Test your community’s response in conducting an initial investigation, search and canvass activities for a missing or abducted child scenario occurring on tribal lands. Employ strategies and responses in mitigating and resolving the emergency. Participate in a multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional tabletop exercise to build cohesiveness with tribal, state, local and federal partners when responding to an emergency.
This webinar will provide participants with an understanding of alert systems designed to protect missing and endangered children, with a focus on Tribal communities. Attendees will first explore the role of the AMBER Alert in Indian Country (AIIC) program, including its purpose, history, and mission, and how it supports Tribal Nations in recovery efforts for missing children. The presentation will clarify AMBER alert criteria and help participants distinguish between AMBER Alert requirements and Missing Indigenous Alert criteria adopted by some states to ensure accurate and timely activation. Finally, the session will highlight how Missing Indigenous Alerts fill critical gaps when cases do not meet AMBER Alert criteria and demonstrate how these systems can work together to strengthen collaboration, enhance community safety, and improve response times.
First contact with a child sex trafficking victim can either stabilize trauma or compound it. Define what victim-centered means within the context of first responder engagement and examine how early interactions shape cooperation, safety, and long-term case outcomes. Identify behavioral indicators commonly presented by traumatized CST victims, including responses that may be misinterpreted as defiance, indifference, or complicity. Compare and contrast effective and ineffective approaches during victim contact to support trust, reduce re-traumatization, and preserve the integrity of the investigation. Strengthen early response practices that increase the likelihood of safe recovery of the missing child, disclosure of their exploitation, and support successful prosecution of the trafficker.
911 Telecommunicators are the first responders in missing children cases, playing a critical, life-saving role as the link between a missing child and their safe return. This interactive course will equip telecommunicators with the essential skills and resources needed to manage these high-stakes situations. By analyzing real cases, learn to recognize the various types of missing children incidents and how they are reported. Through call analysis and scenario-based learning, explore optimal practices, utilizing NCIC, APCO, and ANSI systems and standards. Additionally, the course focuses on resilience-building strategies to support the telecommunicator’s mental health in these emotionally demanding cases.
This course provides telecommunicators with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively respond to reports of missing or abducted children while addressing the unique considerations present in Indian Country. Participants will explore the scope, scale and nature of the problem, best practice policy and protocol for telecommunications response, including jurisdictional complexities and multidisciplinary coordination among tribal, local, state and federal partners.
Differentiate between field-based and investigative Child Sex Trafficking interviews while adapting strategies for unscheduled encounters such as traffic stops or disturbance calls. Examine how CST interviews differ from, and overlap with, traditional child abuse forensic interviews. Apply a structured four-phase framework to navigate high-stress, real-time interactions with children who may be trafficked but have not disclosed. Emphasize victim-centered practices that safeguard immediate safety, preserve evidentiary integrity, and address the ongoing public safety threat posed by traffickers.
Child Sex Trafficking (CST) is a crime that is hidden yet in plain sight. First responders are often the first system members to make contact with a CST victim. A CST victim has been heavily groomed for system contact, is fearful of their trafficker, and often not forthcoming about their exploitive situation. Deconstruct the crime of CST and identify common scenarios in which you may come in contact with a CST victim. Discover victim-centered contact practices you can implement which are specific to CST victims. Recognize how to secure vital evidence which may only be available during your initial contact with the victim. Practice group exercises and develop contact and response plans to common scenarios you may encounter.
911 Telecommunicators are the first line of response in urgent high-stakes situations and few scenarios are as critical as missing children calls. This webinar will guide participants in identifying key details from calls, understanding the different types of missing children incidents, and recognizing the vital role of 911 Telecommunicators in the investigative process. Through the analysis of real 911 calls, attendees will enhance their ability to quickly gather crucial information and respond effectively to one of the most significant calls a 911 Telecommunicator can handle.
Examine a non-confrontational, rapport-based approach to interviewing suspects in cases of stereotypical child abduction, where sexual assault or homicide may be involved. Rather than relying on predetermined themes, investigators will learn how to influence suspects to provide their own justifications or excuses --creating a psychological pathway for the disclosure of detailed information about the crime. The emphasis is on establishing trust, listening carefully to the suspect's account, and presenting evidence through a sincere, non-threatening approach. This method aims to help investigators uncover the truth while avoiding aggressive tactics that could lead to resistance or false statements. Participants will learn how to balance active listening with strategic contradictions to get to the truth.
Child Protective Services (CPS) case workers encounter child sex trafficking victims during and following missing events in which extensive exploitation is occurring or has occurred. Examine when CPS has jurisdiction and a duty to investigate trafficking cases, along with why and how children go missing from care. Identify vulnerabilities and recognize factors which indicate sex trafficking. Often these recovered missing or abducted children do not disclose their exploitation when recovered or encountered by CPS. Analyze the bond the victim has with the trafficker and discover why disclosing is difficult for children. Identify approaches to protect children when you suspect trafficking but have no disclosure from the victim. Lastly, develop opportunities to collaborate with law enforcement and other professionals to identify and support CST victims.
