H.R. 1144 — Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025

This section revises the grant program under section 106(b)(2) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(b)) by renaming “Grants to assist in the recognition of trafficking” as “Frederick Douglass Human Trafficking Prevention Education Grants” and requiring the Secretary to award grants under that named program. It also requires grant-funded education materials to be “age-appropriate, linguistically accessible, and culturally responsive” and replaces the existing priority criteria with a new priority structure that gives preference to local educational agencies serving high-intensity child sex trafficking areas or areas with significant child labor trafficking, and additional priority to agencies that partner with nonprofit organizations, law enforcement, and technology or social media companies to train students and school personnel to prevent labor trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse, grooming, child sexual abuse materials, and trafficking transmitted through technology. This section further establishes selection criteria for grantees based on their ability to engage survivors and Federal, State, local, or Tribal partners; train trainers, guardians, K–12 students, teachers, and other school personnel in a linguistically accessible, culturally responsive, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed manner; and create scalable, repeatable prevention programs using evidence-based best practices under 20 U.S.C. 7801(21)(A) and appropriate technological tools. It defines “train the trainers” as a coaching model in which experienced trainers prepare less experienced trainers to teach others, thereby expanding reach and reducing cost and time. It also directs the Secretary to consult with the Secretaries of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and the Interior to identify the demographics of at-risk students for data collection, including economically disadvantaged students, racial and ethnic minorities, homeless youth, foster youth, youth involved in the child welfare system, and children and youth who run away from home or an out-of-home placement. This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit a public report not later than 540 days after enactment and annually thereafter to specified House and Senate committees on grant recipients, partnerships, schools implementing evidence-based practices, the number and geographic distribution of individuals trained, and pre- and post-training survey results measuring understanding of child trafficking and child sexual exploitation and abuse.

This section establishes the Frederick Douglass Human Trafficking Survivors Employment and Education Program within the Department of Health and Human Services to help eligible trafficking survivors avoid re-exploitation by providing social services support for life skills, employment, and education needed to achieve self-sufficiency. As background, the program would serve domestic and foreign victims of trafficking who are at least 18 years old and eligible for services under 22 U.S.C. § 7105(b). This section authorizes the program to provide, as relevant to each survivor, (1) basic education, including literacy and English as a second language, job-related skills training, vocational and certificate programs, and high school diploma or equivalent programs; (2) life-skills training, including personal finance, self-care, and parenting; (3) résumé creation and review; (4) interview coaching and counseling; (5) assistance with expungement of criminal records for nonviolent crimes committed as a consequence of victimization, including credit repair; (6) assistance with college or technical school enrollment; (7) scholarship assistance for college or technical school; (8) professional coaching and development classes; (9) case management and individualized planning; and (10) assistance obtaining victim compensation, direct victim assistance, or other funds for mental health care. This section limits services under the program to a cumulative period of 5 years per eligible individual and directs the Secretary, subject to appropriations, to enter into cooperative agreements with one or more eligible organizations to carry out the program. It defines an eligible organization as a service provider, including a nongovernmental organization, with experience in anti-trafficking networks and in delivering linguistically accessible, culturally responsive, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed services; for non-U.S. citizen survivors, the provider must also have experience helping foreign-born victims obtain Continued Presence, T visas, and other federal, state, and local services and funding; for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, the provider must have experience assisting victims, especially youth and underserved populations, as defined in 22 U.S.C. § 7102.

This section reauthorizes the grant program to end modern slavery through 2029 (from 2020) and revises the required reporting dates to September 30, 2025, and September 30, 2029 (from September 30, 2018, and September 30, 2020). As background, the program authorizes the Secretary of State to award grants for transformational projects in partner countries to achieve a measurable and substantial reduction in modern slavery, and requires grantees to monitor and evaluate project performance against baseline data. This section also requires that all grants under the program be awarded on a competitive basis and remain subject to the regular congressional notification procedures applicable to grants under 22 U.S.C. § 7114(b).

This section revises the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 to require that the supporting information submitted with a trade agreement implementation package under 19 U.S.C. § 4205(b)(6)(E)(iii) refer specifically to agreements entered into under section 110(b)(2)(A) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(2)(A)), rather than using the broader prior cross-reference.

This section revises the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to add “effective counter-trafficking in persons policies and programs” to the development cooperation and assistance policy statement in 22 U.S.C. § 2151-1(b)(4), and to expand the disaster assistance flexibility policy in 22 U.S.C. § 2292a(d)(1). As background, section 492 of the Act governs the President’s authority to provide foreign disaster assistance under chapter 9 of the Act. The amendment requires the President, to the greatest extent possible, to ensure that assistance provided under this section does not create or contribute to conditions that could reasonably be expected to increase trafficking in persons among people made more vulnerable by natural and man-made disasters, and to incorporate appropriate protections into the planning and execution of activities authorized under the chapter.

This section clarifies that the withholding of assistance for a government that has not met the minimum standards to eliminate trafficking applies only to nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance and bars funding for officials’ participation in educational and cultural exchange programs until the end of the first fiscal year beginning after the government complies with the minimum standards or makes significant efforts to do so. It also defines “nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance” to exclude several categories of aid, including International Disaster Assistance under 22 U.S.C. § 2292, international narcotics and law enforcement assistance, antiterrorism assistance, health programs, Food for Peace Act assistance, refugee and migration assistance, certain humanitarian and development assistance provided through nongovernmental, international, or private sector partners, and any other assistance the President determines by October 1 of each fiscal year is necessary to advance U.S. security, economic, humanitarian, or global health interests without compromising anti-trafficking efforts. (Thus, disaster relief assistance under 22 U.S.C. § 2292 would not be subject to the withholding requirement.)

This section expands the annual trafficking report to Congress by requiring the Secretary of State to include information about trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal, including cases and steps governments are taking to prevent, identify, and eliminate such trafficking.

This section eliminates a duplicative reporting requirement for trade agreements by striking 19 U.S.C. 4205(b)(6)(C) and redesignating the remaining subparagraphs, so that the supporting information submitted with an implementing bill no longer includes the deleted subparagraph.

This section delays the effective date of sections 202(b) and 205, and the amendments made by those sections, until the first day of the first full reporting period for the annual trafficking in persons report required under 22 U.S.C. § 7107(b)(1) after enactment. (Thus, the changes do not take effect immediately upon enactment but instead begin with the next complete reporting cycle for the State Department’s annual anti-trafficking report, which currently covers April 1 through March 31.)

This section directs the Secretary of State to make a printed hardcopy version of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report publicly available. The report is the annual country-by-country assessment of foreign governments’ anti-trafficking efforts submitted under 22 U.S.C. § 7107(b).

This section reauthorizes appropriations under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 through FY2029, increasing funding for the Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to $23 million for each of FY2025 through FY2029 (from $13.822 million for each of FY2018 through FY2021), and increasing funding for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to $30.755 million for each of FY2025 through FY2029 (from $19.5 million for each of FY2018 through FY2021), including $5 million each fiscal year for the National Human Trafficking Hotline and for cybersecurity and public education campaigns, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to identify and respond to human trafficking cases. This section also increases funding for Department of State anti-trafficking assistance to $111 million for each of FY2025 through FY2029 (from $65 million for each of FY2018 through FY2021) and caps at not more than $37.5 million per fiscal year the amount of those funds that may be used for programs to end modern slavery. (Thus, the provision expands the authorized funding available for international anti-trafficking programs while reserving a specified share for modern slavery programs.)

This section reauthorizes the International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders by extending the authorization of appropriations of $6 million annually through FY2029 (from FY2021). (Thus, the law continues to authorize $6 million for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029, rather than for fiscal years 2018 through 2021.)