They Are Missed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kym Pasqualini (602) 749-2000 #102 or 602-399-0630
4641 N. 12th Street, Suite 100 Phoenix, AZ 85014 www.missingadults.org
NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING ADULTS RELOCATES IN PHOENIX
October 26, 2006 (Phoenix) – A local Phoenix business man has provided the Phoenix-based National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA) with new office space at a time when the agency was financially forced to vacate and close the doors of the facility they had operated from for nearly ten years. “This act of kindness will enable the agency to continue providing services,” says Kym Pasqualini, the agency’s founder.
“However, the agency still faces a funding crisis that affects the number of those we can assist and the quality of those services,” adds Pasqualini. “We continue to plead with the public and national business community to help with contributions in order for this nationally-respected agency to continue providing the same level of service to law enforcement and families of missing adults throughout the country.”
Kristen’s Law, signed by President Clinton, established the national clearinghouse for missing adults in 2002 with an appropriation of $1 million per year. In recent years federal budget cuts have severely depleted the resources to NCMA receiving only $148,000 of federal funding for 2006.
During 2005, approximately 2000 law enforcement agencies requested the assistance of NCMA. The agency handled 23,421 missing person reports and provided assistance to over 24,741 family members of missing persons. In addition, over 300 law enforcement agencies received training provided by NCMA, in partnership with the Criminal Justice Center for Innovation at Fox Valley Technical College, the premier provider of training to criminal justice related agencies nationwide.
When the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance called on the NCMA to provide case management and support services to thousands of families of missing adults left in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, NCMA worked in partnership with governmental agencies and handled over 13,500 missing adult reports. They closed 99.9% of the cases in the months following the hurricane. The Hurricane Katrina effort cost the agency over $200,000 of their own non-federal funding and has depleted the agency’s reserves.
“Currently Kristen’s Act Reauthorization of 2005, H.R. 2103, which is pending in the House of Representatives, would appropriate up to $4 million per year to the agency, but with continued delays in Congress, the number of families needing services and the quality of those services are severely impacted,” said Erin Bruno, Director of Case Management.
The public may contact the agency by calling (800) 690-3463. For more information and to write representatives in Congress visit the agency website www.missingadults.org.
National Center for Missing Adults is a division of the Nation’s Missing Children Organization, Inc. a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization working with local, state and federal law enforcement, medical examiners and coroners. NCMA, a division of NMCO is the only national missing adult clearinghouse funded by the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide advocacy and support services to families of missing adults and directly involved in the President’s DNA Initiative, “Advancing Justice through DNA Technology.”