The Mission of the Child Protection Division

The Child Protection Division administers projects, programs, and initiatives related to crimes against children and children’s exposure to violence. It provides leadership and funding in the areas of prevention, intervention, treatment, and enforcement. CPD promotes research and effective policies and procedures to address the problems of abused, neglected, missing, and exploited children and children who have been exposed to domestic or community violence. CPD activities include the following:

  • Funding research and evaluation on child victimization and exposure to violence. One of OJJDP’s most extensive research efforts directed at child protection issues is the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART 2).1 As mandated by the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, the purpose of the studies is to determine, for a given year, the actual number of children reported missing, including the number of children who are victims of abduction by strangers, the number who are the victims of parental kidnapings, and the number who are recovered.

    Another CPD research project assessed 577 child abduction/murder cases involving 621 victims and 419 offenders. Urban, suburban, and rural law enforcement agencies (large and small) from 44 States participated in the assessment. The assessment obtained information pertaining to victim and offender characteristics and relationships, offender motivation and post-offense behavior, relationships between evidentiary sites within a homicidal event, and the law enforcement response to these crimes. To enhance law enforcement’s understanding of offenders who abduct and murder children for sexual gratification, CPD also supports the FBI in its efforts to interview offenders incarcerated for abduction murders of missing children.

    OJJDP supports the work of the Crimes against Children Research Center (CCRC), located at the University of New Hampshire. CCRC helps young victims of crime by providing high quality research, statistics, and education to policymakers, law enforcement personnel, child welfare practitioners, and the public. The crimes of concern to CCRC include physical and sexual abuse, abduction, homicide, rape, assault, property offenses, and the victimization of children on the Internet.

    CPD-supported evaluations of programs and initiatives that focus on collaboration and community partnerships, such as the current evaluations of Safe Kids/Safe Streets and Safe Start,2 identify best practices and effective approaches to preventing and responding to child victimization and exposure to violence. These evaluations allow child protection practitioners and professionals to learn about what works and what does not work and to build on the successful efforts of their colleagues.

  • Providing information, training, and technical assistance. CPD is dedicated to enhancing the Nation’s capacity to prevent child victimization and respond to victims, witnesses, and their families. Through publications and training and technical assistance programming, CPD provides information about promising programs, best practices, and emerging trends to child protection and juvenile justice professionals.

    OJJDP publications, such as the Child Abuse and Exploitation: Investigative Techniques training manual, the Portable Guides to Investigating Child Abuse, and the Crimes Against Children Bulletin series, address a number of child protection issues. The child abuse manual, which is used as part of the curriculum of the Missing and Exploited Children’s Training and Technical Assistance Program, provides law enforcement officers and other professionals with comprehensive and up-to-date information about a variety of topics related to child abuse investigations. It offers investigators practical advice and strategies to guide them through the investigative process and help them understand applicable legal and evidentiary requirements. The Portable Guides to Investigating Child Abuse are a series of compact booklets that complement formal investigative training by providing practical guidance in an easily accessible format. The subjects of the series’ current 13 guides include the formation of multidisciplinary investigative teams, recognition of injuries caused by abuse, techniques for collecting evidence and interviewing victims and witnesses, and investigative considerations in cases of child sexual exploitation involving computers. The Bulletins in OJJDP’s Crimes Against Children series present the latest information about child victimization, including analyses of crime victimization statistics, studies of child victims and their special needs, and descriptions of programs and approaches that address these needs. These Bulletins have covered topics such as kidnaping, sexual abuse, and the reporting of crimes against children to police or other authorities. Individuals interested in obtaining OJJDP publications can call the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800–638–8736 or access OJJDP’s Web site (www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org).

    OJJDP’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) collaborates with approximately 60 training and technical assistance providers to ensure that its many constituencies have access to appropriate services. NTTAC’s Web site (www.nttac.org) allows users to search directories of training and technical assistance providers, learn about upcoming training events, locate training and technical assistance resource materials, and link to organizations and individuals with expertise in particular areas of the juvenile justice field. Users may also call a toll-free number (800–830–4031) to discuss their needs with a resource facilitator.

    The National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (NCCEV) is a resource center that provides training and technical assistance and operates a clearinghouse that collects and distributes information on children’s exposure to violence. Access to its services and information is available through its Web site (www.nccev.org) and toll-free phone number (877–496–2238). NCCEV and several other CPD-supported training and technical assistance efforts are described later in this Bulletin.

  • Developing and demonstrating effective child protection initiatives. As authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, the Missing Children’s Assistance Act of 1984, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, CPD provides funding to support a wide range of child protection programs. Among the initiatives supported by CPD is the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a clearinghouse and resource center that collects and distributes data regarding missing and exploited children, provides critical services to families and law enforcement, and operates a national toll-free hotline (800–843–5678). NCMEC and many other child protection initiatives are described later in this Bulletin.

CPD works in partnership with State, local, and tribal government agencies. It works with other service providers, including child welfare services, courts, domestic violence services, early childhood development services, medical services, emergency response services, substance abuse and mental health services, law enforcement agencies, schools, family support services, and social services. CPD also collaborates with related Federal and international agencies, public officials, community residents, families, service consumers, faith organizations, businesses, and the media.

Missing Children’s Assistance Act

The Missing Children’s Assistance Act1 provides the legislative authority for several grants administered by the Child Protection Division. The specific purposes for which these grants can be used are outlined below.

The Act requires OJJDP to take the following actions:

  • Facilitate effective coordination among all federally funded programs relating to missing children.

  • Establish and operate a national 24-hour toll-free telephone line by which individuals may report information regarding the location of any missing child, or other child 13 years of age or younger whose whereabouts are unknown to her or his legal custodian, and request information pertaining to procedures necessary to reunite the child with her or his legal custodian.

  • Establish and operate a national resource center and clearinghouse to:

    • Provide information to State and local governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals.

    • Coordinate public and private programs that locate, recover, and reunite missing children with their legal custodians.

    • Disseminate nationally information about innovative and model missing children’s programs, services, and legislation.

  • Provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement agencies, State and local governments, elements of the juvenile criminal justice systems, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of the case of a missing or exploited child and in locating and recovering missing children.

  • Conduct national incidence studies to determine for a given year the actual number of children reported missing each year, the number of children who are victims of abduction by strangers, the number of children who are the victims of parental kidnapings, and the number of children who are recovered each year.

  • Provide State and local governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals with information to facilitate the lawful use of school records and birth certificates to identify and locate missing children.

To accomplish these goals, the Act authorizes OJJDP to make grants to and enter into contracts with public agencies or nonprofit private organizations. OJJDP’s Child Protection Division selects and oversees the programs receiving funds allocated through the Act. CPD monitors these programs, which, as mandated by the Act, are designed to achieve the following goals:

  • Educate parents, children, and community agencies and organizations in ways to prevent the abduction and sexual exploitation of children.

  • Provide information to assist in the location and return of missing children.

  • Aid communities in the collection of materials that would help identify missing children.

  • Increase knowledge of and develop effective treatment pertaining to the psychological consequences—for both parents and children—of the abduction of a child, both during the period of disappearance and after the child is recovered, and the sexual exploitation of a missing child.

  • Collect detailed data from selected States or localities on the actual investigative practices used by law enforcement agencies in missing children cases.

  • Address the particular needs of missing children by minimizing the negative impact of judicial and law enforcement procedures on children who are victims of abuse or sexual exploitation and by promoting the active participation of children and their families in investigations of child abuse or sexual exploitation.

  • Address the needs of missing children and their families following the recovery of these children.

  • Reduce the likelihood that individuals under 18 years of age will be removed without consent from the control of their legal custodians.

  • Establish or operate statewide clearinghouses to assist in locating and recovering missing children.
1 42 U.S.C. §§ 5771–5780.

Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990

The Victims of Child Abuse Act of 19901 authorizes grants administered by the Child Protection Division and mandates the specific purposes for which the grants are to be used. These purposes are described below.

The Act requires OJJDP to establish a children’s advocacy program to accomplish the following goals:

  • Focus attention on child victims by assisting communities in developing child-focused, community-oriented, facility-based programs designed to improve the resources available to children and families.

  • Provide support for nonoffending family members.2

  • Enhance coordination between community agencies and professionals involved in the intervention, prevention, prosecution, and investigation systems that respond to child abuse cases.

  • Train physicians and other health care and mental health care professionals in the multidisciplinary approach to child abuse so that trained medical personnel will be available to provide medical support to community agencies and professionals involved in the intervention, prevention, prosecution, and investigation systems that respond to child abuse cases.

The Act also requires OJJDP to make grants for the following purposes:

  • To develop and implement multidisciplinary child abuse investigation and prosecution programs.

  • To provide training and technical assistance to attorneys and others instrumental to the criminal prosecution of child abuse cases in State or Federal courts, for the purpose of improving the quality of criminal prosecution of such cases.

  • To expand the Court Appointed Special Advocate initiative.

  • To provide training and technical assistance to judicial personnel and attorneys, particularly personnel and practitioners in juvenile and family courts, and to facilitate administrative reform in juvenile and family courts.

  • To develop one or more model training and technical assistance programs to improve the judicial system’s handling of child abuse and neglect cases.

  • To establish programs, developed by State courts or judicial administrators, that provide or contract for the implementation of training and technical assistance to judicial personnel and attorneys in juvenile and family courts and administrative reform in juvenile and family courts.
1 42 U.S.C. §§ 13001–13004, §§ 13011–13014, §§ 13021–13024.

2 The term “nonoffending family member” means a member of the family of a victim of child abuse other than a member who has been convicted or accused of committing an act of child abuse.

1 NISMART 2 is the second national study to measure the incidence of each category of missing children. The first study, originally known by the acronym NISMART (now known as NISMART 1), was conducted in 1988 with results published in 1990. A more detailed discussion of NISMART 2 can be found in Hanson, L., 2000, Second Comprehensive Study of Missing Children, Bulletin, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

2 See sections Safe Kids/Safe Streets and Safe Start for descriptions of these programs.



Previous Contents Next

Keeping Children Safe: OJJDP’s Child Protection Division Juvenile Justice Bulletin • March 2001