Help fight child abduction and sexual exploitation

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^® Call Center operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you have information about a missing child or suspected child sexual exploitation, report it to 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). In the first quarter of 2017, NCMEC’s Call Center:

• Answered 36,926 calls for service on toll-free numbers and the main business telephone line.
• Received 2,545 calls from individuals reporting sightings of missing children.

When a child goes missing, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^® is ready to assist families and the professionals serving them 24 hours a day. Each case brings its own set of unique challenges, and NCMEC is prepared to help meet those challenges. NCMEC's case management teams work each case on an individual basis by providing coordinated support and access to analytical and technological resources. NCMEC is prepared to assist in all missing child cases, even when a child has been missing for a long period of time, was abducted internationally by a parent or has special needs. In the first quarter of 2017, NCMEC’s Missing Children Division:

• Assigned 6,289 newly reported missing child cases to Case Management Teams.
• Assisted families/guardians and the professionals serving them in the recovery of 6,323 children.

Child sexual exploitation is a significant problem requiring a multifaceted response. Our CyberTipline^® furthers NCMEC’s mission of helping to prevent and diminish the sexual exploitation of children by receiving leads and tips regarding suspected crimes of sexual exploitation committed against children. In the first quarter of 2017, NCMEC’s CyberTipline^® received and made available to relevant local, state, federal or international law enforcement agencies for their independent review and potential investigation, 3,466,041 CyberTipline^® reports.

Coping with the traumatic experiences of abduction and sexual exploitation demands courage and determination on the part of the victim, parents, guardians and other family members. The master-level trained mental health and child welfare professionals at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^® work within the Family Advocacy Division to proactively help families, law enforcement, social service agencies and mental health agencies by providing a support network for child victims and their families. In the first quarter of 2017, NCMEC’s Family Advocacy Division delivered services to:

• 154 families/guardians in need through their family advocacy specialists who offer emotional support and connection with a mental health resource to help ensure successful recovery and reunification.
• 797 families in need through Team HOPE members who offer hope, peer guidance, resources and empowerment from trained volunteers with similar case types.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children^® is committed to provide training, technical assistance and resources at no cost to child-serving professionals and others who investigate cases of crimes committed against children, specifically cases of missing children and child sexual exploitation. In the first quarter of 2017, NCMEC’s training centers:

• Provided training in 2,298 instances to professionals concerning sound practices for child sexual exploitation and missing child case detection, identification, investigation and prevention.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^® works with media outlets to help increase public awareness about missing and sexually exploited children. NCMEC provides a variety of resources including press kits, news releases and interviews. In the first quarter of 2017, NCMEC’s Communications Department:

• Responded to 306 requests from the media, child-serving professionals and the public for information to help provide better awareness about the magnitude of the missing and sexually exploited child problem and ways to better reduce the incidence of these crimes as they are committed against children.

The Case Analysis Unit at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^®  is responsible for providing direct analytical support to child-serving professionals for missing and unidentified deceased child cases. In the first quarter of 2017, NCMEC’s Case Analysis Division:

• Received 5,390 requests to have NCMEC’s Sex Offender Tracking Team assist in locating noncompliant sex offenders.