“The Department of Justice will never pause, will never rest, and will never cease in our effort to protect this country’s young people,” said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch in her remarks. “We will do everything we can to find children who have gone missing, to reunite them with their loved ones, and to stand beside them and their families as they do the hard work necessary to recover their lives and restore their futures. And we will continue … to expand and advance this work together.”
The Attorney General was introduced by Karol V. Mason, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, who thanked the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) for its three-decade partnership with DOJ. Ms. Mason commended the center for its ongoing work to “develop and refine tools that are vital to protecting children,” such as the CyberTipline, the Child Victim Identification Program, and the AMBER Alert network.
[T]o all of you who spend your days working to find missing and exploited children, we’re grateful for everything you do—and we’re proud to stand beside you.
—Karol V. Mason
Assistant Attorney General
Office of Justice Programs
NCMEC board chair Patty Wetterling offered remarks at the event as did abduction survivor and child advocate Carlina White, and Judge William Campbell, Judicial Officer of the U.S. Postal Service, who presented Ms. Mason with a framed version of the Missing Children "Forget-Me-Not" stamp.
Awards were presented to recognize the heroic efforts of people who have made a difference in recovering abducted children and in protecting children from exploitation. The awards and recipients were as follows:
Since 2000, OJJDP has hosted a national poster contest for fifth graders as a way to raise young people's awareness about missing children. This year, Sydney Kekel from City School in Grand Blanc, MI, received the Missing Children’s Day Art Contest Award.
The ceremony was preceded by and concluded with performances by the Washington Performing Arts Gospel Youth Choir of Washington, DC. The Marine Corps Junior ROTC Color Guard of Gar-Field Senior High School of Woodbridge, VA, was on hand for the Presentation of Colors.President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25, 1983, as the first National Missing Children's Day. Since then, family members, friends, public agencies, and private organizations have gathered throughout the country to rededicate themselves to finding missing children, celebrating heartwarming stories of recovery, and honoring those who are still missing. This year’s DOJ commemoration was attended by more than 250 people, including families of missing children, law enforcement officers, child advocates, and others who support programs to recover missing and exploited children.
Resources:
Resources for parents of missing and abducted children are available via OJJDP’s website.
The Office’s Missing and Exploited Children's Program website offers resources and training and technical assistance to help practitioners develop and strengthen their responses to child victimization.
Information about the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP’s) AMBER Alert Program is also available online. In recognition of National Missing Children's Day, OJP’s National Criminal Justice Reference Service has created a special feature, Missing Kids, which provides critical AMBER Alert information as well as access to resources for families and law enforcement.