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Foreign Affairs: Specific Action Plan Needed to Improve Response to Parental Child Abductions

NSIAD-00-10 Published: Mar 29, 2000. Publicly Released: Mar 29, 2000.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on international parental child abductions, focusing on the adequacy of federal response to: (1) problems identified with the federal government's response to international parental child abductions; (2) the Department of Justice's (DOJ) use of the 1993 International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act to prosecute abducting parents; and (3) the actions federal agencies plan to take to address the problems.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of State The Secretary of State and the Attorney General should develop an implementation plan, with measurable goals, objectives, time frames, and resources, needed to address problems with the federal response to international parental child abduction. In developing this plan, the State and DOJ should include provisions for monitoring the effectiveness of the initiatives as they are implemented.
Closed – Implemented
The agencies have developed an implementation plan which includes the dimensions GAO recommended. Resource requirements for the activities planned are included in the agencies' budgets. Included in the implementation plan are initiatives to periodically evaluate the program.
Department of Justice The Secretary of State and the Attorney General should develop an implementation plan, with measurable goals, objectives, time frames, and resources, needed to address problems with the federal response to international parental child abduction. In developing this plan, the State and DOJ should include provisions for monitoring the effectiveness of the initiatives as they are implemented.
Closed – Implemented
The agency has developed an implementation plan containing the elements GAO identified; the plan is associated with resource requirements which are presented in the agency budget. It also includes steps to evaluate program initiatives as they are implemented.

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Topics

Child custodyChildrenConvictionsKidnappingCrimesInteragency relationsInternational agreementsInternational cooperationLaw enforcementLaw enforcement information systemsParents