Trafficking Victims Housing Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 508 To require a study and report on the housing and service needs of victims of trafficking and individuals at risk for trafficking. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 11, 2019 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 victims 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 Victims 4 Housing Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON HOUSING AND SERVICE 6 NEEDS OF VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING AND IN- 7 DIVIDUALS AT RISK FOR TRAFFICKING. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘severe 9 forms of trafficking in persons’’ and ‘‘victim of traf- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H508.IH H508 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 508 IH ficking’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 1 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 2 U.S.C. 7102). 3 (b) STUDY AND REPORT.—The United States Inter- 4 agency Council on Homelessness, in coordination with the 5 United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, 6 the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the 7 Administration for Children and Families of the Depart- 8 ment of Health and Human Services, and the Department 9 of Justice, and in consultation with the National Advisory 10 Committee on Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in 11 the United States and direct service providers and housing 12 and homelessness practitioners, shall conduct a study as- 13 sessing the availability and accessibility of housing and 14 services for individuals experiencing homelessness who are 15 victims of trafficking, victims of severe forms of traf- 16 ficking in persons, or at risk of being trafficked, which 17 shall include— 18 (1) an evaluation of formal assessments and 19 outreach methods used to identify and assess the 20 housing and service needs of those individuals; 21 (2) a review of the availability and accessibility 22 of homelessness or housing services for those individ- 23 uals, including the families of those individuals who 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H508.IH H508 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 508 IH are minors and youth involved in foster care sys- 1 tems; 2 (3) the effect of any policies and procedures of 3 mainstream homelessness or housing services that 4 facilitate or limit their availability and accessibility 5 for those individuals, as those services are in effect 6 as of the date on which the report is submitted; 7 (4) an assessment of the ability of mainstream 8 homelessness or housing services to meet the special- 9 ized needs of victims of trafficking, including trauma 10 responsive approaches specific to labor and sex traf- 11 ficking victims; 12 (5) an evaluation of the effectiveness of and in- 13 frastructure considerations for housing and service- 14 delivery models that are specific to victims of severe 15 forms of trafficking in persons, including emergency 16 rental assistance models; and 17 (6) an identification of best practices in meet- 18 ing the housing and service needs of those individ- 19 uals. 20 (c) REPORT SUBMISSIONS.—The United States 21 Interagency Council on Homelessness shall submit to the 22 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 23 the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of 24 the House of Representatives— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H508.IH H508 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 508 IH (1) not later than 18 months after the date of 1 the enactment of this Act, an interim report con- 2 taining the information described in paragraphs (1) 3 through (5) of subsection (b); and 4 (2) not later than 36 months after the date of 5 the enactment of this Act, a final report con- 6 taining— 7 (A) the information described in para- 8 graphs (1) through (6) of subsection (b); and 9 (B) any updates to the information con- 10 tained in the interim report submitted under 11 paragraph (1). 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H508.IH H508 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS