Sign up to Child Rescue Alert text scheme, Home Secretary urges
21 May 2014 04:30 PM
The new Child Rescue Alert text message scheme
sends out appeals quickly when a child goes
missing.
The
Home Secretary has urged people to get behind a new text message service that
will send out information appeals as soon as a child is reported
missing.
Speaking at a special event at the House of Lords ahead
of International Missing Children’s Day, Theresa May gave her support to
the Child Rescue Alert Service and welcomed the upcoming launch of the
UK’s first purpose-built website providing information on dealing with
child abduction - the Child Abduction Hub.
The
event was organised by the charities Missing People and Parents and Abducted
Children Together (PACT), who are behind the new initiatives.
Child Rescue Alert
The
enhanced Child Rescue Alert system will issue alerts via email and text message
when a child has disappeared and their life is at risk. The system is the
responsibility of the National Crime Agency (NCA), in partnership with Missing
People and technology company Groupcall Limited.
Sign up to receive Child Rescue
Alerts.
Child Abduction Hub
The
Child Abduction Hub, produced by the PACT and supported by the NCA, is a new
online source of information and advice on all types of child
abduction.
Home Secretary Theresa May said:
These initiatives will offer vital support and
protection for missing children and their families.
When a child goes missing, it is crucial that as many
people as possible are looking for them. The Child Rescue Alert will spread
appeals quickly and widely, via text messages and digital billboards,
increasing the likelihood of a child being found. I would urge everyone to sign
up to this scheme.
The
Child Abduction Hub will be a key source of information on all types of child
abduction – whether it’s committed by a parent, a family friend or
a stranger. This will help parents, teachers, and other professionals make
common-sense, well informed decisions on how to keep children
safe.
The
launch of these new tools support the wider work the government is doing to
improve the response to missing people reports and put in place better
protection for children vulnerable to going missing, or being taken. In March,
the Home Office provided £220,000 worth of funding to Missing People to
help them run their telephone helpline and support services.
Read the facts on Child
Abduction.
Government strategy
The
Government’s Missing Children and Adults Strategy highlights the
importance of this issue and provides a core framework for local areas to
consider if they can, and should, do more to help these vulnerable
people.
Children are particularly at risk of harm and
exploitation whilst missing and in 2012 the government created a dedicated
response to such cases through the Child Exploitation and Online Protection
(CEOP) Command. This is ready to respond to any complex or high profile case,
be that in the UK or abroad.
The
government has also set out statutory guidance for local authorities and their
partners, setting out the steps they should take to prevent children from going
missing and providing support if they do. This includes making sure every child
who goes missing from home or care will now have the chance to talk to an
independent person about why they ran away.
The
House of Lords event was also attended by Kate McCann, mother of missing
Madeleine, and Coral and Paul Jones, parents of April Jones, who also called
for people to sign up to the Child Rescue Alert System. This will go live on
International Missing Children’s day on Sunday 25 May.