The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) usually deals with situations where children are missing as a result of a crime. After the tragedy of hurricane Katrina, the Center was asked by the Justice Department to assist in reuniting families that were separated in the aftermath. While this new endeavor seems like a significant change in focus, the work and the goals are the same.

In this interview with Larry Magid, President of the NCMEC Ernie Allen discusses this new role for the Center and the way technology is and is not used in the search process. The Center's website, missingkids.com, immediately added a Katrina section and staff work with other agencies such as the American Red Cross to find missing people. On the other hand, staff work the phones and physically go to shelters in search of missing people as well.

At the time of the interview, the Center had helped to reunite 649 children with their families and in the first nine days of operation, the Center received over 16, 000 calls. While there are fewer reports of missing people each day, the search process will become more difficult as time goes by and displaced people begin to move around the country. However, the Center will continue to work under the principle that the search continues until the missing person's whereabouts are known.

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Ernie Allen is President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). He was a co-founder of the private, nonprofit Center, which has helped recover more than 94,500 children, while increasing its recovery rate from 62% in 1990 to 96% today.

Allen has brought technology and innovation to the Center, including computerized age progressions of long-term missing children; an award-winning Internet website, www.missingkids.com; and a CyberTipline called "the 911 for the Internet" that has handled more than 335,000 reports regarding child pornography and sexual exploitation, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of hundreds of adult predators.

He has spearheaded efforts to touch the lives of children worldwide, launching a new International Centre and building a global network to track missing children, which now includes sixteen nations. Through his leadership, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children has entered into formal partnerships with Interpol, the Organization of American States, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

Under his leadership, NCMEC has become one of America's most respected nonprofit organizations. It was graded "A" by the American Institute of Philanthropy, and named one of "America's 100 Best Charities" by Worth Magazine.

Ernie Allen is an active spokesman for the cause, having made numerous appearances on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, and many others.

Ernie Allen came to NCMEC following public service in his native Kentucky, where he was Chief Administrative Officer of Jefferson County, Director of Public Health & Safety for the City of Louisville, and Director of the Louisville-Jefferson County Crime Commission.

He is a member of the Kentucky Bar; and has held adjunct faculty positions at Indiana University, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kentucky, including seven years of teaching inmate classes in Kentucky prisons.

He has been honored by his alma mater, the University of Louisville, as Distinguished Alumnus of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, and Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Arts & Sciences.

He is married to former television news producer and successful businesswoman, Linda S. Broadus.

Resources:

• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children - Katrina/Rita missing persons
• American Red Cross

This program is from the Larry's World series.

For Team ITC:

• Description editor: Darusha Wehm
• Post-production audio engineer: Paul Figgiani