Sunday, July 31, 2011

National Center For Missing and Exploited Children.


What they do: Help families with missing children.
Mission: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, (NCMEC), is a private, (501)(c)(3) nonprofit organization which was created in 1984. The mission of the organization is to serve as the nation’s resource on the issues of missing and sexually exploited children. The organization provides information and resources to law enforcement, parents, children including child victims as well as other professionals.
What they do: The NCMEC is more than just a clearing house for pictures of missing children. They are now in charge of entering any missing children cases into the Namus Database. They offer training for Law Enforcement, including a 4 day training Responding to Missing and Abducted Children.
NCMEC also mans a Cyber Tipline:
The Congressionally-mandated CyberTipline is a means for reporting crimes against children including:
  • Possession, manufacture, and distribution of child pornography
  • Online enticement of children for sexual acts
  • Child prostitution
  • Sex Tourism Involving Children
  • Extrafamilial Child Sexual Molestation
  • Unsolicited Obscene Material Sent to a Child
  • Misleading Domain Names
  • Misleading Words or Digital Images on the Internet
Reports may be made 24-hours a day, 7 days a week online at www.cybertipline.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
They first and foremost are there for families with missing children. They are also very comforting in a time of need. When my daughter was missing in 1998 there were very few resources for me. NCMEC was the first one I called. They told me what I needed to do and who I needed to talk to. Even though it was 9 pm on a Sunday night they were there.
Even after I called to let them know she has been found 3 months later, they continued to call me off and on for the next year and ask how things were going. I can never thank them enough.
Here is their resource page for parents with missing children.
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=200