Prevent Trafficking in Our Schools Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4580 To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Education to carry out programs to combat human trafficking in schools. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 Mr. YOHO (for himself, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. CUELLAR, and Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Sec- retary of Education to carry out programs to combat human trafficking in schools. 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 ‘‘Prevent Trafficking 4 in Our Schools Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING 6 AWARENESS TRAINING. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 150 8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secre- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4580.IH H4580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4580 IH taries concerned shall jointly carry out a pilot program 1 under which qualified personnel of the Department of 2 Homeland Security provide annual human trafficking 3 awareness training— 4 (1) to personnel of the Department of Edu- 5 cation; and 6 (2) to teachers, school leaders, and other per- 7 sonnel of elementary schools and secondary schools. 8 (b) TRAINING.—The annual training provided under 9 subsection (a) shall consist of training consistent with the 10 anti-human trafficking campaign of the Department of 11 Homeland Security commonly known as the ‘‘Blue Cam- 12 paign’’, including the following: 13 (1) Instruction in methods that the personnel 14 described in subsection (a) can use to identify and 15 respond to suspected victims and perpetrators of 16 human trafficking. 17 (2) Training tailored to the specific location or 18 environment in which the personnel receiving the 19 training perform official duties. 20 (3) An explanation of trends and topics deter- 21 mined by the Secretaries concerned to increase the 22 likelihood that human trafficking will be detected 23 and investigated in classrooms and the environment 24 in the school system. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4580.IH H4580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4580 IH (4) Best practices for referring human traf- 1 ficking cases to the Department of Homeland Secu- 2 rity, the Department of Justice, and State and local 3 law enforcement agencies. 4 (c) MODE OF TRAINING.—The training under sub- 5 section (a) may be provided through— 6 (1) in-class instruction, which may include in- 7 struction at the facilities of local law enforcement 8 agencies; or 9 (2) distance education (as that term is defined 10 in section 103(7) of the Higher Education Act of 11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003(7))). 12 (d) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out the 13 training program under this section shall terminate on the 14 date that is four years after the date of the enactment 15 of this Act. 16 (e) REPORT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three years 18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 19 retary of Education shall submit to the appropriate 20 congressional committees a report on the training 21 program carried out under this section. 22 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report under paragraph 23 (1) shall include the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4580.IH H4580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4580 IH (A) An assessment of the effectiveness of 1 the training program at the Federal, State, and 2 local levels. 3 (B) The number of educators and adminis- 4 trative personnel who received training under 5 the program. 6 (C) The number of human trafficking 7 cases identified and referred to Federal, State, 8 and local authorities as a result of the training 9 program. 10 (D) A description of the data metrics used 11 to track— 12 (i) local, State, and Federal cases re- 13 ferred to social or victims service agencies 14 or organizations; and 15 (ii) the outcomes of such referrals. 16 (E) A recommendation concerning whether 17 the training program should be permanently au- 18 thorized. 19 SEC. 3. HUMAN TRAFFICKING PUBLIC AWARENESS PRO- 20 GRAM. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 22 develop and implement a public awareness program to pro- 23 vide information to the public on the threat of human traf- 24 ficking in the education system. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4580.IH H4580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4580 IH (b) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the program under 1 subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 2 (1) leverage partnerships to educate students, 3 parents, and the larger community on the threat of 4 human trafficking in the education system; and 5 (2) assist human trafficking victims in obtain- 6 ing rehabilitative services by providing such victims 7 with information on private, public, or nonprofit or- 8 ganizations that offer such services. 9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 10 In this Act: 11 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 12 school’’, ‘‘school leader’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ 13 have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 14 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 16 (2) HUMAN TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘‘human 17 trafficking’’ means an act or practice described in 18 paragraph (9) or paragraph (10) of section 103 of 19 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 20 U.S.C. 7102). 21 (3) SECRETARIES CONCERNED.—The term 22 ‘‘Secretaries concerned’’ means the Secretary of 23 Education and the Secretary of Homeland Security. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:29 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4580.IH H4580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS