Trafficking Survivors Housing Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3891 To require a study and report on the housing and service needs of survivors of trafficking and individuals at risk for trafficking. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2021 Mrs. BEATTY (for herself and Mrs. WAGNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require a study and report on the housing and service needs of survivors of trafficking and individuals at risk for trafficking. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trafficking Survivors 4 Housing Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON HOUSING AND SERVICE 6 NEEDS OF SURVIVORS OF TRAFFICKING AND 7 INDIVIDUALS AT RISK FOR TRAFFICKING. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3891.IH H3891 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3891 IH (1) SURVIVOR OF A SEVERE FORM OF TRAF- 1 FICKING.—The term ‘‘survivor of a severe form of 2 trafficking’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘victim 3 of a severe form of trafficking’’ in section 103 of the 4 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 5 U.S.C. 7102). 6 (2) SURVIVOR OF TRAFFICKING.—The term 7 ‘‘survivor of trafficking’’ has the meaning given the 8 term ‘‘victim of trafficking’’ in section 103 of the 9 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 10 U.S.C. 7102). 11 (b) STUDY.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Inter- 13 agency Council on Homelessness shall conduct a 14 study assessing the availability and accessibility of 15 housing and services for individuals experiencing 16 homelessness or housing instability who are— 17 (A) survivors of trafficking, including sur- 18 vivors of severe forms of trafficking; or 19 (B) at risk of being trafficked. 20 (2) COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION.—In 21 conducting the study required under paragraph (1), 22 the United States Interagency Council on Homeless- 23 ness shall— 24 (A) coordinate with— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3891.IH H3891 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3891 IH (i) the Interagency Task Force to 1 Monitor and Combat Trafficking estab- 2 lished under section 105 of the Trafficking 3 Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 4 7103); 5 (ii) the United States Advisory Coun- 6 cil on Human Trafficking; 7 (iii) the Secretary of Housing and 8 Urban Development; 9 (iv) the Secretary of Health and 10 Human Services; and 11 (v) the Attorney General; and 12 (B) consult with— 13 (i) the National Advisory Committee 14 on the Sex Trafficking of Children and 15 Youth in the United States; 16 (ii) survivors of trafficking; 17 (iii) direct service providers, includ- 18 ing— 19 (I) organizations serving runaway 20 and homeless youth; 21 (II) organizations serving sur- 22 vivors of trafficking through commu- 23 nity-based programs; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3891.IH H3891 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3891 IH (III) organizations providing 1 housing services to survivors of traf- 2 ficking; and 3 (iv) housing and homelessness assist- 4 ance providers, including recipients of 5 grants under— 6 (I) the continuum of care pro- 7 gram authorized under subtitle C of 8 title IV of the McKinney-Vento Home- 9 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 10 et seq.); and 11 (II) the Emergency Solutions 12 Grants Program authorized under 13 subtitle B of title IV of the McKin- 14 ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 15 (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.). 16 (3) CONTENTS.—The study conducted under 17 paragraph (1) shall include— 18 (A) with respect to the individuals de- 19 scribed in that paragraph— 20 (i) an evaluation of formal assess- 21 ments and outreach methods used to iden- 22 tify and assess the housing and service 23 needs of those individuals, including out- 24 reach methods to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3891.IH H3891 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3891 IH (I) ensure effective communica- 1 tion with individuals with disabilities; 2 and 3 (II) reach individuals with lim- 4 ited English proficiency; 5 (ii) a review of the availability and ac- 6 cessibility of homelessness or housing serv- 7 ices for those individuals, including the 8 family members of those individuals who 9 are minors involved in foster care systems, 10 that identifies the disability-related needs 11 of those individuals, including the need for 12 housing with accessibility features; 13 (iii) the effect of any policies and pro- 14 cedures of mainstream homelessness or 15 housing services that facilitate or limit the 16 availability of those services and accessi- 17 bility for those individuals, including those 18 individuals who are involved in the legal 19 system, as those services are in effect as of 20 the date on which the study is conducted; 21 (iv) an identification of best practices 22 in meeting the housing and service needs 23 of those individuals; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3891.IH H3891 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3891 IH (v) an assessment of housing discrimi- 1 nation against survivors of trafficking who 2 are members of a protected class under the 3 Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et 4 seq.); 5 (B) an assessment of the ability of main- 6 stream homelessness or housing services to 7 meet the specialized needs of survivors of traf- 8 ficking, including trauma responsive approaches 9 specific to labor and sex trafficking survivors; 10 and 11 (C) an evaluation of the effectiveness of, 12 and infrastructure considerations for, housing 13 and service-delivery models that are specific to 14 survivors of trafficking, including survivors of 15 severe forms of trafficking, including emergency 16 rental assistance models. 17 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 18 of enactment of this Act, the United States Interagency 19 Council on Homelessness shall— 20 (1) submit to the Committee on Banking, 21 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the 22 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 23 Representatives a report containing the information 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3891.IH H3891 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3891 IH described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of sub- 1 section (b)(3); and 2 (2) make the report submitted under paragraph 3 (1) publicly available. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3891.IH H3891 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS