Our Efforts to Support Siblings of Victims

When a child is missing, the lives of his or her immediate family members are forever altered. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's (NCMEC) Family Advocacy Division works extensively to help parents and guardians deal with this kind of trauma and has begun paying close attention to the brothers and sisters of missing children.

Family Advocacy held a first-of-its-kind, three-day retreat with left-behind siblings at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland in September 2006. The retreat brought nine children (ages 11 to 16) together with a psychologist and a trained clinician. The children were given the opportunity to detail their feelings and responses to the abduction or exploitation of a sibling.  Among other observations, Family Advocacy found that some siblings experienced feelings of being ignored and a loss of trust between them and their parents or guardians.

Feedback from the retreats has already changed the way Family Advocacy works with families. NCMEC’s family liaisons are more proactive in asking parents about children’s behavioral changes and in providing them with resources and assistance targeted to siblings.

What About Me? Coping with the Abduction of a Brother or Sister