Below are Federal laws enacted as of 2020, including Children's Bureau Program Instructions and Information Memoranda for each law.
Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, Public Law 114-22 (PDF - 293 KB)
114th Congress (2015)
Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are victims of severe forms of trafficking to obtain benefits and services available to such victims without obtaining official certification from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of their status as victims.
Children's Bureau Information Memorandum (IM) on this law:
ACYF-CB-IM-15-05
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (2015)
Provides an Information Memorandum on Public Law 114-22, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, Public Law 113-183 (PDF - 274 KB)
113th Congress (2015)
Prevents and addresses sex trafficking of children in foster care, to extend and improve adoption incentives and to improve international child support recovery.
Children's Bureau Program Instructions and Information Memorandums on this law:
ACYF-CB-IM-14-03
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (2014)
Provides an Information Memorandum on Public Law 113-183, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act.
ACYF-CB-PI-14-06
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (2015)
Provides a Program Instruction on Public Law 113-183, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act.
ACYF-CB-PI-15-07
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (2015)
Provides a Program Instruction on Public Law 113-183, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act.
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017, Public Law 115-427 (PDF - 311 KB)
115th Congress (2019)
Requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop victim screening protocols for local, State, and Federal law enforcement to ensure officers are trained to recognize human trafficking victims and emphasizes enforcement by providing stronger identification, prosecution, and sentencing tools to law enforcement and prosecutors. The law also emphasizes the need for law enforcement to refer human trafficking victims to services instead of arresting, charging, or prosecuting them for offenses resulting from their victimization.
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (PDF - 398 KB)
Defines "severe forms of trafficking in persons" as the following:
- Sex trafficking (i.e., the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act) in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age
- The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
Find more resources about Federal laws and policies addressing human trafficking through Child Welfare Information Gateway's Library by choosing a topic below. Search results are updated continually and include documents from 2014 to the present.