Caren Harp, Administrator 

Child Protection: Law Enforcement 

The safety and well-being of children are central to the Office of Juvenile Justice

and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP’s) mission. OJJDP enhances the efforts

of federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies

who investigate cases of missing, abducted, and exploited children; ensure

that victims receive trauma-informed care; and bring offenders to justice.

Programs 

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 

The center is an information clearinghouse and resource on missing 

and exploited children. It operates a 24-hour missing children’s hotline, a 

CyberTipline that processes reports of online child sexual exploitation, and a 

Child Victim Identification Program to help authorities determine the identities 

of children whose images appear in pornography. The center’s Team Adam 

provides rapid onsite assistance to law enforcement agencies and families 

in critical cases. During fiscal year 2019, the center helped to resolve cases 

involving 27,577 children who were reported missing.

` Funding for fscal years 2017–2019: $90.2 million 

AMBER Alert Program 

AMBER Alert systems in each state issue alerts to the public—on highway 

signs, radio, television, wireless devices, and the Internet—when law 

enforcement determines that a child has been abducted and is in imminent 

danger. OJJDP offers training to enhance the state systems and expand 

AMBER Alert in Indian country. The Office also hosts an annual AMBER 

Alert symposium. By the end of 2019, a total of 977 children had been 

successfully recovered through the AMBER Alert program.

` Funding for fscal years 2017–2019: $10.2 million 

Internet Crimes Against Children Program 

This program comprises a national network of 61 task forces representing more 

than 4,500 law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies, and has trained nearly 

732,000 people to date on how to investigate and prosecute technologyfacilitated crimes against children. Since the program’s inception through 

2019, the task forces have reviewed more than 973,000 reports of online child 

exploitation, resulting in the arrest of more than 100,500 suspects.

` Funding for fscal years 2017–2019: $94.4 million 

For More Information 

Access more information about OJJDP’s child protection programs at 

https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/programs/child-abuse-prevention. 

NCJ 254696 

June 2020 

Funding 

Between fscal years 2017 and 

2019, OJJDP awarded nearly $195 

million to help law enforcement 

agencies protect children and 

youth from harm. 

` Fiscal Year 2019—$74 million 

` Fiscal Year 2018—$62.8 million 

` Fiscal Year 2017—$58 million 

From the Field 

Each year, the Internet Crimes 

Against Children task forces lead a

nationwide effort called Operation 

Broken Heart. 

The operation targets suspects who

produce, distribute, receive, and

possess child pornography; engage

children online for sexual purposes;

participate in the sex trafficking of

children; and travel to other states 

or countries to sexually abuse

children. 

During Operation Broken Heart in

2019, the task forces investigated

more than 18,500 reports of

technology-facilitated crimes against

children, resulting in the arrest of

nearly 1,700 suspected online child

sex offenders. 

Task force members identified 308 

offenders who either produced child 

pornography or committed child

sexual abuse, and 357 children 

who suffered sexual abuse or were 

exploited in the production of child

pornography. 

Office of Juvenile Justice and 

Delinquency Prevention 

ojjdp.ojp.gov