Published: 1999
Total Pages: 12
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There are a number of problems and issues related to the federal response to international parental child abduction. These problems have been identified by the key agencies involved the State and Justice Departments and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children-as well as left-behind parents and other. Together, they present obstacles to left-behind parents in their attempts to locate, gain access to, and return their children. Four problems and issues have received substantial attention. These are ̂gaps in federal services to left-behind parents, which make it difficult for parents to recover their abducted children; ̂weaknesses within the existing State Department case-tracking process, which impair case and program coordination; ̂lack of systematic and aggressive diplomatic efforts to improve international responses to parental child abductions; and ̂limited use of the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993% to pursue abducting parents and bring them to justice. The State and Justice Departments have developed recommendations, which they believe will address most of the problems if implemented. While we found that action has been taken to implement a number of the recommendations, many await further action and most require resource commitments. In addition, some of the recommended actions are not expected to be implemented for several years. These shortcomings raise questions about the likelihood the recommendations will be put in place.
