Beatty Bill to Help Human Trafficking Survivors Becomes Law

Statement

Today, U.S. Congresswoman and Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chair Joyce Beatty (OH-03)'s bill, theTrafficking Survivors Housing Act of 2021 (H.R.3891), was signed into law by President Biden. The bipartisan legislation was passed as part of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 and will put much-needed federal focus on housing availability for human trafficking survivors and those vulnerable to becoming victims. This is the eighth bill authored by Beatty to be signed into law.

"Trafficking survivors deserve the chance to rebuild their lives through access to safe and affordable housing," Beatty said. "I am thankful for the years of work from fellow congressional colleagues and advocates that made this law a reality. With this new law, we can begin to dismantle the housing barriers that can make people vulnerable to this heinous crime in the first place. I will continue to stand up for human trafficking survivors, many of whom are young people and women, because one victim is too many."

Currently, there is a severe shortage of affordable housing nationally and, due to funding limitations, federal rental assistance reaches just 25 percent of eligible households. In fact, the U.S. Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking reported that "sustainable housing is a significant issue in achieving long-term recovery and self-sufficiency for human trafficking survivors."

The Trafficking Survivors Housing Act of 2021 will require the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) to commission a study and report in partnership with federal agencies, survivors, and the organizations that serve them on the availability and accessibility of homelessness and housing services for survivors of trafficking. The study would specifically:

Review the effectiveness of current policy and procedures and report on their impact around the ability to provide sustainable, affordable, and safe housing options for survivors of trafficking, including families of minor victims and youth in foster care;
Build on trauma-informed and evidence-based frameworks to assess the capacity of mainstream housing services to meet the distinct and specialized needs of both labor and sex trafficking survivors, including survivors with disability-related needs; and
Identify barriers to and best practices for meeting the housing and service needs of survivors of trafficking.
Beatty has long been a leader in Congress around the issue of human trafficking and has two previous anti-trafficking bills signed into law:

The Human Trafficking Accountability Act (P.L. 115-392) improved coordination on human trafficking within the Department of Justice.
Provision in the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (P.L. 114-22) made it easier to report potential trafficking to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline.

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