Resources and Technical Assistance for Native American Communities and Indian Country
When a child goes missing, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is here to help with our full range of technical assistance and resources, available at no cost to local jurisdictions and families.
NCMEC Partnerships
Partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tribal Access Program and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Working Group: NCMEC supports the training and resources provided through the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Tribal Access Program (TAP). This program allows selected federally-recognized Tribes to more effectively serve and protect their nation’s citizens by ensuring the exchange of critical data across the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) systems and other national crime information systems. When missing children are entered into the National Crime Information Center, NCMEC is able to provide technical assistance to Tribal law enforcement. Learn more about the benefits of TAP by visiting: https://www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
The DOJ Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Working Group serves to develop model protocols and procedures to apply to new and unsolved cases of missing or murdered persons in Native American communities. NCMEC is supporting this work in part as the nation's clearinghouse; through its programs and resources to assist law enforcement and families find missing children; prevent and resolve child abduction homicides; and help identify unknown deceased children. NCMEC engages subject matter experts from a wide array of disciplines to help develop comprehensive strategies, implement forensic technologies, and enhance current capabilities. Learn more about NCMEC’s resources by visiting: http://www.missingkids.org/ourwork/caseresources.
Read the 2021 Report Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons: Law Enforcement & Prevention
Northeast Tribal Conference on Child Victimization: NCMEC hosts and co-sponsors the annual “Northeast Tribal Conference on Child Victimization” in partnership with the Seneca Nation of Indians, Native American Children’s Alliance (NACA), Northeast Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (NRCAC), National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC), the New York State Children’s Alliance (NYSCA), and Native American Community Services. This two-day conference brings together attendees from across the US and Canada representing sovereign Tribal Nations, NGOs, multi-disciplinary team representatives and non-tribal professionals that provide services to children and families in Indian Country. Issues addressed include historical trauma, investigation, medical and mental health service provision, missing and murdered indigenous persons and cross-jurisdictional challenges. The cornerstone of the conference is networking and information sharing among and between tribal nations and service providers.
Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018: The tragic 2016 abduction and murder of Ashlynne Mike in Shiprock, New Mexico brought national attention to the jurisdictional issues that can hinder the swift recovery of missing Native American children. With the support of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Congress enacted the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018. This Act encourages integration of tribal AMBER Alert systems into state AMBER Alert systems and provides for related grant funding.
NCMEC supports the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program which provides training and technical assistance to Tribes. Examples of our work includes investigative checklists which can be found here: https://amber-ic.org/resources/checklists/.
Between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2018, NCMEC assisted with 1,909 cases involving missing Native American children.
- Of those, a majority (85%) were Endangered Runaway cases, followed by 12% Family Abduction cases.
- This 10-year analysis of missing Native American children revealed 59% were female, and 41% were male. Almost two thirds (65%) of these children were between the ages of 15 and 17, and 23% were between the ages of 10 and 14.
NCMEC Resources
Team Adam Consultants: NCMEC can provide assistance to Tribal law enforcement by deploying Team Adam Consultants (TACs). TACs provide rapid, onsite assistance to Tribal law-enforcement agencies and families during critical cases involving missing children. They are deployed to the scene and provide technical assistance and connect families and law enforcement to NCMEC’s vast network of resources. Learn more about the work of Team Adam by visiting our Case Resources page.
Team HOPE: NCMEC’s Team HOPE is a group of trained volunteers who have experienced the trauma of having a missing or sexually exploited child. Our volunteers are dedicated to offering compassionate peer support, empathy, understanding, kindness and friendship to families as they cope with their child’s exploitation, search for their missing child, or handle the issues they face after their child is recovered or located. For more information about NCMEC’s Victim & Family support call 866-305-4673 (HOPE) or click here.
NCMEC Hotline: Act immediately if you believe your child is missing. After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). When you contact NCMEC, a Call Center specialist will record information about your child and a NCMEC case manager will work directly with your family and the law enforcement agency investigating your case. You can also use the CyberTipline to report child sexual exploitation. Reports may be made 24-hours a day, seven days a week at www.cybertipline.org or 1-800-THE-LOST.
For more information about NCMEC's full range of case resources, visit MissingKids.org/ourwork/caseresources.