By Associated
Press
The 168 minors rescued last month during a nationwide
FBI crackdown on child sex trafficking included juveniles who never had been
reported missing in the first place. It's a population that law enforcement
encounters often and that especially concerns child welfare advocates.
1. THE CHILDREN WERE RECOVERED IN AN ACTION CALLED
OPERATION CROSS COUNTRY. The most recent Operation Cross County occurred in 106
cities and involved an effort by local and federal law enforcement to recover
child sex trafficking victims from the streets, hotel rooms, truck stops and
homes. Officials say 168 juveniles were recovered.
2. SOME VICTIMS HAD NOT BEEN REPORTED MISSING. Child
welfare advocates say the operation and others like it underscore the need for
a standardized way to report children as missing. State policies and laws vary
in terms of how and when law enforcement is to be notified when children go
missing.
3. THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM IS UNKNOWN. It's hard to
know how many children are being trafficked for sex or are in the custody of
pimps. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says 1 out of 7
endangered runaways reported to the center in 2013 likely was a child sex
trafficking victim. The center says it received more than 57,000 missing child
cases between 2009 and 2013, 81 percent of which are endangered runaways.
4. CHILDREN IN STATE WELFARE SYSTEMS ARE SEEN AS
ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE. The missing children center says of the children
reported missing in 2013 who were also likely sex-trafficking victims, about
two-thirds were in the care of child welfare when they ran. Still, the FBI says
the problem isn't limited to foster care programs; far more children recovered
in the most recent Operation Cross County were from single-family homes rather
than from families under the supervision of the state.
5. STATE AND LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS ARE BEING MADE. One
proposal in Congress, which has bipartisan support, would require child welfare
agencies to report missing children to law enforcement and the missing
children's center with 24 hours of a juvenile's disappearance.
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