H.R. 2961 — Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025

This section revises the Department of State grants program under sec. 106(b)(2) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000—previously titled "Grants to assist in the recognition of trafficking"—by (1) renaming it the Frederick Douglass Human Trafficking Prevention Education Grants program; (2) specifying program requirements and priorities for local educational agencies serving high-intensity child sex trafficking areas or areas with significant child labor trafficking, with additional priority for those partnering with nonprofits that collaborate with law enforcement and technology or social media companies; (3) requiring grantee selection based on ability to engage stakeholders (including survivors), provide age-appropriate and trauma-informed training for trainers, guardians, K-12 students, teachers, and school personnel, and develop scalable evidence-based programs addressing child labor and sex trafficking as well as sexual exploitation via technology; (4) defining "train the trainers"; (5) directing consultation with specified agency heads to identify at-risk students (including homeless youth, foster youth, child welfare youth, and runaways); and (6) requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to Congress and make public an annual report beginning not later than 540 days after enactment on grantees, partnerships, schools implementing best practices, personnel trained, training survey results, and victims identified and served.

This section establishes the Frederick Douglass Human Trafficking Survivors Employment and Education Program, to be carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The program assists eligible victims of trafficking—defined as individuals age 18 or older who qualify for services under section 107(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (i.e., non-U.S. citizen victims who are potential witnesses to human trafficking)—to achieve self-sufficiency and prevent re-exploitation through services including basic education and literacy; job skills, vocational, and high school equivalency training; life-skills classes (e.g., financial management, parenting); résumé and interview assistance; criminal record expungement and credit repair for nonviolent offenses linked to victimization; college enrollment and scholarship aid; professional coaching; individualized case management; and help obtaining victim compensation or mental health funds. Eligible individuals may receive services for a cumulative period of five years, with HHS required to enter into cooperative agreements with qualified nongovernmental organizations (i.e., those with trauma-informed experience serving trafficking victims) subject to appropriations.

This section revises authorizations of appropriations to combat human trafficking, including (1) for the Secretary of Health and Human Services under subsection (b)(1), increasing annual funding for victim benefits, assistance, and related programs—including sections 101 and 102 of the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023—to $30,755,000 for FY2025 through 2029 (from $19,500,000 for FY2018 through 2021), of which $5 million is for the National Human Trafficking Hotline and cybersecurity and public education campaigns in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security (from $3,500,000 for the hotline); and (2) under subsection (d)(1), extending the period to FY2025 through 2029 (from FY2018 through 2021) and specifying $35 million annually for Office of Victims of Crime Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Human Trafficking.

This section extends authorizations of appropriations for the International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders (i.e., a program requiring U.S. notification to destination countries of international travel by registered sex offenders)—at $6 million annually—through FY2029 (from FY2021).