S. 1446: SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-05-21 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2015-05-21 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2015

Plain summary

SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2015 This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a pilot program, to be known as Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training (or SOAR to Health and Wellness Training), to provide training to health care providers and other related providers on human trafficking. The objectives of the pilot program shall be to provide training to enable such providers to: identify potential human trafficking victims; implement proper protocols and procedures for working with law enforcement to report and facilitate communication with victims in accordance with all applicable federal, state, local, and tribal requirements; implement proper protocols and procedures for referring victims to social or victims service agencies or organizations; provide such victims care that is coordinated, victim centered, culturally relevant, comprehensive, evidence based, gender responsive, age appropriate, and trauma informed; and consider the potential for integrating such training with existing training programs for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child maltreatment, and child sexual exploitation. Functions of the pilot program shall include the functions of the training program that was operating on the day before this Act's enactment and the following authorized initiatives: engaging stakeholders, including human trafficking victims and any federal, state, local, or tribal partners, to develop a flexible training module that achieves such pilot program objectives and that adapts to changing needs, settings,and providers; making grants available to support training in health care sites that represent diversity in geography, the demographics of the population served, the predominate types of human trafficking cases, and health care provider profiles; providing technical assistance for health education programs to implement a nationwide health care protocol, or to develop continuing education training materials, that assist in achieving such objectives; developing a strategy to incentivize the utilization of training materials developed under this Act and the implementation of a nationwide health care protocol; and developing a reliable methodology for collecting and reporting data on the number of human trafficking victims identified and served in health care settings or other related provider settings. The program shall terminate on October 1, 2021. The bill requires HHS, during each of FY2016-FY2020, to collect data on the number of facilities that were operating under the program, and the total number of health care and related providers trained through the program, during such periods.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text

No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.

Limited to a few requests an hour per person.

The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Arguments against (opponents)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND] · 5 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Susan M. Collins (R-ME), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), Dan Sullivan (R-AK)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (4)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Ballot initiative: A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114s1446.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s1446 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114