OTIP Recipient FAQs: Working with Child Welfare

Yes. Under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act  (PDF) (CAPTA),¹ the federal government provides States with funding to prevent, assess, investigate, prosecute, and treat child abuse and neglect.² On January 5, 2023, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022 (TVPRA) added labor trafficking to CAPTA’s definition of “child abuse and neglect” and of “sexual abuse.”³ Accordingly, to receive funding for abuse or neglect prevention and treatment programs under CAPTA section 106(b)(2)(B)(i):

• A State must certify in its State plan3 that it “has in effect and is enforcing a State law, or has in effect and is operating a statewide program relating to child abuse and neglect that includes— provisions or procedures for an individual to report known and suspected instances of child abuse and neglect,”⁴ which now includes labor trafficking. 
• These provisions and procedures must include “a State law for mandatory reporting by individuals required to report such instances.”⁵

In practice, this amendment means mandatory reporters are or should soon be required under State law to report known and suspected instances of labor trafficking. The same was already true for sex trafficking, which has been included in the definition of ’child abuse and neglect’ and ’sexual abuse’ since Congress enacted the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (JVTA).⁶

The addition of labor trafficking to CAPTA is consistent with HHS ACF’s commitment to responding to all forms of human trafficking and related forms of exploitation among children and youth. Efforts to address labor trafficking include providing grant funds to community-based organizations to support survivors of labor trafficking, co-chairing a public-private working group to prevent forced labor in health and public health supply chains, and partnering with the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies to combat exploitative child labor.⁷

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¹ Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, Pub. L. 93-247 [hereinafter CAPTA], https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-805/pdf/COMPS-805.pdf.

 ² Children’s Bureau, About CAPTA: A Legislative History (2019), https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/aboutcapta-legislative-history/.  

³ The CAPTA provision, codified at 42 U.S.C. 5106(g)(b)(1), now reads: “a child shall be considered a victim of ’child abuse and neglect’ and of sexual abuse’ if the child is identified, by a State or local agency employee of the State or locality involved, as being a victim of human trafficking” [emphasis added]. See section 111(b)(1) of CAPTA, supra note 1; see also section 133 of Pub. L. 117-348, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senatebill/3949/text. By this legislation “42 U.S.C § 5106(g) is amended to note that children who are victims of sex or labor trafficking is defined in accordance with severe forms of trafficking in persons (TIP) and are considered both “a victim of ’child abuse’ and ’neglect’ and ’sexual abuse’” [stet]. See Grassley, C. & Feinstein, D., Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022, https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/TVPRA,%2003-29-22,%20Summary%20FINAL%201.pdf  (PDF). Prior to this amendment, section 111(b)(1) of CAPTA stated: “a child shall be considered a victim of ’child abuse and neglect’ and of ’sexual abuse’ if the child is identified, by a State or local agency employee of the State or locality involved, as being a victim of sex trafficking (as defined in paragraph (10) of section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102)) or a victim of severe forms of trafficking in persons described in paragraph (9)(A) of that section” [emphasis added]. See section 802(c)(1)(A) of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, Pub. L. 114-22 [hereinafter JVTA] (The subsections of section 103 referenced by the JVTA have since been redesignated as (12) and (11)(A), respectively), https://www.congress.gov/bill/114thcongress/senate-bill/178/text . 

⁴ CAPTA, supra note 1 at section 106(b)(2)(B)(i), codified at 42 U.S.C. 5016a(b)(2)(B)(i).

⁵ Id.

⁶ See JVTA, supra note 3.

⁷ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services Announce New Efforts to Combat Exploitative Child Labor (Feb. 27, 2023), https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/02/27/departments-labor-and-health-and-human-services-announce-new-efforts-combat-exploitative-child-labor.html.

Yes. States, Territories, and Tribes may “claim partial Federal reimbursement for the cost of providing foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance” to certain children under title IV-E of the Social Security Act .⁸ Foreign national children who have received an HHS Eligibility Letter certifying that they are a victim of severe forms of trafficking in persons are eligible for assistance and services under title IV-E programs if they meet other program requirements.⁹

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⁸ See Congressional Research Service, Child Welfare: State Plan Requirements under the Title IV-E Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program p. 2 (2014), https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42794 . Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is codified at 42 U.S.C. 670-9c, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-1999-title42-section670&num=0&edition=1999 .
 

⁹ Under section 107(b)(1)(A) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-386, https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/3244/text , “an alien who is a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, or an alien classified as a nonimmigrant under section 1101(a)(15)(T)(ii) of title 8, shall be eligible for benefits and services under any Federal or State program or activity funded or administered by any official or agency described in subparagraph (B) to the same extent as an alien who is admitted to the United States as a refugee under section 1157 of title 8.” 22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(1). Subparagraph (B) referenced in this section includes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the Foster Care Program under Title IV-E. Refugees are “qualified aliens” under section 431(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-193, codified at 8 U.S.C. 1641(b), https://www.congress.gov/104/plaws/publ193/PLAW-104publ193.pdf  (PDF). “[Q]ualified aliens, regardless of when they entered the U.S., continue to be eligible to receive assistance and services under…the Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Independent Living Programs (title IV-E of the Social Security Act) if they meet other program requirements.” See ACYF-IM-CB-97-07, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/policy-guidance/im-97-07.

No. An Eligibility Letter does not expire. The recipient of an HHS Eligibility Letter may begin using it to apply for benefits and services on the start date noted in the letter.  While most benefits and services do not specify a timeline, a few benefits have a specific window of time for availability (e.g., Refugee Medical Assistance and Refugee Cash Assistance are only available for up to 12 months).