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he
Problem
The
best national estimates for the number of missing children
are from incidence studies conducted by the U.S. Department
of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. The second National Incidence Studies of
Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART
2) was released in October of 2002. According to
NISMART 2 data estimates, there were 203,900 children
abducted by family members, 58,200 children abducted by
nonfamily members and 1,682,900 runaway/thrownaway episodes
in 1999.
The
Solution
As
a member of the Congressional
Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus,
I
have joined with a number of my colleagues in becoming an original cosponsor of the
National AMBER Alert Network
Act, H.R. 412 in the 108th Congress. The
bill would have improved the operation of the AMBER Alert
communications network in order to facilitate the recovery of abducted
children and would have provided enhanced notification on highways of
alerts and information on such children. On April 30, 2005, President
Bush signed the PROTECT Act (P. L.
108-21)
into law to enhance AMBER Alert plans nationwide and strengthens law
enforcement and federal criminal code provisions related to missing and
exploited children.
But,
parents and young people are on the frontlines of this battle and I
have provided a number of resources to help them be prepared and
protect their kids.
Resources
National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children Library
of Resources
From
the National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Connecticut
Amber Plan or
call
the CT State Police at (860) 685-8000 or Infoline at 211
Library
of Congress
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