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Federal Statutes
Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (1968) creates guidelines to
avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states
in matters of child custody, promote cooperation with the courts of other
states, and facilitate the enforcement of custody decrees of other states.1
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (1974) has been amended
numerous times; however, the overall purposes remain the same, including
to provide technical assistance to public and private nonprofit juvenile-justice
and delinquency-prevention programs, establish training programs for persons
who work with delinquents or potential delinquents or whose work or activities
relate to juvenile-delinquency programs, establish a federal assistance
program to deal with the problems of runaway and homeless youth, and assist
states and local communities to prevent youth from entering the justice
system.
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
(1980) establishes procedures to ensure the prompt return of children
wrongfully removed to or retained in a country other than that of their
habitual residence.
Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act
The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (1980) assures that full faith
and credit is given to child-custody determinations. States may honor
and enforce custody determinations made in other states as long as certain
requirements listed by the Act are satisfied.
Missing Children Act
The Missing Children Act (1982) authorizes the Attorney General to collect
and exchange information that would assist in the identification of unidentified
deceased individuals and the location of missing persons, including missing
children.
Missing Children's Assistance Act
The Missing Children's Assistance Act (1984) directs the Administrator
of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to establish
and operate a national toll-free telephone line for missing children and
a national resource center and clearinghouse.
National Child Search Assistance Act
The National Child Search Assistance Act of 1990 requires each federal,
state, and local law-enforcement agency to enter information about missing
children younger than the age of 18 into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's
(FBI) National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.2
The Act also establishes state reporting requirements.
International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act
The International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993 makes it a federal
crime to remove a child from the United States or retain a child, who
has been in the United States, outside the United States with the intent
to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights.
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender
Registration Act
The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender
Registration Act (1994) prescribes a 10-year registration requirement
for offenders convicted of sexually violent offenses or criminal offenses
against a victim who is a minor. Sexually violent predators have additional
registration requirements.
Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of
Children Today Act
The Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of
Children Today Act of 2003, otherwise known as the PROTECT Act, gives
law-enforcement authorities valuable tools to deter, detect, investigate,
prosecute, and punish crimes committed against children; strengthens laws
against child pornography; and addresses deficiencies in federal sentencing
policies and practices. Provisions that relate specifically to missing
or abducted children include an increase in the base-offense level for
kidnapping; a mandatory 20-year sentence for an offender whose kidnapping
victim is a nonfamily-member minor; attempt liability for international
parental kidnapping; Suzanne's Law, which requires each federal, state,
and local law-enforcement agency to enter information about missing children
younger than the age of 21 into the FBI's NCIC database; America's Missing:
Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alert provisions calling for the
national coordination of state and local AMBER Alert programs, including
the appointment of a national AMBER Alert coordinator3
and the development of guidelines for the issuance and dissemination of
AMBER Alerts; a Code ADAM program that requires designated authorities
for public buildings to establish procedures for locating a child who
is missing in the building;4 and making
the statute of limitations for crimes involving the abduction of a child
the life of the child.
1The Uniform Child
Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) of 1998 is a new model
of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act.
2The PROTECT Act has amended this provision
of the National Child Search Assistance Act of 1990.
3Deborah Daniels, an Assistant Attorney
General with the Office of Justice Programs, was named coordinator by
the Attorney General John Ashcroft on October 2, 2002.
4"Public building" means any
building, or portion thereof, owned or leased for use by the federal government.
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