OTTAWA – On the eve of International Missing Children’s Day, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection launched a new website called MissingKids.ca designed to become the country’s national missing children resource centre.
Founding partners of the site include the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), Google, Lifetouch, CIBC and the Government of Canada. Using new technologies, MissingKids.ca complements the work of law enforcement by using on-line search tools that bring a modern approach – such as on-line registration process and the use of social media and wireless technologies – to the traditional way of searching for lost or missing children.
The site will also help communities know what to do should a child go missing via a downloadable community response plan which provides a step-by-step guide to help coordinate search efforts. The Canadian public can also sign up to receive missing child alerts.
"We live in a different world today than the one we lived in just five short years ago. New technology and social media tools have not only profoundly changed the way we live and interact with one another, but they have created new opportunities in the search for missing children," said Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, in Tuesday’s announcement. "MissingKids.ca will provide a national voice on missing children issues and a coordinated approach in the search for missing children. It will capitalize on new technology and coordinate prompt, efficient dissemination of public alerts."
