(1) each year more than 203,000 children in the United States (approximately 78 percent of all abducted children) are abducted by a family member, usually a parent;
(2) more than half of the parents who abduct their children have a history of alcohol or substance abuse, a criminal record, or a history of violence;
(3) the most common motive for family abduction is revenge against the other parent, not protecting the child’s safety;
(4) children who are abducted by family members suffer emotional, psychological, and often physical abuse at the hands of their abductors;
(5) children who are victims of family abductions are forced to leave behind family, friends, their homes, their neighborhoods, their schools, and all that is familiar to them;
(6) children who are victims of family abductions are often told that the parent who did not abduct the child has died, does not love them, or will harm them;
(7) children who are abducted by their parents or other family members are sometimes forced to live in fear of discovery and may be compelled to conceal their true identity, including their real names, family histories, and even their gender;
(8) children who are victims of family abductions are often denied the opportunity to attend school or to receive health and dental care;
(9) child psychologists and law enforcement authorities now classify family abduction as a form of child abuse;
(10) approximately 70 percent of local law enforcement agencies do not have written guidelines for what to do in the event of a family abduction or how to facilitate the recovery of an abducted child;
(11) the first few hours of a family abduction are crucial to recovering an abducted child, and valuable hours are lost when law enforcement is not prepared to employ the most effective techniques to locate and recover abducted children;
(12) when parents who may be inclined to abduct their own children receive counseling and education on the harm suffered by children under these circumstances, the incidence of family abductions is greatly reduced; and
(13) where practiced, the flagging of school records has proven to be an effective tool in assisting law enforcement authorities find abducted children.
U.S. Congress - Text of H.R.1978 as Introduced in House Family Abduction Prevention Act of 2009
