You're Not Alone: The Journey from Abduction to Empowerment

Through the Office for Victims of Crime, all States, the District of Columbia, theCommonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the territories of AmericanSamoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands receive victimassistance grants to support direct services to crime victims. Grants support domesticviolence shelters; rape crisis centers; child abuse programs; and victim service units in lawenforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices, hospitals, and social service agencies. Theseprograms provide crisis intervention, counseling, emergency shelter, criminal justiceadvocacy, emergency transportation, and related services. Through Victims of CrimeAct funding, State agencies within the United States and U.S. territories have establishedcompensation programs to reimburse crime victims and assistance programs to offervictim services. Information about these services can be found athttp://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/help/links.htm.NOTESThis document is one of three important publications developed by the Department ofJustice to assist and support children and families who have suffered the trauma of a childabduction. In 1997 the Department of Justice worked with parents of abducted children tocreate a guide to help families cope with the loss of a child, titled When Your Child Is Missing:A Family Survival Guide. In 2007, the Department of Justice worked with the left-behindbrothers and sisters of abducted children to make sure they are no longer the forgottenvictims. With their assistance, a guide titled What About Me: Coping With the Abduction of aBrother or Sister was written and a video produced to help brothers and sisters cope. All threepublications are important tools not only for families, but for friends, acquaintances, andprofessionals who deal with the abduction of a child. All three publications are available fromthe National Criminal Justice Reference Service at www.ncjrs.org.62