NCJ Number
189122
Date Published
July 2001
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This fact sheet describes the purpose, services, and achievements of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Abstract
The center has spearheaded the national effort to prevent child abductions and return missing and exploited children to their families since 1982. NCMEC works in partnership with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to continue to enhance and expand its ability to offer crucial intervention and prevention services to families and to support police agencies at the Federal, State, and local levels in cases involving missing or exploited children. A Federal law enacted in October 1999 directed OJJDP to award an annual grant to NCMEC. Services and accomplishments include a toll-free 24-hour hotline that has received more than 1.5 million calls since 1984, child recovery efforts in collaboration with 1,977 private-sector partners, the creation of age-progressed images of long-term missing children, and forensic imaging to help medical examiners identify remains. Additional services relate to international child abduction cases, a CyberTipline for reporting via the Internet, newborns abducted from medical settings, case analysis and support, and training to police and other criminal justice personnel. NCMEC also continues to distribute safety information to children and families. Sources of further information