Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, as President of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), I am honored to report to you on the work and progress of NCMEC per the mandates of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act.

NCMEC is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1984, and serves as the official national resource center and clearinghouse as mandated by the Missing Children’s Assistance Act. In the 1984 Act, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Justice to designate such a center, and NCMEC has performed that role in partnership with the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) continuously since 1984. However, in 1999 Congress passed the Missing, Exploited and Runaway Protection Act of 1999, officially codifying, authorizing and mandating NCMEC in that role under law. The 1999 legislation was authored and sponsored by a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Mr. Castle of Delaware.

NCMEC’s overarching mission is to assist law enforcement across America in the search for missing children and to work to prevent child victimization. Under the statute, NCMEC is charged with operating a national 24-hour toll-free telephone line for reporting information regarding missing children; coordinating public and private programs to locate, recover, or reunite missing children with their families; disseminating information nationally relating to model programs, services and legislation that benefit missing and exploited children; providing technical assistance and training to federal, state and local law enforcement in locating and recovering missing children, both nationally and internationally; and generally promoting awareness about the issues surrounding child abduction and child exploitation. See generally, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5771-5780. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to this Subcommittee for your long-standing leadership and support for the work of NCMEC. Since 1984, per your mandate and with your support, NCMEC has been proud to serve as America's national resource center and clearinghouse for missing and exploited children. Working in partnership with OJJDP, we are working with law enforcement to find missing children as never before, and are making great strides in the prevention of child victimization. Let me provide a few brief highlights:

• RECOVERIES OF MISSING CHILDREN - While our primary role is technical assistance for law enforcement, as it is a local police officer somewhere in America who is actually recovering the child, we are very proud and encouraged about the dramatic growth in recovery rate. Today more missing children are coming home safely than ever before. America is better prepared. There is a national network in place. Law enforcement is responding more swiftly and professionally than ever before.

Working in concert with the Justice Department, NCMEC focuses on the most serious cases in which the child is at greatest risk. On cases meeting DOJ-approved criteria, we have worked with law enforcement on 89,599 cases, and played a role in the recovery of 73,351 children. Yet, most importantly, the recovery rate in those cases has climbed from 62% in 1990 to 93.9% today.

• CALLS FOR SERVICE – Since 1984, NCMEC has handled 1,741,981 calls for service, currently averaging more than 600 calls per day.
• THE WORLD WIDE WEB -- On January 31, 1997, we launched our new website, www.missingkids.com. The use of the web has enabled us to transmit images and information regarding missing children instantly across America and around the world. The response has been overwhelming. On February 1, 1997, we received 3,000 "hits." Today, we receive 3.4 million "hits" every day, and are linked with hundreds of other sites using Java applets to provide real-time images of breaking cases of missing children.

-- To demonstrate its application in a real-world sense, a police officer in Puerto Rico searched our website, identified a possible match, and then worked with one of our case managers to identify and recover a child abducted as an infant from her home seven years prior.

• INTERNATIONAL -- NCMEC is now playing a key role in international child abduction cases as the State Department’s representative on in-coming cases under the Hague Convention. Since September 1995, we have handled 3,143 cases under the Hague Convention, resulting in the return of 2,211 children. We are also using the worldwide web to build a network to distribute images worldwide in partnership with INTERPOL.
• JIMMY RYCE LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CENTER – Thanks to the support of Congress, in April 1997 we opened our training center. Each month NCMEC brings in police chiefs and sheriffs for a policy seminar on missing and exploited child investigations. In addition, we are also training state and federal prosecutors, police unit commanders, school resource officers, and many others. Already, 2,299 police chiefs and sheriffs have completed our CEO training, and 611 prosecutors have completed the new prosecutor’s course.
• PUBLICATIONS – NCMEC has designed, written, edited and published many collaterals and publications for law enforcement, other child serving professionals, and the general public. Since 1984, NCMEC has disseminated 28,762,912 free publications.
• NCIC "CA" Flag – We are particularly proud of our partnership with the FBI. In February 1997 the FBI Director created a new NCIC child abduction ("CA") flag to provide NCMEC immediate notification in the most serious cases. Time is the enemy in the search for a missing child. The Justice Department found that in 74% of child abduction/homicides, the child is dead within the first three hours. NCMEC operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and is receiving instant notifications from across America. We believe that receiving this information rapidly is a key reason that NCMEC is experiencing its highest recovery rates in history.
• PHOTO DISTRIBUTION – A central aspect of our mandate is photo distribution. NCMEC is actively distributing photos of missing children via a wide array of resources, including franked envelopes of members of Congress. Nearly 500 public and private sector companies and organizations are assisting, at no cost to NCMEC or taxpayers. Included in these committed private sector partners are ADVO, the Connecticut-based marketing company whose "Have You Seen Me? flyers" go into 85 million homes per week in the U.S.. This incredible company has been providing this service at no cost for eighteen years, and most importantly, 1 in every 7 of the children featured is recovered as a direct result of the ADVO card.

But there are many others. Six years ago, Wal-Mart became a strong supporter of this effort. Wal-Mart created its Missing Children’s Network, partnering with NCMEC to create bulletin boards with photos of missing children in all of their 3,000+ Wal-Marts and Sam’s Clubs. Eighty-four children are home safely today as a direct result of the Wal-Mart bulletin boards.

NCMEC also works closely with the media. For example, WABC television in New York City has run missing children photos on every newscast every day for the past five years, with many children found as a direct result. Further, Univision, the Spanish language network runs regular missing child features, leading to the recovery of many children.

• THE AMBER PLAN – Having been asked by the Texas-based creators of the Amber Plan, the innovative concept to utilize the Emergency Alert System to mobilize communities in the most serious cases of child abduction, to spearhead the effort to take it nationwide, in 2001 NCMEC launched a national campaign to bring Amber to every community. Joined by the National Association of Broadcasters, the National Association of Attorneys General, law enforcement leaders and the U.S. Department of Justice, our goal was to get every community to implement a system of issuing Amber Alerts in the most serious child abduction cases. During 2002 particularly with the dramatic recovery of two teenage girls from Lancaster, California thanks to the Amber Plan, Amber interest and awareness exploded. From just 27 plans a year ago, today the total has grown 90 plans, 40 of them statewide, with 64 children’s lives saved as a direct result.  NCMEC provides services to law enforcement, prosecutors, direct-service providers, courts, legislators, educators, researchers, families, and victims across the U.S. and around the world. The Center is electronically linked with missing children’s clearinghouses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL, and others. The Center’s internet website is linked with hundreds of other websites around the world to provide real-time images of breaking cases involving missing and exploited children. There is much more.
• CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION – While NCMEC’s primary focus is and has been missing children, NCMEC has also been a key leader in the fight against child sexual exploitation. Particularly as technology has evolved and provided those who sexually exploit children more sophisticated and insidious tools to prey on our most vulnerable citizens, the challenges of protecting our children have increased in complexity and numbers. The mission and resources of NCMEC have responded to this challenge.
• In June 1987, Congress gave NCMEC the responsibility for operating the National Child Pornography Tipline, a toll-free telephone number through which individuals can report leads regarding allegations of child sexual exploitation. To date, NCMEC has received and processed almost 14,000 such leads.
• On January 31, 1997, in response to the increasing prevalence of child sexual victimization, NCMEC officially opened the Exploited Child Unit (ECU). ECU is responsible for receipt, processing, initial analysis and referral to law enforcement of all such information. As technology continued to advance and the use of computers became more prevalent, Congress recognized the need to provide online access to NCMEC’s services.
• On March 9, 1998 NCMEC launched the CyberTipline initiative, www.cybertipline.com, to serve as the national online clearinghouse for investigative leads and tips concerning child pornography, child sexual molestation, child sex tourism, child prostitution, and enticement of children for sexual acts. NCMEC thus became "the 911 of the Internet." 42 U.S.C. § 5771(11). To date, NCMEC and the ECU have received and processed more than 121,000 leads through the CyberTipline.
• In October 1998, Congress passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act (PCSPA) that amended, among numerous federal statutes, the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. A new statute enacted as a part of the PCSPA was 42 U.S.C. § 13032, which requires providers of electronic communication services or remote computing services to file a report to the CyberTipline when they obtain knowledge from which a violation of certain child pornography offenses is apparent. To facilitate this new role, NCMEC opened CyberTipline II in February 2001. This initiative provides a mechanism separate from the public reporting mechanism through which electronic communication service providers are required to file their reports under the Act. In response to this latest mandate from Congress, NCMEC anticipates 7,000 to 10,000 reports per week. Obviously, NCMEC’s interest in the legal definition of child pornography is substantial and significant by virtue of its various and unique responsibilities mandated under federal law.

Issues and Recommendations: In recent years, Congress has asked NCMEC to undertake a number of new challenges and responsibilities beyond its core functions. We have welcomed them and believe that NCMEC is well suited to undertake these kinds of tasks. Further, we believe these undertakings to be an integral element of our mandate to serve as the national resource center and clearinghouse on missing and exploited children.

For example, NCMEC was asked to develop and implement a program to enhance basic law enforcement technology in responding to missing child cases. NCMEC created LOCATER, a hardware-software package enabling police to create high-quality color posters for local distribution when a child disappears as well as disseminate that information online to other departments, the media and NCMEC. NCMEC has already placed LOCATER systems in more than 2,000 police departments. In the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy, Congress asked NCMEC to develop special training for school resource officers and other school officials in addressing the problem of school violence. Those highly successful training sessions are underway and receiving positive responses from across the country. When Boys & Girls Clubs of America launched its effort to create tech centers in all of its clubs, Congress asked that NCMEC develop the state-of-the-art Internet safety resource to ensure that this new technology resource could be used safely. Thus, NetSmartz was born and is now reaching beyond Boys & Girls Clubs to other youth organizations, schools, and the general public. On April 10, 2003 Congress passed the PROTECT Act, and NCMEC’s challenges and responsibilities grew once again. Let me raise several issues for the Subcommittee’s consideration and suggest some possible recommendations:

1.  Appropriations Level – We are not asking Congress for more money. In recent years, NCMEC has received a core appropriation to support its work under the Missing Children’s Act, an appropriation for the Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center, an appropriation from Treasury/Postal Appropriations through the U.S. Secret Service primarily to address and support our efforts in the field of child sexual exploitation, and additional earmarks to support special programs like NetSmartz, LOCATER, School Resource Officer training, etc.

We are very grateful and enthusiastic about the action of the Congress in the PROTECT Act to raise NCMEC’s appropriations authorization ceiling. While such action will not necessarily increase the amount of appropriations NCMEC receives, it gives us the opportunity to consolidate some of the current separate appropriations and maintain and properly manage the current ongoing programs.

Where we do have some concern is in our ability to manage potential new challenges. For example, at this point we do not know how costly or complicated the national background screening pilot project will be that was approved in the PROTECT Act.

Thus, we ask the Subcommittee’s consideration for increases in the appropriations authorization ceiling for those years beyond 2005, the current end year for our authorization.

2. Pilot Program for National Criminal History Background Checks and
Feasibility Study -- Section 108 of the PROTECT Act establishes a pilot
program for national criminal history background checks for individuals working
or volunteering with children. Based on the information acquired from state
and/or federal background checks, NCMEC will be responsible for making
determinations as to whether an applicant’s criminal record renders him or her
unfit to provide care or supervision for children. The determination is made
according to criteria jointly established by NCMEC, Boys and Girls Clubs of
America (BGCA), the National Mentoring Partnership (NMP), and the National
Council of Youth Services (NCYS). NCMEC is then responsible for conveying
its determination to the organization requesting the background check.

NCMEC is currently beginning discussions with the FBI to develop an appropriate process for handling this mandate, including identifying appropriate guidelines for the determinations; designating a person(s) who will be responsible for receiving, reviewing, archiving and acting on background screening information; and approving an operational model for implementing NCMEC’s role.

NCMEC must also undertake a liability assessment for designating "fitness
determinations", whether NCMEC finds a person fit for working with children
and a subsequent crime against a child is committed by that person or NCMEC
finds a person unfit and that person initiates formal legal proceedings against
NCMEC. We must also prepare for possible NCMEC appearances in the due
process appeal rights of applicants to testify, create fitness determination forms
with appropriate language, identify privacy issues and concerns both in the
notification process and in archiving fitness determination records.

Recommendations:

• NCMEC should seek good faith immunity from decisions rendered by NCMEC in this process. Such legal theories as loss of business opportunity, negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress, slander, libel, defamation of character or reputation, negligent approval of a sexual predator or failure to develop adequate protocols to screen applicants should be considered immunity topics for this legislation. Exclusive jurisdiction in federal court would also be a consideration.
  
  In the recent PROTECT Act, Congress provided NCMEC with civil immunity related to slander, libel, defamation, etc., protecting NCMEC in its quasi-governmental role in handling reports from the public which it forwards to the appropriate law enforcement agency. That provision should be examined closely by the Subcommittee to determine if adequate protection is provided in view of NCMEC’s newly mandated role in background screening.

Similarly, for the "beta test," our intent is to attempt to undertake this task within existing appropriation levels. However, it is very possible that we will learn that this project will require additional resources and funding.

2.  Suzanne’s Law – Section 204 of the PROTECT Act provides that each federal, state, and local law-enforcement agency must now enter each case of a missing child under the age of 21 reported to the agency in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Previously, entry into NCIC was only required if the missing child was under the age of 18. NCMEC fully understands the intent of the legislation and the legitimate concern about the victimization of young adults under existing law. Further, Congress has acted to begin support for a missing adult clearinghouse. Nonetheless, there are near-term implications for NCMEC.

Implications -- Raising the age of a child, for NCIC purposes, from 18 to 21will most likely result in an increased workload for several NCMEC divisions, including the Hotline and the Missing Children’s Division because of the additional numbers included in the 18-20 year old demographic.

The National Child Search Assistance Act of 1990, section 3702(3)(c) requires NCMEC to exchange information and provide technical assistance in missing children cases. Obviously by raising the number of "children" we will have in the system places significant operational demands and budgetary shortfalls on NCMEC.

This section of the PROTECT Act is in conflict with other statutes and authorization legislation affecting NCMEC in that children are defined as under the age of 18 in all other instances. Eventually, the law must decide across the board whether NCMEC will be responsible in all its programs for under 18 children or under 21 "children." If the answer is the latter, the demands on NCMEC resources could be substantial.

Further, there are privacy issues relating to the 18-21 demographic. In every other aspect of life these individuals are considered adults (with the possible exception of buying/consuming alcohol in some jurisdictions) and enjoy the same expectation of privacy as other adults. Some people do not want to be found when they are "missing."

"Grey Area Teens" are another challenge in this area of the law. Many states emancipate children at the age of 16 (some even younger) and this effectively ties the hands of law enforcement intervention.

Recommendations -- Depending on how significant the increase in workload is for the affected NCMEC divisions, more staff may have to be hired. The authorized budget for NCMEC from Congress must increase proportionately to the increased demands imposed by this section if NCMEC is to maintain its level of service to the under 18 missing and exploited children. Privacy concerns must be addressed and implemented in the NCMEC protocol for this age group. Legislative immunity for violations of rights to privacy may be required.

3.  Limitation on Liability – As noted above in Section 305 of the PROTECT Act, Congress provides as follows: "NCMEC officers, employees, and agent are not liable for damages in civil actions for defamation, libel, or slander arising from any communication or action by NCMEC to a clearinghouse, hotline, or complaint intake or forwarding program, or in connection with any activity that is wholly or partially covered by the United States and is undertaken in cooperation with, or at the direction of, a federal law-enforcement agency."

Implications -- The limitation on liability was drafted with the idea that it would cover NCMEC’s liabilities as described in the language; however, due to the placement of the language in the AMBER Alert subtitle, some have suggested that there is danger that a court may interpret the limitation on liability as being relevant only to actions stemming from the AMBER Alert.  Many of NCMEC’s activities address the sexual exploitation of children as set forth above. To that end, this section fails to provide immunity from criminal prosecution of NCMEC employees who work in good faith with evidence of child pornography, victim identification, and other evidence of sexual exploitation of children. NCMEC efforts could be even more efficient with good faith immunity protection in this area.

Recommendations:

• The placement of the liability section within the PROTECT Act should be reconsidered in light of the possibility that a court may misinterpret the scope of the protection intended by Congress. We recommend that the protection at least be reiterated in subsequent authorizing legislation, and that the Subcommittee consider the scope of immunity protection.

4.  Prevention -- The media referred to 2002 as "the Year of the Missing Child."  The stories of children like Danielle Van Dam, Samantha Runnion, Elizabeth Smart, Erica Pratt and others unleashed unprecedented fear among parents everywhere, who ask, "how safe is my child?"

The primary focus of NCMEC and Congress in the past two decades has been reactive; i.e., rapid response to child abductions, building a network so that we can mobilize every possible resource, improved reporting, improved technology, etc. Yet, in our judgment more can be done in preventing these crimes.

There are an array of excellent programs and resources available to the American public. But we believe that more can be done. For generations, society has attempted to prevent crimes against children through basic messages like "don’t talk to strangers." Unfortunately, we now know that such messages alone are not enough.

Are traditional child safety messages effective, accurate, and complete? Do they warn children about real threats to their safety? Do they unduly frighten children and families? Today, there is widespread controversy regarding the effectiveness of educational programs seeking to prevent child victimization. In 1998 the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children convened an Educational Standards Task Force to examine the state of prevention education in the United States, focusing upon what works and what does not. We worked with Congressman Castle on this process.

While virtually every school and every community conducts some sort of child safety education, the Task Force concluded that most are inadequate, and that few offer the kind of positive, comprehensive, research-based, grade-and-age-appropriate curricula and education that is necessary. Thus, NCMEC promulgated personal safety education guidelines and encouraged their implementation. The guidelines have been endorsed by organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American School Counselor Association, Association of Missing and Exploited Children's Organizations, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, National Association of Attorneys General, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of School Resource Officers, National Children’s Alliance (formerly the National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers), National Education Association, and the National PTA.

We believe it is time to launch a national effort to reach out to every state and ensure that the best information is being provided to children and families. Our central message to families is that you do not have to live in fear, but you do need to be alert, cautious, and prepared. The key to child safety is communication. The child's best weapon against victimization is his or her head, ability to think, and preparation to respond to certain situations. We will ensure that the child safety messages and instruction are meaningful, accurate and give children the skills and knowledge to stay safe.

Lastly, I’d like to note that we are pleased that the PROTECT Act included a section that would authorize Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) funding for Sex Offender Apprehension Programs in states that have a sex offender registry and have laws that make it a crime for failure to notify authorities of any change in address information.

Recommendation:

• NCMEC proposes a comprehensive national training initiative conducted in every state to teach the latest and best information available regarding child personal safety and prevention. The target audience would be the nation’s crime prevention officers and school administrators. Such training would be provided in cooperation with the National Sheriff’s Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police. NCMEC and OJJDP will develop a standardized training curriculum for delivery nationwide.
  
• Regarding the SOAP program, I’d recommend Congress consider appropriating funds in targeted cities for implementation of SOAP programs.  NCMEC could build a training program for law enforcement officers nationwide on developing and implementing this successful program. Recidivism rates are high within the sex offender community and keeping an eye on them in the general population under a SOAP model in targeted communities would be an effective prevention strategy.

Mr. Chairman, we are deeply grateful for the Subcommittee’s leadership and support, and as always, stand ready to work with you and your committee to bring more missing children home and keep every child safe.