“Child sex trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, or advertising of a minor child for the purpose of a commercial sex act, which involves the exchange of anything of value – such as money, drugs or a place to stay – for sexual activity” (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 2016). Two to four million people, consisting of men, women and children, are bought and sold across international borders every year, for forced labor or entering the sex trade, approximately 50% of them are children (Ark of Hope for Children, 2017). That is approximately two million children being trafficked internationally each year for sex or forced labor. Of these, two thirds are female and one third are male (Ark of Hope for Children, 2017). In the United States alone, approximately 300,000 American children, which consist of any individual under the age of 18, are trafficked for sex or forced labor annually. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a nonprofit organization developed by the United States Government on June 13, 1984 after the abduction of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City in 1979, and the abduction of 6-year-old Adam Walsh in Hollywood, Florida in 1981. This paper will address how the implementation of The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has led to the increased effectiveness of locating and reunifying missing children with their families in the United States.
In 1984 the United States government passed the Missing Children’s Assistance Act. The act established a National Resource Center and Clearinghouse on Missing and Exploited Children, which is called The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017). The NCMEC program encompasses many different programs in order to help find lost and exploited children. These programs consist of the 24/7 hotline 1-800-THE-LOST, Newborn/Infant Abduction Program, The Missing Children Milk Carton Program, Amber Alert Program, Code Adam Program, State Missing Children’s Clearing Houses, Reunification of Missing children Project, Long term missing and unidentified children protocols (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2016). Each of these programs/tools are encompassed within The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children program. Since the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children began the non-profit program has assisted in the recovery and reunification of families in more than 277,000 cases, and has had over 38 million reports since they opened their cyber tip line in 1998 (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2016).
One of the programs in which the NCMEC encompasses is the Newborn and Infant abduction program. “Infant abduction is defined as the act of kidnapping an infant less than six months of age by a non-family member” (Collins, 2006). The Newborn and Infant abduction program was started in 1992 and led to a 55% decrease in infant abductions from hospitals that same year. Each hospital has some type of newborn/infant abduction program to keep non-family members from abducting children within the walls of the hospital. At the Mayo Clinic and many other large hospitals around the country, an infant abduction within the hospital is called a Code Pink. Prevention in these delicate cases is the key. Many hospitals take a multilayered approach at prevention strategies, such has only allowing people who sign in to enter the maternity ward and using specific elevators, nursing staff wearing specific badges and only being able to obtain access to the maternity ward with a key card, closed circuit TV monitors, silent “panic” buttons at the nurses station, and electronic wrist/ankle bracelets that set off an alarm if removed from the child or if the child is removed from the ward with the bracelet/ankle monitor still attached (Collins, 2006). Code Pink has shown a decrease in infant abductions since its start. “Overall, the number of infant abductions by non-family members fell from about 13 a year to fewer than 10, according to the data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That’s a drop from the high of 18 babies under age 6 months kidnapped by strangers in the U.S. in 1987 “(National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, 2016).
The national 24/7 toll free missing children’s hotline was created in 1984, by President Ronald Regan. This hotline is contacted when an infant or newborn is abducted in the United States, Mexico, or Canada. The phone number is easy to remember as its, 1-800-THE-LOST, or 1-800-843-5678, and should be called immediately in the event a child goes missing (National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, 2018).
The National Missing-Children Milk Carton Program started in 1984 when paper boy Eugene Martin was abducted while on his paper route. The small Iowa community realized they had a problem, as just two years earlier Johny Gosch had been abducted and was never recovered. Therefore, the National Milk Carton Kids program was created. Eugene Martin and Johny Gosch’s were the first faces on the milk cartons (Lafrance, 2017). The milk cartons depicted a picture of a child whom was abducted and yet to be recovered. Along with the picture the cartons had identifying information about the child (The Missing-Children Milk Carton Program). This program was not a huge success as it did not lead to many families being reunited. However, it did lead to some children being reunited with their families, like the story of Bonnie Lohman, whom saw her own image on the milk carton and left it at a neighbor’s house. This eventually lead to her being recovered and reunited with her family, and in their eyes this program made all the difference in the world. The program began to fade in the later 1980’s and came to an end when the Amber Alert Program was created in 1996 (Lafrance, 2017).
Another program that is encompassed within NCMEC, is the Amber Alert Program/System. Amber is an acronym contrived from America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Response program; however, the program was also named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year old girl who was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas on January 13, 1996 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017). Aber rode her bike into an abandon supermarket parking lot and was abducted by a man in a pickup truck. Amber was found 5 days after her abduction, deceased in a creek, just 4 miles from the spot she was abducted. The Amber Alert system has officially returned 800 missing children since December 23, 2015, and 924 missing children since it was created. The system has greatly decreased the amount of time between when the child goes missing and when they are recovered. Out of 140 cases that were looked at, 8 of them were recovered within 1 hour of being reported missing, 43 children were recovered with 1 to 3 hours of being reported missing, 42 children were recovered with 3 to 6 hours of being reported missing, 26 children were recovered with 6 to 12 hours of being reported missing, and 22 were reported being recovered after 12 hours of being missing (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2017). The Amber Alert system also acts as a prevention to predators because the system is broadcasted to every smart phone in the area with the make and model of the vehicle and a picture of the child who was abducted, as well as, identifying information of the abductor. Therefore, everyone in the general area of the abduction is able to look for the child, the abductor, and the vehicle.
Another type of program used with NCMEC to locate missing children is a program called Code Adam. Code Adam was created by Walmart retail stores in 1994 in honor of a child named Adam Walsh. Years prior in 1981, a young boy, 6 years of age, by the name of Adam Walsh was abducted from a SEARS department store in the state of Florida when he was out shopping with his grandmother. Sixteen days later he was found murdered (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2016). Soon after Walmart started the program other department stores, shopping malls, amusement parks, supermarkets, museums, and hospitals caught on and followed suit. Code Adam is now the country’s largest child safety program and is used in hundreds of thousands of businesses nationwide (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2016). Legislation was passed stating that all federal buildings have a Code Adam Protocol. When a Code Adam alert is started, the caregiver gives as much information to the employee or security personnel of the establishment. This information includes what the child looks like, what they are wearing (including shoes), their name and age, and is relayed through loud speakers (if available) to everyone in the establishment. Each employee looks for the child while specified employees stand at the doors to make sure no one is leaving with the child in question. If the child is located with someone other than the child’s caretaker then any reasonable means are to be taken to delay the exit of the child with the unknown person. If the child is not found within a 10-minute time frame of being reported missing then local law enforcement is to be notified (U.S. Department of the Interior). With prompt notification to employees, this program is very successful in not allowing children whom have been abducted to be taken outside of the establishment.
In the event a child is successfully abducted, they have been taken from the area, state missing children clearing houses come into play. “The Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse (MEPIC) is the central repository of information regarding missing endangered persons in Florida” (Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2018). MEPIC is an important part of the missing and exploited child recovery process. MEPIC involves local law enforcement, news stations, as well as, calls on the public to aid in the search for the missing child. MEPIC is responsible for issuing all AMBER alerts in Florida for missing children therefore it is important they are notified as soon as a child is confirmed missing by local law enforcement agencies (Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2018).
In some cases, children are not recovered for many years and some are never recovered. Family abduction cases have the longest average time missing at 326 days (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2018). These types of cases are not any less important than cases that have happened days or weeks prior. More than 3,000 children have been recovered after being missing for 6 months or longer, while more than 150 children have been recovered after being missing for longer than a decade (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2018). Long term missing protocols through the NCMEC are age progressions, where they have been looking for a child longer than 2 years. A team of scientists create an image of what the child may look like at that age. Project ALERT, is where a team of more than 150 volunteers ranging from private investigators, and federal law enforcement officers donate their time to assist different agencies with long term missing child cases. Case reviews where key players within the agency get together and go over different facts of the case and any new leads to provide recommendations for continuing the investigation and the search for the missing child (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2018). As technology has progressed the use of social media is now used to help get the word out about long term missing child cases, often times on the anniversary of the disappearance or the child’s birthday. Another way in which this project is involved with recovering missing children is through the HelpID me program. HelpID me has a Facebook page where they post pictures of unidentified children and adults alike to try and identify them. Many times, they are composite pictures as many bodies are not recovered until they have already started to decompose and not resembling the person anymore (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2018).
Once children are found and returned home, “less than 10% of families receive any type of assistance or guidance with the reunification process” (U.S. Department of Justice, 1993). Law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, social workers, and victim assistance professionals all agree that families need assistance with reunification after their child has gone missing. Another program within the NCMEC is the Reunification of Missing Children Project. The project gives a better understanding of factors that should be addressed prior to reunifying children with their families, helps families understand how to adjust once their child is returned home, identifies support services that have been involved with the recovery effort of the child, helps the family learn how to adjust to a child who may look or act different upon being reunified due to the amount of time it was between the abduction and recovery, and finally, improve the capabilities of law enforcement personnel, social workers, and other agencies on the reunification of missing children and their families (U.S. Department of Justice, 1993). The Reunification of Missing Children Project acts as a team between community agencies to assist in recovering the child and reunify them with their families. They are the first ones called when the family realizes the child has gone missing; in the form of law enforcement, and they are the last ones to leave once the child is reunified; in the form of social service workers, and everyone in between.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has been around since June 13, 1984 and has led to the increase in locating and reunifying exploited children with their families annualy. This program encompasses every aspect of missing and exploited children from the second they go missing, whether in a store engaging Code Adam or Amber Alert; if they cross state lines, engaging The Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse; to the time they are returned home, engaging Reunification of Missing Children Project; if they are not able to be returned home and are missing for numerous years, engaging the Long term missing protocols which use the HelpID me program and sometimes needing forensic help for age progression remains recovery. Regardless of which piece of The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children program is engaged in at the time, each piece works together as a stream lined unit to help bring these children home and to help both children and families cope with the traumatic experience of the abduction once they are recovered and returned. With more than 277,000 success stories from this program alone, it is apparent that the program is effective in recovering and returning missing and exploited children.