 Take Root, a national 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, is the first missing child agency founded by former abducted-children
Most of the Information On Child Abduction Comes From People Who Have Never Been Abducted!
While policy discussions, legal testimony, research studies, public events, and even media interviews are filled with the faces, voices, and experiences of families searching for abducted-children, the abducted-child’s firsthand voice is seldom heard. Even though most abducted-children are found, the voice, perspective, insight, and wisdom of those abducted remains lost to missing-child service professionals.
Take Root elevates the voice of the abducted child, using the collected wisdom of former missing-children to improve America’s missing-child response.
"Take Root is a welcome and much-needed addition to the work being done on missing child issues….adding the perspective that Take Root brings will, I believe, move us light years ahead…"
- John Rabun, Vice President, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Take Root's vision is to see a full-spectrum of child-abduction services that are informed by a deep-seated understanding of the abducted-child’s experience and challenges; that address the threat of abduction and begin providing an appropriate response from the moment a child is taken, continuing after he or she is no longer missing, until he or she declares that no further assistance is needed.
Child abduction services are currently designed for direct delivery to everyone except the abducted child!
Today's child-abduction services focus on supporting the parents of missing-children and other adults who search for the child, and on preventing abduction from occurring in the first place. While both are critical functions, this formula contains a glaring omission: the abducted-child is left out of the direct services loop! The moment a missing-child is found is the moment his or her case is considered "closed."
Unfortunately, being "found" does not usually make the trauma of abduction disappear
In fact, many of the former missing-children participating in Take Root have started to speak out about the ways in which current recovery practices actually exacerbate or add to the trauma from which victims must recover.
"Although there are many services offered to families of missing-children, Take Root stands alone in the services they provide to abducted children once they are located, and the information they provide to professionals and the public about child-abduction from the child-victim's perspective. Take Root's services are desperately needed..."
- Patty Wetterling, renowned missing-child advocate and mother of missing-child Jacob Wetterling
Take Root’s Support Branch provides the first and only clinically-moderated peer support community available to victims of child abduction when they are no longer missing.
Take Root’s Center for Child Abduction Studies utilizes the wisdom and experiences of Support Branch participants to develop research collaborations, child-centered best-practice approaches, professional training, public education, published resources, and child-centered advocacy.
The Center’s major advocacy initiatives include the Kid Gloves for Handling Abducted Children project, a new approach for professionals involved in the recovery of abducted children; designed to expand services beyond recovering missing-children, to helping missing-children recover
THE MISSING-CHILD SERVICE GAP
Take Root coined the phrase "the missing-child service gap" to refer to two inter-related phenomenon within the missing child service industry.
First is the fact that victims - abducted children - find that direct services end the moment they become available to receive them. Their cases are considered "closed" the moment they are found. Unfortunately, being "found" is typically only the very first step in a missing child's recovery. Yet victims of child abduction seeking help in the wake of their trauma find that the many excellent support services throughout the missing-child arena focus on providing support to victims' families while children are missing, but not to the victims themselves once they are located.
Concurrently, the primary victims' insight and perspective on abduction is typically absent from issue related public discourse, policy discussions, data collections, and literature. Conversations about child abduction are most often conducted by people who have never been abducted. This has resulted in a number of conclusions, policies, and practices that range from misguided to downright detrimental.
Take Root calls the combination of the lack of services for primary victims, and the lack of data and knowledge about the primary victim experience on which to base such services, the missing-child service gap.
"Take Root is now providing for a historic gap in services…..Take Root partners with and enhances the work of many AMECO member organizations."
- Wendy Jolley-Kabi, Executive Director, Association of Missing & Exploited Children’s Organizations (AMECO)
Take Root was established to bring awareness to and help close the missing-child service gap.
We do this by providing direct services to victims of child-abduction when they are no longer missing (through our groundbreaking Support Branch program), and then applying what we learn through our Center for Child-Abduction Studies, where we develop child-centered best-practices, professional training, public education, and advocacy initiatives.
“The often unheard voices of adults abducted by children are an invaluable addition to the field of missing and exploited children. The field must take into account these children’s unique experiences and specialized needs…therefore, we applaud Take Root’s unique services and work in this field. Professionals who deal with abduction need the information and expertise that only Take Root can provide.”
- Members of the 108th Congress of the United States (Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Joe Bacca)
FOCUS ON FAMILY ABDUCTION
Our goals include improving response to the most common form of child-abduction, that of abduction by family members. Although family abduction accounts for the overwhelming majority of all child-abduction cases in America according to the Department of Justice, the nature of this crime remains subject to widespread misconception and myth.
In reality, children who are isolated and hidden from the justice and child protective systems by a fugitive parent are no less “missing” than children taken by non-family members and may find themselves in just as much danger. The alarming frequency with which parents hurt, and sometimes even kill, their own children is well known. 50% of Take Root members who were abducted by parents were also physically or sexually abused by those parents. Almost all suffered profound psychological trauma after being cut off from their loved ones and kept “off the grid” to evade discovery, sometimes deprived even of medical care or, more commonly, schooling.
However, lacking insight into the true danger and devastation faced by children who are abducted by individuals to whom they are related, response professionals routinely dismiss family abduction cases as "custody battles" between parents.
Take Root's acclaimed training workshops have proven highly effective at changing this mind set, educating law enforcement, policy makers, child advocates, and missing child case managers from coast to coast about the realities of this devastating crime against children.
“Nothing can replace the personal and professional experience that Take Root’s workshops present, the focus on the child as victim – which can sometimes get lost in the legal and technical aspects of the case or day-to-day dealings with parents. Liss Haviv's presentation was truly an incredible experience and scored a perfect “5” on the evaluations – a first since we began the class.”
- Ellen Conway, Director, Office of Children’s Issues, US Department of State
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