Sec. 4. Victim-centered sex trafficking deterrence block grant program
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Section 203 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 14044b ) is amended to read as follows: The Attorney General may make block grants to an eligible entity to develop, improve, or expand comprehensive domestic child human trafficking deterrence programs that assist law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judicial officials, and qualified victims' services organizations in collaborating to rescue and restore the lives of victims, while investigating and prosecuting offenses involving child human trafficking. Grants awarded under subsection
(a)may be used for— the establishment or enhancement of specialized training programs for law enforcement officers, first responders, health care officials, child welfare officials, juvenile justice personnel, prosecutors, and judicial personnel to— identify victims and acts of child human trafficking; address the unique needs of child victims of human trafficking; facilitate the rescue of child victims of human trafficking; investigate and prosecute acts of human trafficking, including the soliciting, patronizing, or purchasing of commercial sex acts from children, as well as training to build cases against complex criminal networks involved in child human trafficking; use laws that prohibit acts of child human trafficking, child sexual abuse, and child rape, and to assist in the development of State and local laws to prohibit, investigate, and prosecute acts of child human trafficking; and implement and provide education on safe harbor laws enacted by States, aimed at preventing the criminalization and prosecution of child sex trafficking victims for prostitution offenses; the establishment or enhancement of dedicated anti-trafficking law enforcement units and task forces to investigate child human trafficking offenses and to rescue victims, including— funding salaries, in whole or in part, for law enforcement officers, including patrol officers, detectives, and investigators, except that the percentage of the salary of the law enforcement officer paid for by funds from a grant awarded under this section shall not be more than the percentage of the officer’s time on duty that is dedicated to working on cases involving child human trafficking; investigation expenses for cases involving child human trafficking, including— wire taps; consultants with expertise specific to cases involving child human trafficking; travel; and other technical assistance expenditures; dedicated anti-trafficking prosecution units, including the funding of salaries for State and local prosecutors, including assisting in paying trial expenses for prosecution of child human trafficking offenders, except that the percentage of the total salary of a State or local prosecutor that is paid using an award under this section shall be not more than the percentage of the total number of hours worked by the prosecutor that is spent working on cases involving child human trafficking; and the establishment of child human trafficking victim witness safety, assistance, and relocation programs that encourage cooperation with law enforcement investigations of crimes of child human trafficking by leveraging existing resources and delivering child human trafficking victims’ services through coordination with— child advocacy centers; social service agencies; State governmental health service agencies; housing agencies; legal services agencies; and non-governmental organizations and shelter service providers with substantial experience in delivering comprehensive services to victims of child human trafficking; and the establishment or enhancement of problem solving court programs for trafficking victims that include— mandatory and regular training requirements for judicial officials involved in the administration or operation of the court program described under this paragraph; continuing judicial supervision of victims of child human trafficking who have been identified by a law enforcement or judicial officer as a potential victim of child human trafficking, regardless of whether the victim has been charged with a crime related to human trafficking; the development of a specialized and individualized, court-ordered treatment program for identified victims of child human trafficking, including— State-administered outpatient treatment; life skills training; housing placement; vocational training; education; family support services; and job placement; centralized case management involving the consolidation of all of each child human trafficking victim’s cases and offenses, and the coordination of all trafficking victim treatment programs and social services; regular and mandatory court appearances by the victim during the duration of the treatment program for purposes of ensuring compliance and effectiveness; the ultimate dismissal of relevant non-violent criminal charges against the victim, where such victim successfully complies with the terms of the court-ordered treatment program; and collaborative efforts with child advocacy centers, child welfare agencies, shelters, and non-governmental organizations to provide comprehensive services to victims and encourage cooperation with law enforcement. An eligible entity shall submit an application to the Attorney General for a grant under this section in such form and manner as the Attorney General may require. An application submitted under this subsection shall— describe the activities for which assistance under this section is sought; include a detailed plan for the use of funds awarded under the grant; and provide such additional information and assurances as the Attorney General determines to be necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section. In reviewing applications submitted in accordance with paragraphs
(1)and (2), the Attorney General shall give preference to grant applications if— the application includes a plan to use awarded funds to engage in all activities described under paragraphs
(1)through
(3)of subsection (b); or the application includes a plan by the State or unit of local government to continue funding of all activities funded by the award after the expiration of the award. A grant under this section shall expire 1 year after the date of award of the grant. A grant under this section shall be renewable not more than 3 times and for a period of not greater than 1 year. The Attorney General shall enter into a contract with an academic or non-profit organization that has experience in issues related to child human trafficking and evaluation of grant programs to conduct an annual evaluation of grants made under this section to determine the impact and effectiveness of programs funded with grants awarded under this section. An eligible entity awarded funds under this section that is found to have used grant funds for any unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost shall not be eligible for any grant funds awarded under the block grant for 2 fiscal years following the year in which the unauthorized expenditure or unallowable cost is reported. An eligible entity shall not be eligible to receive a grant under this section if within the 5 fiscal years before submitting an application for a grant under this section, the grantee has been found to have violated the terms or conditions of a Government grant program by utilizing grant funds for unauthorized expenditures or otherwise unallowable costs. The cost of administering the grants authorized by this section shall not exceed 3 percent of the total amount appropriated to carry out this section. The Federal share of the cost of a program funded by a grant awarded under this section shall be— 70 percent in the first year; 60 percent in the second year; and 50 percent in the third year. For purposes of carrying out this section, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is authorized to award not more than $7,000,000 of the funds available in the Domestic Trafficking Victims’ Fund, established under section 3014 of title 18, United States Code, for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2019. In this section— the term child means a person under the age of 18; the term child advocacy center means a center created under subtitle A of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 13001 et seq. ); the term child human trafficking means 1 or more severe forms of trafficking in persons (as defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ( 22 U.S.C. 7102 )) involving a victim who is a child; and the term eligible entity means a State or unit of local government that— has significant criminal activity involving child human trafficking; has demonstrated cooperation between Federal, State, local, and, where applicable, tribal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers in addressing child human trafficking; has developed a workable, multi-disciplinary plan to combat child human trafficking, including— the establishment of a shelter for victims of child human trafficking, through existing or new facilities; the provision of trauma-informed, gender-responsive rehabilitative care to victims of child human trafficking; the provision of specialized training for law enforcement officers and social service providers for all forms of human trafficking, with a focus on domestic child human trafficking; prevention, deterrence, and prosecution of offenses involving child human trafficking, including soliciting, patronizing, or purchasing human acts with children; cooperation or referral agreements with organizations providing outreach or other related services to runaway and homeless youth; law enforcement protocols or procedures to screen all individuals arrested for prostitution, whether adult or child, for victimization by sex trafficking and by other crimes, such as sexual assault and domestic violence; and cooperation or referral agreements with State child welfare agencies and child advocacy centers; has a victim certification process for eligibility and access to State-administered medical care to ensure that minor victims of human trafficking who are not eligible for interim assistance under section 107(b)(1)(F) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ( 22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(1)(F) ) are granted eligibility for, and have access to, State-administered medical care immediately upon certification as such a victim, or as soon as practicable thereafter but not later than the period determined by the Assistant Attorney General in consultation with the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department; and provides an assurance that, under the plan under subparagraph (C), a victim of child human trafficking shall not be required to collaborate with law enforcement officers to have access to any shelter or services provided with a grant under this section. No grant funds under this section may be awarded or transferred to any entity unless such entity has demonstrated substantial experience providing services to victims of human trafficking or related populations (such as runaway and homeless youth), or employs staff specialized in the treatment of human trafficking victims. .
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Sec. 4
Victim-centered sex trafficking deterrence block grant program
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