July | August 2019

OJJDP Hosts First National AMBER Alert in Indian Country Symposium

Photo of Pamela Foster, mother of Ashlynne Mike and advocate for missing children, with OJJDP Deputy Administrator Chryl Y. Jones.Pamela Foster (left), mother of Ashlynne Mike and advocate for missing children, with OJJDP Deputy Administrator Chryl Y. Jones.
The Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act was born out of the tragic abduction and murder of 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike of the Navajo Nation in 2016. At the time, tribal law enforcement officers did not have an AMBER Alert plan to notify people living on the reservation—a serious problem shared by tribes across the country. The enactment of the 2018 legislation represents significant progress in addressing the problem: It makes federally recognized tribes eligible for AMBER Alert grants and permits the use of grant funds to integrate state or regional AMBER Alert communication plans with tribes across the nation.

As part of a broader initiative to help tribal communities effectively implement the Act’s provisions and improvepreparedness and coordination in responding to cases of missing and abducted children, OJJDP hosted the first National AMBER ALERT in Indian Country Symposium on July 30–August 1, 2019, in Albuquerque, NM. U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico John C. Anderson and OJJDP Deputy Administrator Chyrl Jones offered introductory remarks on the symposium’s opening day.

“We are already seeing the positive results yielded through partnering with tribal, state, federal, and local stakeholders,” Deputy Administrator Jones said. “A 2018 survey of tribes revealed that 76 of the 100 responding tribes reported participating in their state AMBER Alert plan, [and] 75 tribes reported having an emergency plan or checklist. [But] much still remains to be done to connect tribes across the country with their state and regional AMBER Alert plans.”

left quoteNothing was worse than knowing there was no AMBER Alert when we needed it most. We had no way to tell the public about what happened. It’s devastating knowing there may have been a chance to save Ashlynne’s life if there was an AMBER Alert system in place. right quote

—Pamela Foster
Mother of Ashlynne Mike

The conference brought together tribal leaders and representatives of OJJDP, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP), and state AMBER Alert coordinators to exchange information and share best practices for implementing AMBER Alert plans in Indian country.

Topics included an overview of the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act, the AMBER Alert process, the role of the state AMBER Alert coordinator, the Navajo Nation’s recent development of an AMBER Alert program, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and NCMEC’s role in the AMBER Alert response. Presenters also discussed the law enforcement alert portal, challenges that tribes face when integrating state and regional AMBER Alert communication plans, and resources and ongoing support available through AATTAP and partner programs. Ashlynne Mike’s mother, Pamela Foster, shared her family’s story and discussed what can be done to improve the response to missing and abducted children in Indian country.

 

Resources:

In this issue of OJJDP News @ a Glance, learn about the new AMBER Alert in Indian Country website. The site offers tribal communities information about training and technical assistance, the national effort to implement the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act, and opportunities for collaboration with other AMBER Alert partners throughout the country.

Read OJJDP’s recently released Implementation of the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018: A Report to Congress. The report provides an assessment of the readiness, education and training needs, technological challenges, and obstacles encountered by tribes in the integration of state or regional AMBER Alert communication plans.