Frequently Asked Questions

When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide, an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention report, contains helpful information for families about what to do when a child is missing.

For additional information, visit the Child and Youth Victimization section of our website.

Resources to assist child abduction victims and their families are available on the Missing and Exploited Children section of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention site. For additional information about child abduction, visit the Child and Youth Victimization section of our site.

Information on children found at methamphetamine labs can be found in the OVC publication, Children at Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs: Helping Meth's Youngest Victims.

Visit the Report a Crime section of the U.S. Department of Justice website to learn how you can report child pornography or cases involving the sexual exploitation of children.

You can also report suspicion of child sexual exploitation to your local police, your Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline (file a report online or call 800-843-5678).

Visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website for data on nonfamily abductions.

If at any time you witness or believe a child is in immediate danger, we strongly urge you to call your local police department’s emergency number (911).

Each state also designates specific agencies to receive and investigate reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Typically, this responsibility is carried out by Child Protective Services. For information or assistance with reporting, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline:

• Toll Free: 800-4-A-CHILD (800-422-4453)
• Text START to 800-4-A-CHILD (800-422-4453)
• Online chat: childhelphotline.org

You may also contact your local Child Protective Services agency.

• Visit the AMBER Alert Facebook page and “Like” the page to receive AMBER Alerts in your newsfeed. Facebook also automatically notifies users near the location of an AMBER Alert.
• On X, follow @AMBERAlert to receive AMBER Alert notifications on your X feed.
• On Instagram, if an AMBER Alert is activated by law enforcement and you are in the designated search area, the alert will appear in your feed.

To learn more about the AMBER Alert program, please see the Office of Justice Programs' AMBER Alert website.

Information on date rape may can be found in the What is rape and date rape? section of the Girlshealth.gov website.