What the FY 2017 Budget Could Mean for Victims of Human Trafficking

Katherine ChonBy Katherine Chon, Director, Office on Trafficking in Persons

Last week, the Administration released the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget request  summarizing funding proposals and priorities for the entire federal government. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the President’s HHS FY 2017 Budget Factsheet  and Budget in Brief  (PDF) providing an overview of how the HHS budget supports major initiatives to strengthen health and opportunity for all Americans, including victims of trafficking.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) also released a Congressional Budget Justification (PDF) which provides more detailed information about ACF’s programs, projects, activities, and resources needed to achieve ACF’s performance goals, aligned with ACF’s Strategic Plan. The FY17 Budget reflects ACF’s ongoing efforts to strengthen services to victims of trafficking and build capacity to implement new legislative authorities enacted in 2014 and 2015.

Here’s a summary of what the budget proposal, if fully funded, could mean for victims of human trafficking:

$22 million in funding for Anti-Trafficking in Persons Programs to support government and non-government organizations to assist foreign and domestic victims of human trafficking in the United States through coordinated case management, training for service providers, public awareness and prevention, and research and data collection to evaluate effective practices for victim assistance.  The budget proposal includes a $3,245,000 increase in funding to support domestic victims of trafficking as part of implementing new HHS authorities, including provisions in the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 .  For a full description of the budget request and past performance measures, see pages 274-282 in the Congressional Budget Justification (PDF).

Summary of Funding for Last Five Years:

$11 million in additional funding for Child Abuse Discretionary Activities to support grants to states and tribes to implement the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 . These grants would include the development of strategies to identify children and youth in care who may be at risk of becoming victims of trafficking. In addition, grants will be awarded for the development of comprehensive services to children and youth who have already been trafficked and are in the care of the child welfare system. Funding will also support the National Advisory Committee on the Trafficking of Children and Youth.

The FY17 Budget request integrates human trafficking into many other systems of care, including funding proposals to support Street Outreach Program focused on street-based services for youth who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to sexual exploitation and severe forms of human trafficking.  HHS also seeks two new authorities to provide greater flexibility to establish public-private partnerships and enable ACF to seek innovative solutions to address human trafficking that cuts across health, human service, criminal justice, and other public systems.