Missing and Exploited Children: Overview and Policy Concerns

Publication Date: May 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Population and demographics

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Abstract:

Concern about missing and exploited children gained national prominence over 20 years ago when six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted and killed. Consequently, several parents of missing children and other interested persons worked for the passage of the Missing Children's Act of 1982, and later for the Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1984 (MCAA) to assist in recovering such children and to bring the perpetrators to justice. MCAA created the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

In 1990, the first incidence study was released entitled, National Incidence Study on Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children in America (NISMART1). In October 2002, a second incidence study referred to as NISMART-2 was released. Both studies found that the concept of missing children was complex and that children can be considered missing because of a wide range of circumstances.

NISMART-1 estimated that in 1988, 200 to 300 children were kidnapped by strangers. NISMART-2 found that in 1999, 115 children were kidnapped by strangers. Although such kidnappings appeared to have declined, the Department of Justice concluded that trends could not be established because of design differences in the studies. NISMART-2 found that family abductions (203,900) outnumbered stranger abductions (58,200), which included stereotypical kidnapping among many other types of situations.

In 1996, a local AMBER Alert plan (a system to help recover abducted children) was created in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas area and named for nine-year-old Amber Hagerman who was abducted and killed. The Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act (P.L. 108-21) was intended to develop and/or enhance AMBER Alert plans nationwide, reauthorize NCMEC for FY2004 through FY2005, and strengthen law enforcement and federal criminal code provisions related to missing and exploited children. The Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act (P.L. 108-96) reauthorized and amended MCAA and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, and extended NCMEC funding and other MCAA program activities for FY2004 through FY2008. In response to concerns caused by Hurricane Katrina, NCMEC played a key role in reuniting children and families separated as a result of the disaster.

In the 109th Congress, several bills have been introduced related to missing children: H.R. 96/S.133, Tory Jo's Loophole AMBER Response Act; H.R. 252, the Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act; H.R. 528, the Audrey Nerenberg Act; H.R. 1223, the Protecting Our Children from Violence Act; and S. 1220, the Prevention and Recovery of Missing Children Act. Also, S. 1086, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety Act of 2005, have provisions related to missing children concerns.

This report will be updated as activities warrant.