{ "id": "RL34616", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL34616", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 603984, "date": "2019-08-23", "retrieved": "2019-08-23T22:05:10.352320", "title": "Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress", "summary": "Adults may go missing due to personal choice, an abduction, foul play, a mental or physical disability, or a natural catastrophe, among other reasons. No accurate estimates exist of the number of missing adults; however, approximately 56,000 cases of missing adults (age 18 and older) were pending in the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s (FBI) National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system, a computerized index with data on crimes and locator files for missing and unidentified persons. Certain adults are particularly vulnerable to missing episodes; for example, those with dementia are at risk for becoming disoriented while engaged in a routine activity and may not be able to determine where they are or get to where they should be. \nPrimary responsibility to address missing adults rests with state and local law enforcement agencies. Unlike children, adults have the legal right to go missing under most circumstances. As a result, families of missing adults may receive limited assistance from law enforcement entities in recovering their loved ones. The federal government provides limited technical, financial, and other assistance in recovering missing adults. Cases of missing children and young adults under the age of 21 must be reported to the NCIC, while reporting missing adults to the database is voluntary. In recent years, however, the federal government has increasingly played a role in efforts to (1) prevent certain types of missing adult incidents; (2) recover adults who go missing, including those who are deceased and for whom only remains can be found; and (3) support databases, including NCIC, that maintain records of missing adults and unidentified remains. \nThe primary federal program to address missing adults is the Missing Americans Alert program. The focus of the program is to prevent wandering and locate missing individuals with forms of dementia or developmental disabilities. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322) established the program, formerly known as the Missing Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Patient Alert program. The Missing Americans Alert Program Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-141) reauthorized funding at $2 million annually for FY2018 to FY2022. Appropriations have been provided for FY1996 through FY2015 and FY2019. Separately, Kristen\u2019s Act (P.L. 106-468) was enacted in 2000 to authorize the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to establish a national clearinghouse for missing adults and provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies in locating these individuals. For FY2002 through FY2006, DOJ awarded grants for these purposes. In addition, the federal DNA Initiative supported efforts for FY2004 through FY2008 to recover missing persons and identify unidentified human remains with DNA analysis. \nIn addition to the NCIC, the federal government maintains the National DNA Index System (NDIS), which stores criminal information as well as information on individuals believed to be missing, their relatives, and unidentified human remains; and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), which includes databases for missing adults and unidentified remains. Records are submitted to most of the databases by law enforcement agencies, medical examiners and coroners, and selected other entities.\nPolicymakers and other stakeholders might be interested to learn more about coordination of the federal databases on missing persons. In a 2016 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined how NCIC and NamUs operate and identified three areas in which the systems are fragmented or overlapping. Stakeholders may also examine the role of the federal government in helping states and localities develop alert systems and technology to locate missing adults. The Ashanti Alert Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-401) directs the Department of Justice (DOJ), subject to the availability of appropriations, to establish a national communication network to assist with efforts to recover missing adults. Funding authorization is $3 million for each of FY2019 through FY2022. Funding has not been provided, and this network has not been established, as of the writing of this report.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34616", "sha1": "6b61cff3230b9189b8607b70295055ec93cac863", "filename": "files/20190823_RL34616_6b61cff3230b9189b8607b70295055ec93cac863.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL34616", "sha1": "b25a2142a823f4014440bfcb37355527d74b38f5", "filename": "files/20190823_RL34616_b25a2142a823f4014440bfcb37355527d74b38f5.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4934, "name": "Sex Offenses & Victims of Crime" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 576165, "date": "2017-11-30", "retrieved": "2017-12-07T14:08:08.070921", "title": "Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress", "summary": "Adults may go missing due to personal choice, an abduction, foul play, a mental or physical disability, or a natural catastrophe, among other reasons. Although no accurate estimates exist of the number of missing adults, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that as of December 31, 2016, approximately 54,000 cases of missing adults (age 18 and older) were pending in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system, a federal computerized index with data on crimes and locator files for missing and unidentified persons. Certain adults are particularly vulnerable to missing episodes; for example, those with dementia are at risk for becoming disoriented while engaged in a routine activity and may not be able to determine where they are or get to where they should be. Adults who engage in high-risk behaviors, including involvement in gang activity, may also be more prone to going missing.\nUnlike children, adults have the legal right to go missing under most circumstances. As a result, families of missing adults may receive limited assistance from state and local law enforcement entities in recovering their loved ones. The federal government has not been involved in assisting law enforcement entities with missing adult cases in the same way it has with missing children cases. Further, cases of missing children and young adults under the age of 21 must be reported to the NCIC, while reporting missing adults to the database is voluntary. In recent years, however, the federal government has increasingly played a role in (1) preventing certain types of missing adult incidents; (2) working to recover adults who go missing, including those who are deceased and for whom only remains can be found; and (3) supporting databases, including NCIC, that maintain records of missing adults and unidentified remains.\nRecognizing the needs of a growing aging population, Congress authorized funding for the Missing Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Patient Alert program under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322). The purpose of the program is to locate and respond to those with Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia who go missing. Congress provided appropriations for the program of $750,000 to $2 million annually from FY1996 through FY2015. No funding was appropriated for FY2016 or FY2017. Grants had been awarded under the program to a variety of entities, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Alzheimer\u2019s Association, Project Lifesaver, and universities. In 2000, Congress passed Kristen\u2019s Act (P.L. 106-468) to authorize the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to establish a national clearinghouse for missing adults and provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies in locating these individuals. From FY2002 through FY2006, DOJ made grants for these purposes. In addition, the federal DNA Initiative has also supported efforts to recover missing persons and identify unidentified human remains by funding DNA analysis and related assistance.\nIn addition to the NCIC, the federal government maintains the National DNA Index System (NDIS), which stores criminal information as well as information on individuals believed to be missing, their relatives, and unidentified human remains; and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), which includes databases for missing adults and unidentified remains. Records are submitted to most of the databases by law enforcement agencies, state missing persons clearinghouses, medical examiners and coroners, or DNA laboratories. The NDIS, NamUs, and NCIC databases can be accessed only by authorized law enforcement and other personnel; however, records in NamUs can also be reviewed by the public.\nPolicymakers and other stakeholders have increasingly focused on the coordination of the federal databases on missing persons, as well as the role of the federal government in providing assistance to states and localities to develop alert systems and technology to locate missing adults. Many states have developed alert systems to recover vulnerable adults who have gone missing.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34616", "sha1": "d14fb60d6afda7ea7fe7e184913215dd4942fd8c", "filename": "files/20171130_RL34616_d14fb60d6afda7ea7fe7e184913215dd4942fd8c.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL34616", "sha1": "d6ffc659cb21c99b96fd08701f226745f8847161", "filename": "files/20171130_RL34616_d6ffc659cb21c99b96fd08701f226745f8847161.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4934, "name": "Sex Offenses & Victims of Crime" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 453049, "date": "2016-06-01", "retrieved": "2016-11-28T22:08:55.200376", "title": "Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress", "summary": "Adults may go missing due to personal choice, an abduction, foul play, a mental or physical disability, or a natural catastrophe, among other reasons. Although no accurate estimates exist of the number of missing adults, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that as of December 31, 2015, approximately 52,000 cases of missing adults (age 18 and older) were pending in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system, a federal computerized index with data on crimes and locator files for missing and unidentified persons. Certain adults are particularly vulnerable to missing episodes; for example, those with dementia are at risk for becoming disoriented while engaged in a routine activity and may not be able to determine where they are or get to where they should be. Adults who engage in high-risk behaviors, including involvement in gang activity, may also be more prone to going missing.\nUnlike children, adults have the legal right to go missing under most circumstances. As a result, families of missing adults may receive limited assistance from state and local law enforcement entities in recovering their loved ones. The federal government has not been involved in assisting law enforcement entities with missing adult cases in the same way it has with missing children cases. Further, cases of missing children and young adults under the age of 21 must be reported to the NCIC, while reporting missing adults to the database is voluntary. In recent years, however, the federal government has increasingly played a role in (1) preventing certain types of missing adult incidents; (2) working to recover adults who go missing, including those who are deceased and for whom only remains can be found; and (3) supporting databases, including NCIC, that maintain records of missing adults and unidentified remains.\nRecognizing the needs of a growing aging population, Congress authorized funding for the Missing Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Patient Alert program under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322). The purpose of the program is to locate and respond to those with Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia who go missing. Congress provided appropriations for the program of $750,000 to $2 million annually from FY1996 through FY2015. No funding was appropriated for FY2016. Grants have been awarded under the program to a variety of entities, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Alzheimer\u2019s Association, Project Lifesaver, and universities. In 2000, Congress passed Kristen\u2019s Act (P.L. 106-468) to authorize the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to establish a national clearinghouse for missing adults and provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies in locating these individuals. From FY2002 through FY2006, DOJ made grants for these purposes. In addition, the federal DNA Initiative has also supported efforts to recover missing persons and identify unidentified human remains by funding DNA analysis and related assistance.\nIn addition to the NCIC, the federal government maintains the National DNA Index System (NDIS), which stores criminal information as well as information on individuals believed to be missing, their relatives, and unidentified human remains; and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), which includes databases for missing adults and unidentified remains. Records are submitted to most of the databases by law enforcement agencies, state missing persons clearinghouses, medical examiners and coroners, or DNA laboratories. The NDIS, NamUs, and NCIC databases can be accessed only by authorized law enforcement and other personnel; however, records in NamUs can also be reviewed by the public.\nPolicymakers and other stakeholders have increasingly focused on the coordination of the federal databases on missing persons, as well as the role of the federal government in providing assistance to states and localities to develop alert systems and technology to locate missing adults. Many states have developed alert systems to recover vulnerable adults who have gone missing.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34616", "sha1": "114798325ba4b93efe38386ea8a1c746cd6a9ae7", "filename": "files/20160601_RL34616_114798325ba4b93efe38386ea8a1c746cd6a9ae7.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL34616", "sha1": "8fb1f314e3d49791f6084fee1b5b89d5daa91c77", "filename": "files/20160601_RL34616_8fb1f314e3d49791f6084fee1b5b89d5daa91c77.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4934, "name": "Sex Offenses & Victims of Crime" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 438351, "date": "2015-02-11", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T19:29:33.422114", "title": "Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress", "summary": "Adults may go missing due to personal choice, an abduction, foul play, a mental or physical disability, or a natural catastrophe, among other reasons. Although no accurate estimates exist of the number of missing adults, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that as of December 31, 2014, slightly more than 50,000 cases of missing adults (age 18 and older) were pending in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system, a federal computerized index with data on crimes and locator files for missing and unidentified persons. Certain adults are particularly vulnerable to missing episodes; for example, those with dementia are at risk for becoming disoriented while engaged in a routine activity and may not be able to determine where they are or get to where they should be. Adults who engage in high-risk behaviors, including involvement in gang activity, may also be more prone to going missing.\nUnlike children, adults have the legal right to go missing under most circumstances. As a result, families of missing adults may receive limited assistance from state and local law enforcement entities in recovering their loved ones. The federal government has not been involved in assisting law enforcement entities with missing adult cases in the same way it has with missing children cases. Further, cases of missing children and young adults under the age of 21 must be reported to the NCIC, while reporting missing adults to the database is voluntary. In recent years, however, the federal government has increasingly played a role in (1) preventing certain types of missing adult incidents; (2) working to recover adults who go missing, including those who are deceased and for whom only remains can be found; and (3) supporting databases, including NCIC, that maintain records of missing adults and unidentified remains.\nRecognizing the needs of a growing aging population, Congress authorized funding for the Missing Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Patient Alert program under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322). The purpose of the program is to locate and respond to those with Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia who go missing. Recent appropriations have been approximately $750,000 to $2 million annually. Grants have been awarded under the program to a variety of entities, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Alzheimer\u2019s Association, Project Lifesaver, and universities. In 2000, Congress passed Kristen\u2019s Act (P.L. 106-468) to permit the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to establish a national clearinghouse for missing adults and provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies in locating these individuals. From FY2002 through FY2006, DOJ made grants for these purposes. In addition, the federal DNA Initiative has also supported efforts to recover missing persons and identify unidentified human remains by funding DNA analysis and related assistance.\nIn addition to the NCIC, the federal government maintains the National DNA Index System (NDIS), which stores criminal information as well as information on individuals believed to be missing, their relatives, and unidentified human remains; and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), which includes databases for missing adults and unidentified remains. Records are submitted to most of the databases by law enforcement agencies, state missing persons clearinghouses, medical examiners and coroners, or DNA laboratories. The NDIS, NamUs, and NCIC databases can be accessed only by authorized law enforcement and other personnel; however, records in NamUs can also be reviewed by the public.\nPolicy makers and other stakeholders have increasingly focused on the coordination of the federal databases on missing persons, as well as the role of the federal government in providing assistance to states and localities to develop alert systems and technology to locate missing adults. Many states have developed alert systems to recover vulnerable adults who have gone missing.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34616", "sha1": "35955ea1cc06941bd036eb6a482f894de69d6c52", "filename": "files/20150211_RL34616_35955ea1cc06941bd036eb6a482f894de69d6c52.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL34616", "sha1": "3f6b9f2c71ed9e6f092af6dd089f9ed3328a7233", "filename": "files/20150211_RL34616_3f6b9f2c71ed9e6f092af6dd089f9ed3328a7233.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3927, "name": "Missing and Sexually Exploited Individuals" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822380/", "id": "RL34616_2013May07", "date": "2013-05-07", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress", "summary": "The first section of this report discusses demographics and record keeping of missing adults and\r\nunidentified remains, as well as some of the factors that may contribute to the disappearance of\r\nadults. This section also discusses federally funded databases that are used to track data on\r\nmissing adults and unidentified individuals. The second section of the report describes the federal\r\nprograms and initiatives to assist in locating missing adults, including funding data where\r\napplicable. Finally, the third section discusses issues about the federal role in missing adult cases.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20130507_RL34616_3947599cc9d5b0b7484fe015ffb424ec911a5274.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20130507_RL34616_3947599cc9d5b0b7484fe015ffb424ec911a5274.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Missing persons", "name": "Missing persons" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal justice", "name": "Criminal justice" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Aged", "name": "Aged" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc819365/", "id": "RL34616_2008Oct15", "date": "2008-10-15", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress", "summary": "The first section of this report discusses demographics and record keeping of missing adults and unidentified remains, and some of the factors that may contribute to the disappearance of adults. This section also discusses federally funded databases that are used to track data on missing adults and unidentified individuals. The second section of the report describes the federal programs and initiatives to assist in locating missing adults, including funding data for FY2002 through FY2008, where applicable.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20081015_RL34616_ee60b6b1398bc6740354d3dacea8c725088c929d.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20081015_RL34616_ee60b6b1398bc6740354d3dacea8c725088c929d.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Missing persons", "name": "Missing persons" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal justice", "name": "Criminal justice" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Aged", "name": "Aged" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "Domestic Social Policy" ] }