NCJ Number
100581
Date Published
1986
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This 1986 report of the U.S. Attorney General's Advisory Board on Missing Children reports on the nature and scope of the problem of America's missing children, examines what families and government can do, and offers recommendations for addressing the problem.
Abstract
It reports that children are missing through nonfamily abduction, family abduction, running away, and being abandoned or forced from their homes. The absence of a national data collection system that accurately measures the number of missing children prevents an accurate analysis of the problem's scope, but conservative estimates are that several hundred thousand children are missing annually. The strengthening of the family structure and improvement in parenting skills are central to reducing the number of missing children, and government's proper role is to support these goals without undue interference in the family. Government action on behalf of the child victim should remove restraints to prompt protective and corrective responses, and actions targeting adult abusers of children should strengthen and enforce criminal sanctions. Laws and policies designed to help child victim-witnesses should reduce unwarranted stress generally experienced in the criminal justice process. Prevention programs should be mounted, and further relevant research should be conducted. 24 recommendations.