Guest Author - Sunniej Jackson

Child abduction is at epidemic levels in the United States. It is no longer something that happens to other people but is now affecting all of our lives each and every day. Listed below is contact information for a number of agencies that are involved with protecting our children and the missing person process. Please save this information although I hope you never need to use it. Please pass on to all your friends, family members and co-workers and ask them to pass this important information on to their family members and friends.

1. Request the U. S. State Dept. enter your child's
name into their "passport name check system." This
allows you to be notified should your child be abducted
and a passport is ordered for the child. Reach the
office at 202-647-4000. Web site: http://www.state.gov/

2. Obtain a social security number for your
child as soon as possible. The Social Security
Administration web site is at http://www.ssa.gov/.

3. Should your child become missing, request that a
"Missing Person's" report be filed and posted instantly
in the National Crime Information Center and Interpol
computers. The NCIC's telephone number is
(304) 625-2000 and its web site is located at
http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm.

Interpol's site: http://www.interpol.int/Public/contact.asp.

4. Ignore any statements from local police that there is a
"waiting period" before a missing person report can be
filed and issued. This is prohibited by the "National
Child Search Assistance Act" and you should insist that
you be able to file a "local" report.

5. The National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children can be contacted at 1-800-THE LOST or
703-235-3900. Its web site address is
http://www.ncmec.org.