immigration relief declined from the previous reporting period. The United States improved its delivery of a victim-centered, multidisciplinary response to victim identification and services, certified a significantly higher number of trafficking victims, provided services to more victims, and increased funding for these services. The federal government has formal procedures to guide officials in victim identification and referral to service providers; funds several federal tip lines, including an NGO-operated national hotline and referral service; and funds NGOs that provide trafficking-specific victim services.
Federally-funded victim assistance includes case management and referrals for medical and dental care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, sustenance and shelter, translation and interpretation services, immigration and legal assistance, employment and training, transportation assistance, and other services such as criminal justice advocacy. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided comprehensive case management for foreign national and domestic trafficking victims and funded capacity-building grants for child welfare systems to respond to trafficking. DOJ provided comprehensive and specialized services for both domestic and foreign national trafficking victims. Federal funding for victim assistance generally increased in FY 2014. DHS provided victims identified during investigations with access to specialized services and support from victim assistance and forensic interview specialists throughout both the investigation and prosecution stages. DHS provided 446 victims of human trafficking with this assistance in FY 2014, an increase from 330 in FY 2013.
HHS issued 530 certification letters to foreign national adults and 219 eligibility letters to foreign national children in FY 2014, a significant increase from FY 2013, when HHS issued respectively 406 and 114. Certification enables adult victims to receive federal and state services when Continued Presence is granted or when a victim has a bona fide or approved application for “T nonimmigrant status,” as described further below. An eligibility letter allows immediate access to federally-funded benefits and services when credible information indicates the child may be a victim of trafficking. HHS awarded $7.4 million in FY 2014 to three NGOs for the provision of case management services to foreign national victims through a nationwide network of NGO sub-recipients, an increase from $4.5 million in FY 2013.Through these grants, HHS supported 153 NGO service providers across the country that provided assistance to a total of 1,137 individuals and their family members, an increase from 915 the prior year. NGOs reported that lack of training on the HHS certification process for employees of public benefits offices resulted in the erroneous denial of benefits for some victims and their families. In FY 2014, HHS provided new funding to serve domestic victims of human trafficking, including $1.44 million to provide coordinated victim-centered services and $2.25 million to address trafficking within child welfare systems.
During the reporting period, DOJ provided care to a greater number of trafficking victims, including more labor trafficking victims than last year. From July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, DOJ grantees providing victim services reported more than 2,782 open client cases, including 1,366 new victims, compared with 1,911 open client cases and 1,009 new victims in the previous year. DOJ’s grantees reported 55 percent of victims served during the reporting period were foreign nationals and 45 percent were
U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. During FY 2014, DOJ funded 28 victim service organizations across the United States,

totaling approximately $10.9 million, compared with $11.2 million in FY 2013 and $5.4 million in FY 2012.
Record-keeping systems used by DOJ and HHS did not allow for cross-referencing to determine which victims were served by both agencies. An NGO reported that disparities remained between the levels of protection for sex and labor trafficking victims, including child labor trafficking victims. A federally-funded study on labor trafficking in the United States found some local law enforcement officials did not recognize indicators of labor trafficking and some labor trafficking victims went months or years after their escape before being connected with service providers. NGOs continued to report federal funding for victim services remained insufficient to address the myriad needs of individual victims. Shelter and housing for all trafficking victims, especially male and labor trafficking victims, continued to be insufficient, and in some cases resulted in victims returning to unsafe situations. The federal government significantly increased funding for victims of human trafficking by appropriating more than $42 million in funding to DOJ and more than $15 million in funding to HHS for FY 2015. NGOs also reported authorities sometimes placed children in restrictive residential placements, creating a situation that mimics the victims’ circumstances living under their trafficker’s control.
Some NGOs reported concerns about the federal government’s effectiveness in screening unaccompanied migrant children who came to the attention of federal authorities. The TVPA outlines the procedures that apply to unaccompanied children from contiguous countries who are apprehended at a land border or port of entry. Such children must be screened to ensure they are not victims of and are not at risk of trafficking, that they do not fear persecution, and that they are able to make an independent decision whether to withdraw their applications for admission to the United States. If they meet all these requirements, they may be permitted to withdraw their applications for admission and return to their country of origin. If not, these children must be treated in the same way as unaccompanied children from non- contiguous countries, who must be transferred to HHS within 72 hours of determining the child is unaccompanied.When children are placed in the care and custody of HHS, they are screened for trafficking victimization in the United States or abroad.When appropriate, HHS makes a determination of eligibility for benefits and services, which may include long-term assistance. HHS assisted 113 child victims of trafficking through its Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program in 2014, which requires states to provide the same assistance, care, and services available to foster children.
The United States supported foreign national and U.S. citizen victims by using victim assistance coordinators in law enforcement and prosecutors’ offices during trafficking investigations and prosecutions, and by providing foreign nationals immigration protection. DHS provides trafficking-specific immigration relief to trafficking victims in two ways: short-term Continued Presence and longer-term “T nonimmigrant status” (commonly referred to as the T visa). Both statuses confer the right to legally work in the United States.T visa applicants must be in the United States on account of trafficking and show cooperation with reasonable requests from law enforcement unless they are under 18 years of age or are unable to cooperate due to trauma suffered. In the application for the T visa, victims may petition for certain family members, including certain extended family members who face a present danger of retaliation;T visa beneficiaries and their derivative family members are authorized to work and are eligible for certain