child welfare 
        information systems.
            (6) Prevention.--Recommended actions for child welfare 
        agencies and personnel that will help to prevent foster youth 
        from becoming victims of human trafficking.

SEC. 3. STREAMLINE DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.

    (a) State Plan Requirements Under the Foster Care and Adoption 
Assistance Program.--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) reasonable efforts shall be made to--
                            ``(i) identify and document appropriately 
                        in agency records each child over whom the 
                        agency has responsibility for placement, care, 
                        or supervision and who is identified as being a 
                        victim of trafficking (as defined in section 
                        103(15) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
                        Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(15))), as such a 
                        victim; and
                            ``(ii) specify in the records of the agency 
                        the type of trafficking described in 
                        subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 103(9) of 
                        such Act to which the child has been subjected; 
                        and
                    ``(B) the agency shall report within 72 hours to 
                appropriate law enforcement agencies for entry into the 
                National Crime Information Center database the identity 
                of each child to whom the agency is providing child 
                welfare services who--
                            ``(i) is missing or has been abducted; or
                            ``(ii) is identified as a victim of 
                        trafficking (as so defined).''.
    (b) CAPTA Amendments.--Section 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention 
and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)(B)--
                    (A) in clause (xxii), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in clause (xxiii), by striking the semicolon at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(xxiv) provisions and procedures for the 
                        assessment and identification of victims of 
                        trafficking (as described in paragraph (9) of 
                        section 103 of the Trafficking Victims 
                        Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102)), as 
                        well as comprehensive training and services to 
                        serve such victims;''; and
            (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(17) The number of children determined to be a victim of 
        each type of trafficking described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 
        of section 103(9) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
        2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9)).''.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.

    Within 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the Congress a 
report that--
            (1) outlines the prevalence of the acts and practices that 
        constitute severe forms of trafficking in persons (as defined 
        in section 103(9) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
        2000) and describes the specific type of trafficking described 
        in such section to which children who are under the placement, 
        care, or supervision of State, Indian tribe, or tribal 
        organization child welfare agencies nationwide have been 
        subjected;
            (2) includes the general trends and context of trafficking 
        sustained by the children, including specific information on 
        victims of sex trafficking (as described in section 103(9)(A) 
        of such Act) and victims of labor trafficking (as described in 
        section 103(9)(B) of such Act);
            (3) lists data specific to each State, Indian tribe, or 
        tribal organization child welfare agency;
            (4) summarizes the practices and protocols utilized by 
        State agencies to identify and serve child victims of 
        trafficking (as defined in section 103(15) of such Act) as well 
        as the extent to which these procedures exist within State 
        agencies around the Nation;
            (5) proposes an ongoing method of supporting and monitoring 
        the efforts of State, Indian tribe, and tribal organization 
        child welfare agencies to serve children over whom the agency 
        has responsibility for placement, care, or supervision and who 
        are identified as being a victim of trafficking (as defined in 
        section 103(15) of such Act);
            (6) evaluates the feasibility and appropriateness of 
        collecting annual or semiannual data from child welfare 
        agencies regarding the number of and services provided to child 
        trafficking victims served by child welfare agencies;
            (7) evaluates the effects of the method proposed under 
        paragraph (2) of this subsection on the agencies with 
        responsibility for implementing the method; and
            (8) specifies any changes in law or regulation that will be 
        necessary to implement the method proposed under such paragraph 
        (2).

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--Except as otherwise provided in this section, the 
amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) 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 Act, 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.
                                 <all>