child safety

Missing-Child Clearinghouse Program

Hotel di Jayapura - Each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and the Netherlands, provides resources for missing children, their families, and the professionals who serve them. These resources are referred to as missing-child safety clearinghouses.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) maintains a liaison with each missing-child clearinghouse and helps ensure they are familiar with the many resources available through NCMEC. NCMEC provides missing-child clearinghouses with training, technical assistance, and vital information to better assist them in handling missing-child cases.

The missing-child clearinghouses are diverse in their delivery of services because of state and territorial mandates and the variety of agencies in which they exist. The primary areas of focus for missing-child clearinghouses are networking, information dissemination, training development and delivery, data collection, and provision of technical assistance in cases of missing and sexually exploited children. NCMEC and missing-child clearinghouses closely work together to help ensure a comprehensive approach to child protection.