A Child Abduction Response Team (CART) is a multi-agency group of professionals in the United States of America who are trained and equipped to respond rapidly in the search and recovery of endangered, missing, and abducted children. Each team can be formed, reformed, and disbanded as needed for any given case, depending on how long the child is missing. More than one CART can coordinate with other CARTs across multiple jurisdictions, including local, tribal, state, and national boundaries.
Background
The National CART initiative was established in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and is administered through the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP).
Certification CARTs employ standards for training and certification which are provided by the USDOJ to promote the use of the same local, state and federal rules, protocols, investigative procedures, and best practices to help quickly locate a child. The certification process objectively defines each role in the team to function efficiently and proficiently. Inter-agency cooperation and communication help bring constituent resources to bear in any given case.
Composition CARTs may consist of individuals from any number of groups, including but not limited to the following:
Behavioral analysis units Canvassers Child welfare and protection investigators Corrections personnel Court system personnel Crime Stoppers Department of transportation Digital forensics analysts Crime scene investigators Emergency management Emergency medical technicians FBI agents Forensic evidence collectors and analysts Forensic interviewers Intelligence analysts Information analysts Interviewers Law enforcement officers National Center for Missing & Exploited Children K-9 units Public safety workers Prosecutors Search and rescue personnel Search and seizure personnel School resource officers Social workers
See also
AMBER Alert Child abduction Child abduction alert system Child Focus Code Adam Federal Bureau of Investigation International child abduction Kidnapping United States Children's Bureau Vanished Children's Alliance
References
External links CART Home at The Amber Advocate AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program Fact Sheet at Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention