NCJ Number
105768
Date Published
1987
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This address reviews the U.S. Justice Department's implementation of the 1984 Missing Children's Assistance Act and other Federal efforts in this area under the Reagan administration and proposes additional actions.
Abstract
In 1984, the Justice Department established the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to coordinate and assist in interstate efforts to locate and recover missing children and help prevent child abduction and exploitation. In accordance with the 1984 Missing Children's Assistance Act, the Attorney General appointed an Advisory Board on Missing Children in January 1985. It has met with the administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency to set funding priorities. The priorities include an incidence study on missing children; a national study of law enforcement agencies' policies and practices for handling missing children and homeless youth; and the training of Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel to improve investigative skills in cases of missing and exploited children. Other funding priorities are research on the nature of and remedies for trauma suffered by exploited children, a public awareness prevention campaign, technical assistance for State clearinghouses for missing children, and assistance for private missing children's organizations. Work yet to be done includes improved services for child victims, assistance for runaways who have been sexually exploited through pornography and prostitution, assistance for child witnesses, and the targeting of career criminals who exploit children.