SUBCHAPTER IV—MISSING CHILDREN
§11291. Findings
The Congress finds that—
(1) each year tens of thousands of children run away, or are abducted or removed, from the control of a parent having legal custody without the consent of that parent, under circumstances which immediately place the child in grave danger;
(2) many missing children are at great risk of both physical harm and sexual exploitation;
(3) many missing children are runaways;
(4) growing numbers of children are the victims of child sexual exploitation, including child sex trafficking and sextortion, increasingly involving the use of new technology to access the Internet;
(5) children may be separated from their parents or legal guardians as a result of national disasters such as hurricanes and floods;
(6) sex offenders pose a threat to children; and
(7) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention administers programs under this subchapter, including programs that prevent and address offenses committed against vulnerable children and support missing children's organizations, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that—
(A) serves as a nonprofit, national resource center and clearinghouse to provide assistance to victims, families, child-serving professionals, and the general public;
(B) works with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, other agencies, and nongovernmental organizations in the effort to find missing children and to prevent child victimization; and
(C) coordinates with each of the missing children clearinghouses operated by the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and international organizations to transmit images and information regarding missing and exploited children to law enforcement agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and corporate partners across the United States and around the world instantly.
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Prior Provisions
A prior section 402 of
Amendments
2018—
Par. (1).
Par. (4).
Par. (5).
Par. (6).
Par. (7).
Pars. (8) to (10).
2013—
2008—
2003—
1999—Pars. (9) to (21).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2018 Amendment
"(a)
"(b)
Effective Date
Subchapter effective Oct. 12, 1984, see section 670(a) of
Short Title
For short title of title IV of
§11292. Definitions
For the purpose of this subchapter—
(1) the term "missing child" means any individual less than 18 years of age whose whereabouts are unknown to such individual's parent;
(2) the term "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention;
(3) the term "Center" means the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; and
(4) the term "parent" includes a legal guardian or other individual who may lawfully exercise parental rights with respect to the child.
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Prior Provisions
A prior section 403 of
Amendments
2018—Par. (1).
Par. (4).
2006—Par. (1).
"(A) the circumstances surrounding such individual's disappearance indicate that such individual may possibly have been removed by another from the control of such individual's legal custodian without such custodian's consent; or
"(B) the circumstances of the case strongly indicate that such individual is likely to be abused or sexually exploited;".
1999—Par. (3).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2018 Amendment
Amendment by
§11293. Duties and functions of the Administrator
(a) Description of activities
The Administrator shall—
(1) issue such rules as the Administrator considers necessary or appropriate to carry out this subchapter;
(2) make such arrangements as may be necessary and appropriate to facilitate effective coordination among all federally funded programs relating to missing children (including the preparation of an annual comprehensive plan for facilitating such coordination);
(3) provide for the furnishing of information derived from the national toll-free hotline, established under subsection (b)(1), to appropriate entities;
(4) coordinate with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to ensure that homeless services professionals are aware of educational resources and assistance provided by the Center regarding child sexual exploitation;
(5) provide adequate staff and agency resources which are necessary to properly carry out the responsibilities pursuant to this subchapter; and
(6) not later than 180 days after the end of each fiscal year, submit a report to the President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate—
(A) containing a comprehensive plan for facilitating cooperation and coordination in the succeeding fiscal year among all agencies and organizations with responsibilities related to missing children;
(B) identifying and summarizing effective models of Federal, State, and local coordination and cooperation in locating and recovering missing children;
(C) identifying and summarizing effective program models that provide treatment, counseling, or other aid to parents of missing children or to children who have been the victims of abduction;
(D) describing how the Administrator satisfied the requirements of paragraph (4) in the preceding fiscal year;
(E) describing in detail the number and types of telephone calls received in the preceding fiscal year over the national toll-free hotline established under subsection (b)(1)(A), the number and types of communications referred to the national communications system established under
(F) describing in detail the activities in the preceding fiscal year of the national resource center and clearinghouse established under subsection (b)(2);
(G) describing all the programs for which assistance was provided under
(H) summarizing the results of all research completed in the preceding year for which assistance was provided at any time under this subchapter; and
(I)(i) identifying each clearinghouse with respect to which assistance is provided under
(ii) describing the activities carried out by such clearinghouse in such fiscal year;
(iii) specifying the types and amounts of assistance (other than assistance under
(iv) specifying the number and types of missing children cases handled (and the number of such cases resolved) by such clearinghouse in such fiscal year and summarizing the circumstances of each such cases.1
(b) Annual grant to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(1) In general
The Administrator shall annually make a grant to the Center, which shall be used to—
(A)(i) operate a national 24-hour toll-free hotline by which individuals may report information regarding the location of any missing child, and request information pertaining to procedures necessary to reunite such child with such child's parent; and
(ii) coordinate the operation of such hotline with the operation of the national communications system referred to in part C of subchapter III;
(B) operate the official national resource center and information clearinghouse for missing and exploited children;
(C) provide to State and local governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, State and local educational agencies, and individuals, information regarding—
(i) free or low-cost legal, food, lodging, and transportation services that are available for the benefit of missing and exploited children and their families;
(ii) the existence and nature of programs being carried out by Federal agencies to assist missing and exploited children and their families; and
(iii) innovative and model programs, services, and legislation that benefit missing and exploited children;
(D) coordinate public and private programs that locate, recover, or reunite missing children with their families;
(E) provide technical assistance and training to families, law enforcement agencies, State and local governments, elements of the criminal justice system, nongovernmental agencies, local educational agencies, and the general public—
(i) in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases involving missing and exploited children;
(ii) to respond to foster children missing from the State child welfare system in coordination with child welfare agencies and courts handling juvenile justice and dependency matters; and
(iii) in the identification, location, and recovery of victims of, and children at risk for, child sex trafficking;
(F) provide assistance to families, law enforcement agencies, State and local governments, nongovernmental agencies, child-serving professionals, and other individuals involved in the location and recovery of missing and abducted children nationally and, in cooperation with the Department of State, internationally;
(G) provide support and technical assistance to child-serving professionals involved in helping to recover missing and exploited children by searching public records databases to help in the identification, location, and recovery of such children, and help in the location and identification of potential abductors and offenders;
(H) provide forensic and direct on-site technical assistance and consultation to families, law enforcement agencies, child-serving professionals, and nongovernmental organizations in child abduction and exploitation cases, including facial reconstruction of skeletal remains and similar techniques to assist in the identification of unidentified deceased children;
(I) provide training, technical assistance, and information to nongovernmental organizations relating to non-compliant sex offenders and to law enforcement agencies in identifying and locating such individuals;
(J) facilitate the deployment of the National Emergency Child Locator Center to assist in reuniting missing children with their families during periods of national disasters;
(K) work with families, law enforcement agencies, electronic service providers, electronic payment service providers, technology companies, nongovernmental organizations, and others on methods to reduce the existence and distribution of online images and videos of sexually exploited children—
(i) by operating a tipline to—
(I) provide to individuals and electronic service providers an effective means of reporting internet-related and other instances of child sexual exploitation in the areas of—
(aa) possession, manufacture, and distribution of child pornography;
(bb) online enticement of children for sexual acts;
(cc) child sex trafficking;
(dd) sex tourism involving children;
(ee) extra-familial child sexual molestation;
(ff) unsolicited obscene material sent to a child;
(gg) misleading domain names; and
(hh) misleading words or digital images on the internet; and
(II) make reports received through the tipline available to the appropriate law enforcement agency for its review and potential investigation;
(ii) by operating a child victim identification program to assist law enforcement agencies in identifying victims of child pornography and other sexual crimes to support the recovery of children from sexually exploitative situations; and
(iii) by utilizing emerging technologies to provide additional outreach and educational materials to parents and families;
(L) develop and disseminate programs and information to families, child-serving professionals, law enforcement agencies, State and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, schools, local educational agencies, child-serving organizations, and the general public on—
(i) the prevention of child abduction and sexual exploitation;
(ii) internet safety, including tips for social media and cyberbullying; and
(iii) sexting and sextortion;
(M) provide technical assistance and training to local educational agencies, schools, State and local law enforcement agencies, individuals, and other nongovernmental organizations that assist with finding missing and abducted children in identifying and recovering such children;
(N) assist the efforts of law enforcement agencies in coordinating with child welfare agencies to respond to foster children missing from the State welfare system; and
(O) provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies and first responders in identifying, locating, and recovering victims of, and children at risk for, child sex trafficking.
(2) Limitation
(A) In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be used to pay the compensation of an individual employed by the Center if such compensation, as determined at the beginning of each grant year, exceeds 110 percent of the maximum annual salary payable to a member of the Federal Government's Senior Executive Service (SES) for that year. The Center may compensate an employee at a higher rate provided the amount in excess of this limitation is paid with non-Federal funds.
(B) Definition of compensation
For the purpose of this paragraph, the term "compensation"—
(i) includes salary, bonuses, periodic payments, severance pay, the value of a compensatory or paid leave benefit not excluded by clause (ii), and the fair market value of any employee perquisite or benefit not excluded by clause (ii); and
(ii) excludes any Center expenditure for health, medical, or life insurance, or disability or retirement pay, including pensions benefits.
(c) National incidence studies
The Administrator, either by making grants to or entering into contracts with public agencies or nonprofit private agencies, shall—
(1) triennially 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 kidnappings, and the number of children who are recovered each year; and
(2) provide to State and local governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals information to facilitate the lawful use of school records and birth certificates, in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (
(d) Independent status of other Federal agencies
Nothing contained in this subchapter shall be construed to grant to the Administrator any law enforcement responsibility or supervisory authority over any other Federal agency.
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, referred to in subsec. (c)(2), is section 513 of
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Prior Provisions
A prior section 404 of
Amendments
2018—Subsec. (a)(3).
Subsec. (a)(6)(E).
Subsec. (b)(1)(A)(i).
Subsec. (b)(1)(A)(ii).
Subsec. (b)(1)(C)(i).
Subsec. (b)(1)(C)(iii).
Subsec. (b)(1)(E) to (V).
Subsec. (b)(1)(E).
Subsec. (b)(1)(F).
Subsec. (b)(1)(G).
Subsec. (b)(1)(H).
Subsec. (b)(1)(I).
Subsec. (b)(1)(J).
Subsec. (b)(1)(K).
Subsec. (b)(1)(L).
Subsec. (b)(1)(M).
Subsec. (b)(1)(N).
Subsec. (b)(1)(O).
Subsec. (b)(1)(P).
Subsec. (b)(1)(Q).
Subsec. (b)(1)(R).
Subsec. (b)(1)(S) to (V).
2015—Subsec. (b)(1)(P)(iii).
2013—Subsec. (a)(4).
Subsec. (a)(5).
Subsec. (a)(6).
Subsec. (b)(1)(C).
Subsec. (b)(1)(T) to (V).
Subsec. (b)(2).
Subsec. (c)(1).
Subsec. (c)(2).
2008—Subsec. (b)(1).
Subsec. (b)(2).
2003—Subsec. (b)(1)(H).
Subsec. (b)(2).
2002—Subsec. (a)(5)(E).
1999—Subsecs. (b) to (d).
1989—Subsec. (a)(5)(C).
Subsec. (b)(2)(A).
1988—Subsec. (a)(3).
Subsec. (a)(4).
Subsec. (a)(5).
"(A) effective models of local, State, and Federal coordination and cooperation in locating missing children;
"(B) effective programs designed to promote community awareness of the problem of missing children;
"(C) effective programs to prevent the abduction and sexual exploitation of children (including parent, child, and community education); and
"(D) effective program models which provide treatment, counseling, or other aid to parents of missing children or to children who have been the victims of abduction or sexual exploitation; and".
Subsec. (a)(6).
Subsec. (b)(1).
Subsec. (b)(2)(A).
Subsec. (b)(2)(D).
Subsec. (b)(4).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2018 Amendment
Amendment by
Effective Date of 2002 Amendment
Amendment by
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by
Termination of Reporting Requirements
For termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in subsec. (a)(6) of this section relating to submittal of annual report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, see section 3003 of
1 So in original. Probably should be "case."
2 So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.
§11294. Grants
(a) Authority of Administrator; description of research, demonstration projects, and service programs
The Administrator is authorized to make grants to and enter into contracts with the Center and with public agencies or nonprofit private organizations, or combinations thereof, for research, demonstration projects, or service programs designed—
(1) to educate parents, children, schools, school leaders, teachers, State and local educational agencies, homeless shelters and service providers, and community agencies and organizations in ways to prevent the abduction and sexual exploitation of children;
(2) to provide information to assist in the locating and return of missing children;
(3) to aid communities and schools in the collection of materials which would be useful to parents in assisting others in the identification of missing children;
(4) to increase knowledge of and develop effective treatment pertaining to the psychological consequences, on both parents and children, of—
(A) the abduction of a child, both during the period of disappearance and after the child is recovered; and
(B) the sexual exploitation of a missing child;
(5) to collect detailed data from selected States or localities on the actual investigative practices utilized by law enforcement agencies in missing children's cases;
(6) to 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 cases involving abuse or sexual exploitation of children;
(7) to address the needs of missing children and their families following the recovery of such children;
(8) to reduce the likelihood that individuals under 18 years of age will be removed from the control of such individuals' parents without such parents' consent; and
(9) to establish or operate statewide clearinghouses to assist in locating and recovering missing children.
(b) Priorities of grant applicants
In considering grant applications under this subchapter, the Administrator shall give priority to applicants who—
(1) have demonstrated or demonstrate ability in—
(A) locating missing children or locating and reuniting missing children with their parents;
(B) providing other services to missing children or their families; or
(C) conducting research relating to missing children; and
(2) with respect to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), substantially utilize volunteer assistance.
The Administrator shall give first priority to applicants qualifying under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1).
(c) Non-Federal fund expenditures requisite for receipt of Federal assistance
In order to receive assistance under this subchapter for a fiscal year, applicants shall give assurance that they will expend, to the greatest extent practicable, for such fiscal year an amount of funds (without regard to any funds received under any Federal law) that is not less than the amount of funds they received in the preceding fiscal year from State, local, and private sources.
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Prior Provisions
A prior section 405 of
Amendments
2018—Subsec. (a)(7).
Subsec. (a)(8).
Subsec. (b)(1)(A).
2013—Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(3).
1999—Subsec. (a).
1989—Subsec. (a)(9).
1988—Subsec. (a)(7) to (9).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2018 Amendment
Amendment by
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by
§11295. Criteria for grants
(a) Establishment of priorities and criteria; publication in Federal Register
In carrying out the programs authorized by this subchapter, the Administrator shall establish—
(1) annual research, demonstration, and service program priorities for making grants and contracts pursuant to
(2) criteria based on merit for making such grants and contracts.
Not less than 60 days before establishing such priorities and criteria, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register for public comment a statement of such proposed priorities and criteria.
(b) Competitive selection process for grant or contract exceeding $50,000
No grant or contract exceeding $50,000 shall be made under this subchapter unless the grantee or contractor has been selected by a competitive process which includes public announcement of the availability of funds for such grant or contract, general criteria for the selection of recipients or contractors, and a description of the application process and application review process.
(c) Multiple grants or contracts to same grantee or contractor
Multiple grants or contracts to the same grantee or contractor within any 1 year to support activities having the same general purpose shall be deemed to be a single grant for the purpose of this subsection, but multiple grants or contracts to the same grantee or contractor to support clearly distinct activities shall be considered separate grants or contractors.1
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Prior Provisions
A prior section 406 of
Amendments
1988—
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by
1 So in original. Probably should be "contracts."
§11295a. Reporting
(a) Required reporting
As a condition of receiving funds under
(1) the number of children nationwide who are reported to the grantee as missing;
(2) the number of children nationwide who are reported to the grantee as victims of non-family abductions;
(3) the number of children nationwide who are reported to the grantee as victims of family abductions; and
(4) the number of missing children recovered nationwide whose recovery was reported to the grantee.
(b) Incidence of attempted child abductions
As a condition of receiving funds under
(1) track the incidence of attempted child abductions in order to identify links and patterns;
(2) provide such information to law enforcement agencies; and
(3) make such information available to the general public, as appropriate.
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Prior Provisions
A prior section 407 of
Another prior section 407 of title IV of
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective Oct. 11, 2018, and applicable to fiscal years beginning after Sept. 30, 2018, see section 4 of
§11296. Oversight and accountability
All grants awarded by the Department of Justice that are authorized under this subchapter shall be subject to the following:
(1) Audit requirement
For 2 of the fiscal years in the period of fiscal years 2014 through 2023, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall conduct audits of the recipient of grants under this subchapter to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse by the grantee.
(2) Mandatory exclusion
If the recipient of grant funds under this subchapter is found to have an unresolved audit finding, then that entity shall not be eligible to receive grant funds under this subchapter during the 2 fiscal years beginning after the 12-month period described in paragraph (4).
(3) Repayment of grant funds
If an entity is awarded grant funds under this subchapter during the 2-fiscal-year period in which the entity is barred from receiving grants under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall—
(A) deposit an amount equal to the grant funds that were improperly awarded to the grantee into the General Fund of the Treasury; and
(B) seek to recoup the costs of the repayment to the fund from the grant recipient that was erroneously awarded grant funds.
(4) Defined term
In this section, the term "unresolved audit finding" means an audit report finding in the final report of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice that the grantee has utilized grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved within a 12-month period beginning on the date when the final audit report is issued.
(5) Nonprofit organization requirements
(A) Definition
For purposes of this section and the grant programs described in this subchapter, the term "nonprofit", relating to an entity, means the entity is described in
(B) Prohibition
The Attorney General shall not award a grant under any grant program described in this subchapter to a nonprofit organization that holds money in off-shore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in
(C) Disclosure
Each nonprofit organization that is awarded a grant under this subchapter and uses the procedures prescribed in regulations under section 53.4958–6 of title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations to create a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness of the compensation for its officers, directors, trustees and key employees, shall disclose to the Attorney General the process for determining such compensation, including the independent persons involved in reviewing and approving such compensation, the comparability data used, and contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and decision. Upon request, the Attorney General shall make the information available for public inspection.
(6) Conference expenditures
(A) Limitation
No amounts authorized to be appropriated under this subchapter may be used to host or support any expenditure for conferences that uses more than $20,000 unless the Deputy Attorney General or the appropriate Assistant Attorney General, Director, or principal deputy director as the Deputy Attorney General may designate, provides prior written authorization that the funds may be expended to host a conference.
(B) Written approval
Written approval under subparagraph (A) shall include a written estimate of all costs associated with the conference, including the cost of all food and beverages, audio/visual equipment, honoraria for speakers, and any entertainment.
(C) Report
The Deputy Attorney General shall submit an annual report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives on all conference expenditures approved by operation of this paragraph.
(7) Prohibition on lobbying activity
(A) In general
Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this subchapter may not be utilized by any grant recipient to—
(i) lobby any representative of the Department of Justice regarding the award of any grant funding; or
(ii) lobby any representative of a Federal, State, local, or tribal government regarding the award of grant funding.
(B) Penalty
If the Attorney General determines that any recipient of a grant under this subchapter has violated subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall—
(i) require the grant recipient to repay the grant in full; and
(ii) prohibit the grant recipient from receiving another grant under this subchapter for not less than 5 years.
(C) Clarification
For purposes of this paragraph, submitting an application for a grant under this subchapter shall not be considered lobbying activity in violation of subparagraph (A).
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Prior Provisions
A prior section 408 of
Amendments
2018—Par. (1).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2018 Amendment
Amendment by
§11297. Authorization of appropriations
(a) In general
To carry out the provisions of this subchapter, there are authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2014 through 2023, up to $32,200,000 of which shall be used to carry out
(b) Evaluation
The Administrator may use not more than 5 percent of the amount appropriated for a fiscal year under subsection (a) to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs and activities established and operated under this subchapter.
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Amendments
2018—Subsec. (a).
2013—Subsec. (a).
2008—Subsec. (a).
2003—Subsec. (a).
1999—Subsec. (a).
1996—
1992—
1989—
1988—
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2018 Amendment
Amendment by
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by
§11298. Authority of Inspectors General
(a) In general
An Inspector General appointed under
(1) by conducting reviews of inactive case files to develop recommendations for further investigations; and
(2) by engaging in similar activities.
(b) Limitations
(1) Priority
An Inspector General may not permit staff to engage in activities described in subsection (a) if such activities will interfere with the duties of the Inspector General under
(2) Funding
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section.
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was formerly classified to
Section was enacted as part of the Crime Control Act of 1990, and not as part of the Missing Children's Assistance Act which comprises this subchapter, nor as part of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 which comprises this chapter.
Amendments
2022—Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (b)(1).