Romanian Center for Missing & Sexually Exploited Children

The Operational Department, by means of the Case Management Department, also provides the management/operation of the cases. The responsibility for operating the cases is given to case managers. On the basis of the information gathered by the Call Center operators, the case managers operate the cases concerning missing children and intervene in solving the cases with the maximum celerity. The case managers observe the legal framework, the internal working methodology of the Center and provide the confidentiality of the information.

The working program for case managers is 8 h/a day, according to the following shifts: 08.00-16.00 and 14.00-22.00. Every case manager is “on duty”, for 7 days, covering in that week the afternoon shift, night shift, weekends and public holidays.

Immediately after (s)he received the file of the missing child from the Call Center Department, the case manager performs the following activities concerning the search for the missing child:

• Analyzing the information regarding the missing child;
• Preparing a dossary for every case in part, which will include all the information subsequently gathered and all steps taken in every case;
• Contacting the person who submitted the report, in order to gather new information, which is not already included in the file and which he reckons to be important;
• Verifying the following aspects: who is the legal representative of the missing child, whether (s)he has given the consent for disseminating the case of the missing child and the existence of the necessary photo for disseminating;
• Contacting the family/child (if there is a phone number of the child) in order to find out more information;
• If there isn’t any contact number in the report file, the case managers take all the necessary steps for obtaining the number, as it is extremely important to get in touch with the family when investigating the case.

-     If it is impossible to get in touch with the family, the case manager contacts the Public Service for Social Assistance (SPAS) within the townhall from the town where the child is domiciled, for reporting the case and finding more information about the family; moreover, the case manager may also request for the support of SPAS in order to get in touch with the parent that hasn’t got a phone/at his domicile.

• If the case manager obtains the phone number of the child, they call and try to find out:
• Details concerning the circumstances under which the disappearance occured,
• Information on the place where the child is at present,
• the reasons that made the child to run away from home,

and will guide the child depending on the problems that the child is faced with (eg. go to the nearest police unit, adress the specialized departments within the General Directions for Social Assistance and Child Protection, to contact his/her family, a friend, etc);

• If the child disappeared from a placement institution, the case manager contacts the management of that institution for obtaining more details on the situation of the child;
• Offers emotional support (on the phone) to the family of the child all over the searching period and informs them constantly about the evolution of the police investigation.
• If it is necessary, the case manager requests supplementary psychological counseling for the child’s family to the representatives of the General Directions for Child Protection (in compliance with the agreement concluded with these authorities and the National Authority for Child Protection);
• If it is necessary, requests for the intervention of the psychologist with whom the Center has been cooperating (for Bucharest and peripheral areas)
• After discussing with the operational coordinator, the case manager may request for the involvement of other experts from public and private authorities in the psychological counseling and assistance for the child’s family.
• Permanently liaise with the contact person from the County Police Inspectorate, Criminal Investigation Department, Missing Person Unit, for identifying the most suitable means of searching from the alternatives given by the Center, but also for obtaining new information on the case.

• Puts into practice, with the support of other departments of the Center, the searching activities previously established;

• Disseminates messages at the request of the police, parents and relatives of the missing child, using the same photos as those used by the police.
• Together with the police representatives, the case manager establishes, depending on the hints and the possibilities of the Center, the locations where the child’s photo is to be disseminated and provides all the necessary data for disseminating the case to the coordinator of the operational center;
• After discussing with the representatives of the police, the case managers disseminate the case in the locations previously established, depending on the means of the Center (plasma TVs, posters, flyers, volunteers, online, etc)
• Any information received, either from the missing child’s family, or as a result of disseminating messages is immediately sent by phone, fax or email to the Police County Inspectorate responsible for the case, in order to be checked;
• Cooperates with the similar centers from abroad with a view to identifying the child – if there are hints according to which the child has crossed the border;
• Cooperates with the emergency receiving facilities, placement centers and homeless shelters of the General Directions for Social Assistance on the basis of the cooperation agreement, and with Public Health Directions with a view to searching and identifying the child;
• When the case manager has information which might lead to finding the child, he informs as quickly as possible the police department which investigates the case;
• At the request of the law enforcement authorities, (s)he makes available all the data, documents, objects or any other piece of evidence from the files, delivering and recording all this in a minutes;
• Participates in monthly meetings regarding cases with the representatives of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police – Criminal Investigation Department – with a view to identifying new solutions for finding the child;
• If there are hints according to which the child may be a victim of human-trafficking (for labour, sexual or any kind of exploitation), the case managers refers to ANITP (National Authority against Human-Trafficking) by means of the toll-free number or by contacting persons from the regional centers;
• Prepares the return of the child to his/her parents or legal representative, depending on the case (e.g. guides the parents regarding their reaction when the child returns/is found, requests social services to reassess the measures and services established for the child, etc).

After the child is identified, the case is monitored by FOCUS for three months depending on the criteria established in the working methodology.