Showing posts with label NCMEC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCMEC. Show all posts

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Critically Missing Children - The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Critically Missing Children

A critically missing child is one who is at an elevated risk of danger if not located as soon as possible due to the circumstances surrounding the child's disappearance. A child's age or mental/physical condition can be factors in determining whether a child is deemed to be critically missing.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) intakes reports regarding critically missing children.  The case management teams provide support to law enforcement and families to help bring missing children home. NCMEC intakes reports of children ages 18, 19 and 20 at the request of law enforcement pursuant to Suzanne's Law, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 5779(a).

Law enforcement must act quickly and devote as many resources as possible when a child is reported missing. Case management teams at NCMEC work to maximize all available operational, analytical and technological resources including Team Adam and the U.S. Department of Justice's AMBER Alert Program.

First responding officers need to consider all possible scenarios in which the child may be missing. This could include abduction, injury or the child is simply running late coming home. Law enforcement's response needs to be driven by an assessment of risk factors or endangerment to the child.

Each critically missing child is unique so a general risk assessment for the missing child should include a review of situational, environmental, behavioral and psychological factors and considerations.

To report a child missing or if you believe you have seen a missing child, call  National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) toll-free 24 hours a day at:

1-800-843-5678 or (1-800-THE-LOST)

Suzanne's Law

The PROTECT Act of 2003 contains a provision recognizing the U.S. Congress' concern for the safety of missing young adults — ages 18, 19 and 20 — especially those missing in a circumstance outside their normal pattern of behavior.

The provision, known as Suzanne's Law, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 5779(a), extends the same reporting and investigative procedures already provided to children younger than 18 to individuals under the age of 21. Law enforcement is required to enter the report of missing young adults covered by Suzanne's Law into the FBI's National Crime Information Center database without delay and subsequently conduct an investigation.

Additionally this law lets NCMEC open cases regarding missing young adults at the request of law enforcement. For more information about Suzanne's Law contact NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678


This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out?

What's taking so long? This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out? "Hell has a special level for those who sit by idly during times of great crisis."
Robert Kennedy

The Art of SETTING LIMITS, Its not as easy as it looks.

Art of Setting Limits Setting limits is one of the most powerful tools that professionals have to promote positive behavior change for their clients, students, residents, patients, etc. Knowing there are limits on their behavior helps the individuals in your charge to feel safe. It also helps them learn to make appropriate choices.


There are many ways to go about setting limits, but staff members who use these techniques must keep three things in mind:
Setting a limit is not the same as issuing an ultimatum.
Limits aren’t threats—If you don’t attend group, your weekend privileges will be suspended.

Limits offer choices with consequences—If you attend group and follow the other steps in your plan, you’ll be able to attend all of the special activities this weekend. If you don’t attend group, then you’ll have to stay behind. It’s your decision.
The purpose of limits is to teach, not to punish.
Through limits, people begin to understand that their actions, positive or negative, result in predictable consequences. By giving such choices and consequences, staff members provide a structure for good decision making.
Setting limits is more about listening than talking.
Taking the time to really listen to those in your charge will help you better understand their thoughts and feelings. By listening, you will learn more about what’s important to them, and that will help you set more meaningful limits.
Download The Art of Setting Limits

SYSTEMATIC USE OF CHILD LABOR


CHILD DOMESTIC HELP
by Amanda Kloer

Published February 21, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT
category: Child Labor
Wanted: Domestic worker. Must be willing to cook, clean, work with garbage, and do all other chores as assigned. No contract available, payment based on employer's mood or current financial situation. No days off. Violence, rape, and sexual harassment may be part of the job.

Would you take that job? No way. But for thousands of child domestic workers in Indonesia, this ad doesn't just describe their job, it describes their life.

A recent CARE International survey of over 200 child domestic workers in Indonesia found that 90% of them didn't have a contract with their employer, and thus no way to legally guarantee them a fair wage (or any wage at all) for their work. 65% of them had never had a day off in their whole employment, and 12% had experienced violence. Child domestic workers remain one of the most vulnerable populations to human trafficking and exploitation. And while work and life may look a little grim for the kids who answered CARE's survey, it's likely that the most abused and exploited domestic workers didn't even have the opportunity to take the survey.

In part, child domestic workers have it so much harder than adults because the people who hire children are more likely looking for someone easy to exploit. Think about it -- if you wanted to hire a domestic worker, wouldn't you choose an adult with a stronger body and more life experience to lift and haul and cook than a kid? If you could get them both for the same price, of course you would. But what if the kid was cheaper, free even, because you knew she wouldn't try and leave if you stopped paying her. Or even if you threatened her with death.



Congress Aims to Improve Laws for Runaway, Prostituted Kids

by Amanda Kloer

categories: Child Prostitution, Pimping

Published February 20, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT

The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:

Shelter: Lack of shelter is one of the biggest vulnerabilities of runaway and homeless youth. Pimps will often use an offer of shelter as an entree to a relationship with a child or a straight up trade for sex. In the past couple years, at least 10 states have made legislative efforts to increase the number of shelters, extend shelter options, and change state reporting requirements so that youth shelters have enough time to win trust and provide services before they need to report the runaways to the police. Much of the new federal legislation would make similar increases in the availability and flexibility of shelter options.

Police Reporting: Right now, police are supposed to enter all missing persons into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database within two hours of receiving the case. In reality, that reporting doesn't always get done, making it almost impossible for law enforcement to search for missing kids across districts. This hole is a big problem in finding child prostitution victims and their pimps, since pimps will often transport girls from state to state. The new bill would strengthen reporting requirements, as well as facilitate communication between the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Runaway Switchboard

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women
Nor the Fool Politicians that used so many American GIs' lives as fodder for the fight over an english noun - "Communism"