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Federal
Resources on Missing and Exploited Children Second Edition, December 1997 Revised: A
Directory for Law Enforcement and other Public and Private Agencies.
Federal
Resources on Missing and Exploited Children Third Edition, May 2001. A directory for
law enforcement and other public and private agencies. Because
of strained budgets, "it is critical for information about
Federal programs and services to be available so that law enforcement
can request them when needed". This guide is prepared by
the Federal Agency Task Force for Missing and Exploited Children.
This is a great source for parents of missing or abducted children.
Note: Parents should
be aware, that some of the agencies listed here can not deal
directly with anyone out side the law enforcement community.
While this complicates matters, it is something we all have to
live with.
Federal
Resources on Missing and Exploited Children Fourth Edition, 2004.
GAO
Report- Federal Response to International Parental Child Abductions
- Specific Action Plan Needed to Improve Response to Parental Child Abductions
- Foreign Affairs: Status of U.S. Parental Child abductions to Germany, Sweden, and Austria
- Changes to Germany's Implementation of the Hague Child Abduction Convention
Good
Practice In Handling Hague Abduction Convention Return
Applications: We are pleased to present our recently published
guide to
good practice under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects
of
International Child Abduction ("the Convention").
guide discusses
good practice in all aspects of implementation and operation
of the
Convention.
Hague
Child Abduction Convention: Issue Briefs If a child is abducted
to another country, it might be to one of the 50 plus nations
(including the U.S.) that have ratified the Hague Convention
on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This 1997
material consists of four issue briefs that can be helpful to
attorneys handling cases that fall under this Convention.
The
Hague Convention On The Civil Aspects Of International Child
Abduction This 1997 publication is the culmination of Attorney
Patricia Hoff's years of work and wisdom on how the Hague Convention
can be effectively utilized within the United States in international
parental kidnapping cases A
Curriculum For American Judges and Lawyers:
How
Judges Can Support the Operation of the Child Abduction Convention
(Hague) By the Rt Hon Lord Justice Thorpe, given at the
Common Law Judicial Conference, September 17-21, 2000, Washington,
D.C.
Interstate
Child Visitation Act: DRAFT: FOR DISCUSSION ONLY. National
Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. July 12
July 19, 1996
International
Child Abduction: A Manual for Parents. Each international
child abduction is unique. It is important, therefore, that you,
the affected parent, work closely with officials to improve the
chances that you can be reunited with your child. You must be
directly involved in the search and the anticipated return. International
Mediation Reunite International Child Abduction Centre,
Mediation Pilot Project on International Child Abduction Cases.
This is a three-year study to determine the effects of mediation
between the abducting parent and the left behind parent. This
effort is being made to determine if mediation, in addition to
the Hague Treaty on the Civil Aspects of International Child
Abduction, could be beneficial. Keeping
Children Safe: Rhetoric and Reality By Ernie Allen, President
and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Kidnapping
of Juveniles: Patterns from NIBRS
(National Incident-based Reporting System).
NISMART:
October 2002 National Estimates
of Missing Children: An Overview By: Andrea J. Sedlak, David
Finkelhor, Heather Hammer and Dana J. Schultz.
NISMART:
October 2002 Nonfamily Abducted
Children: National Estimates and Characteristics. By David Finkelhor,
Heather Hammer and Andrea J. Sedlak. NISMART:
October 2002 Runaway/Thrownaway
Children: National Estimates and Characteristics. By Heather
Hammer, David Finkelhor and Andrea J. Sedlak.
National
Report of the United States of America For the Common Law
Judicial Conference on International Child Custody, Washington,
D.C. September 17-21, 2000. Organization of the Courts of the
United States of America.
Parental
Kidnappings: Profile of the Kidnapper and Steps for Prevention.
By Laurie K. Williams, L.M.F.C.C and Daria A. Hilton, B.A. Though one cannot draw a specific profile of a potential or even an actual child stealer, it has been my experience that parents who opt to steal their children are invariably members of a high conflict family. That is to say, the relationship between the mother and father is marked by an inordinate amount prolonged and sustained conflict. Reason
To Hope: On the Front Lines with John Walsh
Remarks
by Hilary Clinton: Mrs. Clinton indicated that child abduction
is a violation of Human Rights.
Statement:
of Mary A. Ryan, Department of State, Office of Children's Issues,
before the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of
Representatives, on Implementation of the Hague Convention. Oct.
14 1999.
Second
Comprehensive Study of Missing Children
(NISMART) Overview, April 2000.
Special
Joint Report Federal Agency
Task Force for Missing and Exploited Children, May 1997.
Suffer
the Missing Children: Taxpayers dollars continue to disappear
while children don't, by Todd Wilson.
The
Epidemic of Parental Child-Snatching: An overview. Attempts
to prevent parental child abduction, applicable United States
laws, and the Hague Convention, By Hon. William Rigler. "This
article analyzes several facets of the tragedy of child-snatching:
ways to curb it, applicable legislation, and judicial responses."
The
Common Law Conference on International Custody: Judges representing
six delegations...proposed the following "Best Practices"
to improve operation of the Hague Convention.
Using
Agency Records to Find Missing Children A Guide for Law Enforcement,
Program Summary March 1996.
When
Your Child is Missing A
Family Survival Guide, May 1998.
Missing
Children Home page: pictures of Missing Children by Month (GSA)
Parental
Kidnapping, Prevention and Remedies by: Patricia M. Hoff,
Revised December 2001.
Parental
Kidnapping Law Reform Package Produced in 1996, this package
includes three proposed state laws that can be adopted by state
legislatures. This document describes the entire package.
Parental Kidnapping Crime Act
This is the first of these proposed
state laws. It addresses the criminal justice system's handling of parental
child abduction.
Missing Children Record Flagging
Act This is the second of the proposed
state laws. It addresses the administrative "flagging" of official
records that may be kept by local or state agencies on children who have
been reported missing.
Tortuous Interference
With Child Custody And Visitation Act: This third proposed law would
establish a state civil cause of action against persons who abduct a child
or aid or abet that abduction.
Parental
Abduction: A Review of the literature "This review
examines the extent of the problem of parental abduction, the
characteristics of those involved in parental abduction, and
the effects of the crime on children and parents. It also discusses
how law enforcement agencies and criminal courts generally handle
this crime.
Issues
in Resolving Cases of International Child Abduction by Parents
"parental abduction is defined as the taking, retention,
or concealment of a child or children by a parent, other family
member, or their agent, in derogation of the custody rights,
including visitation rights, of another parent or family member"
Criminal
Justice Systems Response to Parental Abductions "Law
enforcement and criminal court involvement in cases of parental
abduction can make the difference in how effectively the search
is conducted and can influence how quickly the child is recovered".
Profiles
of Parents at Risk for Abducting Their Children: When a parent
has made credible threats to abduct a child or has a history
of hiding the child, withholding visitation, or snatching the
child from the other parent, there is justifiable distrust between
parents and a heightened risk for further serious custody violation.
This risk profile is usually combined with one or more of the
other profiles. In these cases, the underlying psychological
and social dynamics that motivate the child stealing need to
be understood and addressed.
The
Missing and Exploited Children's Program (Update) Justice
and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, the Missing
Children's Assistance Act of 1984, authorizes the OJJDP to coordinate
the Federal Governmentís response to missing and exploited
children and to establish a Missing and Exploited Children's
Program(MECP).
Family
Abductors: Descriptive Profiles and Preventive Intervention.
Family abduction of children has become a serious concern in
the United States. Coincident with the rapid rise in divorce
and the increase in children born to unmarried parents, approximately
60-percent of all children spend time in a single-parent home.
Keeping
Children Safe: OJJDPís Child Protection Division:
Protecting children from violence, abuse, neglect, and other
forms of victimization is one of the primary purposes of the
OJJDP.
A
Family Resource Guide on International Parental Kidnapping:
This new guide was produced by OJJDP to assist parents who have
had their children abducted to another country.
A
Report To The Attorney General On International Parental Kidnapping: Subcommittee on International Child Abduction
of the Federal Agency Task Force on Missing and Exploited Children
and the Policy Group on International Parental Kidnapping. In
1997 a subcommittee, chaired by Mr. Ron Laney, was formed to
"clarify the roles and responsibilities of the many Federal
agencies that respond to international abduction cases and to
explore ways to improve the government wide response". They
also were to review "how each agency handles international
abduction cases and discussed issues of interagency coordination"
This is a report of the subcommittee and the Policy Group as
requested by the Attorney General.
The following reports
are taken from the web site of the ABA Center on Children and the Law.
We want to give special thanks to Patricia M. Huff, Esq. for her guidance
in locating these documents as well as many others.
Case
Management: The Missing Children
Homicide Investigation, 1997 (A Research Findings Report) "The
list of children who are abducted and killed each year by someone
who is not a family member is relatively small, compared to the
number of missing children or to other types of murders. This
research was undertaken in an effort to better understand these
types of murders, and to identify investigative techniques and
strategies that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of the criminal investigations and the apprehension rate of the
apprehension rate of the murderers who abduct children."
Executive
Summary: Common Law Judicial Conference on International Child
Custody. A report on the conference. The delegations "exchanged
information and opinions about how courts are, and should be,
handling international abduction cases, and in particular cases
involving the Child Abduction Convention" (Hague)