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The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress.
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Establishment and overview
Primarily funded by the Justice Department, the NCMEC acts as an information clearinghouse and resource for parents, children, law enforcement agencies, schools, and communities to assist in locating missing children and to raise public awareness about ways to prevent child abduction, child sexual abuse and child pornography. John Walsh, Noreen Gosch, and others advocated establishing the center as a result of frustration stemming from a lack of resources and coordination between law enforcement and other government agencies.
The Center provides information to help locate children reported missing (by parental abduction, child abduction, or running away from home) and to assist physically and sexually abused children. In this resource capacity, the NCMEC distributes photographs of missing children and accepts tips and information from the public. It also coordinates these activities with numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies.
International aspects
Effective September 5, 1995, applications seeking the return of or access to children in the United States under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction are processed through the NCMEC for the United States Department of State, Office of Children's Issues under contract with the United States Department of State and the United States Department of Justice. As a result of its status as a government contractor as well as funding provided under the Missing Children's Act and Missing Children's Assistance Act, the National Center receives approximately US$30-million funding each year from the United States Government.
In 1998, NCMEC founded a separate international organization, International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), to do similar work in the international arena.[1] In August, 2008, the ICMEC was granted "Special Consultative Status" with the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), primarily to assist the UN by providing expertise regarding the issues of child sexual exploitation and child abduction.[2]
Notable Board Members
Former United States Senator Dennis DeConcini.
See also
- AMBER Alert
- Child abduction
- Code Adam
- FBI
- INTERPOL
- Kidnapping
- National Child Victim Identification Program
- Vanished Children's Alliance
References
External links
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