Child Welfare Information Gateway
Skip to main content
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  • Administration for Children & Families
  • Children's Bureau
Child Welfare Information Gateway
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   

Home Topics Publications Library State Resources More Tools & Resources News & Events
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Free Subscriptions
  • Resources in Spanish
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Resources in Spanish
  • Shopping Cart
  • Home
  • Topics
    • Family-Centered Practice
      • Philosophy and Key Elements of Family-Centered Practice
      • Family-Centered Practice Across the Service Continuum
      • Engaging Families
      • Family-Centered Casework Practice
      • Family Group Decision-Making
      • Engaging Communities to Support Families
      • Creating a Family-Centered Agency Culture
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Definitions of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Identification of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Risk Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect
      • People Who Engage in Child Abuse or Neglect
      • Impact of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Child Abuse & Neglect Fatalities
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
      • Overview: Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Promoting Child & Family Well-Being
      • Public Awareness & Creating Supportive Communities
      • Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Programs
      • Developing & Sustaining Prevention Programs
      • Evidence-Based Practice for Child Abuse Prevention
      • Evaluating Prevention Programs
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Introduction to Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
      • Assessment in Child Protection
      • Differential Response in Child Protective Services
      • Child Protection Casework Practice
      • Responding to Child Maltreatment Near Fatalities and Fatalities
      • Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Welfare
      • Collaborative Responses to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
      • Supporting Families With Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
      • Introduction to Family Support and Preservation
      • In-Home Services Involved With Child Protection
      • Family Support Services
      • Resources for Managers of Family Support and Preservation Services
      • Family Preservation Services
    • Out-of-Home Care
      • National Foster Care Month
      • Overview: Out-of-Home Care
      • Foster Care
      • Group and Residential Care
      • Kinship Care
      • Casework Practice in Out-of-Home Care
      • Transition to Adulthood and Independent Living
      • Placement Decisions
      • Resources for Foster Families
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Overview: Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Reunifying Families
      • Recruiting and Retaining Resource Families
      • Permanency With Relatives and Kin
      • Guardianship
      • Permanency for Specific Youth Populations
      • Legal and Court Issues in Permanency
      • Interjurisdictional Placements
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families in Permanency Planning
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families After Permanency
      • Resources for Administrators and Managers About Permanency
      • Resources for Families About Permanency
    • Adoption
      • National Adoption Month
      • All-In Foster Adoption Challenge
      • Children's Bureau Adoption Call to Action
      • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
      • Introduction to Adoption
      • Ethical Issues in Adoption
      • For Adopted People
      • For Adoption Program Managers & Administrators
      • For Expectant Parents Considering Adoption and Birth Parents
      • How to Adopt
      • Laws Related to Adoption
      • Parenting After Adoption
      • Preplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Postplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Search & Reunion in Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
      • Administering & Managing Child Welfare Agencies & Programs
      • Child Welfare Practice Improvement
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Ethical Practice & Client Rights
      • Evaluating Program and Practice Effectiveness
      • Funding
      • Information Systems & Data
      • Supervising Child Welfare Services
      • System Reform
      • Training
      • Workforce
    • Systemwide
      • Assessment
      • Behavioral Health & Wellness
      • Courts
      • Cultural Responsiveness
      • Diverse Populations and Communities
      • Domestic Violence
      • Human Trafficking
      • Laws & Policies
      • Service Array
      • Statistics
      • Well-Being
      • Youth
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Topic
    • Browse by Title
    • índice de Títulos en Español (Spanish Title Index)
  • Library
    • Library Services
    • Library Search Help
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals Search
    • State-Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Resources From the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Discretionary Grants
      • The Story of the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Video Series
    • Child Welfare Information Gateway Podcast Series
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • News & Events
    • Free Subscriptions
    • Adoption Triad
    • Children's Bureau Express (CBX)
    • The Grantee Connection
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • Home
  • Topics
  • Systemwide
  • Human Trafficking
  • Federal Laws and Policies Addressing Human Trafficking

Federal Laws and Policies Addressing Human Trafficking

Below are Federal laws enacted as of 2020, including Children's Bureau Program Instructions and Information Memoranda for each law.

Children's Bureau Program Instructions and Information Memorandums (IM) 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-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.

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..

ACYF-CB-IM-22-01
The Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF), the Children’s Bureau (CB), the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), and the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) (2022)
Provides an overview of federal statutes related to human trafficking among children and youth in the child welfare system and highlights resources to meet those requirements.

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.

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.

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.

  • Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183)
  • Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-22)

(Back to Top)

Spotlight On

Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113–183) Implementation

Capacity Building Center for States

Federal Law

National Human Trafficking Hotline

Human Trafficking Overview

National Conference of State Legislatures (2020)

Children's Bureau - An office of the Administration for Children and Families

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the

  • Children’s Bureau
  • Administration for Children and Families
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
↑ Back to top
  • HOME
  • TOPICS
    • Family-Centered Practice
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
    • Out-of-Home Care
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
    • Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
    • Systemwide
  • National Initiatives
    • National Adoption Month
    • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
    • National Foster Care Month
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Title
    • Browse by Topic
    • Índice de Títulos en Español
  • Library
    • Search the Library
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals
    • State Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Children's Bureau Resources
    • Information Gateway Podcast
    • Multimedia
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • NEWS AND EVENTS
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • ABOUT US
    • How to Report Child Abuse or Neglect
    • Find Help With a Personal Situation
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Glossary
    • Search A to Z
  • Contact Us
    • 1-800-394-3366
    • info@childwelfare.gov
    • Subscribe to Free Updates
    • Chat With Us
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on YouTube
  • POLICIES & HELPFUL LINKS
    • Disclaimer and Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility
    • FOIA requests
    • No FEAR Act data
    • Office of the Inspector General
    • Performance reports
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
    • USA.gov
    • Download Acrobat Reader
  • ↑ Back to top