iCare

FAQs

Call the hotline if you are a:

child who is missing from home / care or a child who is thinking of leaving home / care
parent or carer of a missing child
child, young person, or adult who has information about a missing child

Make a report to the police if you know of a child who has gone missing. This can be done by anybody, not just the parents or carers. You may also call the 116 000 hotline for support, advice, and to share valuable information about a missing child.

Who answers the calls?

Professionally trained Hotline Operators.

Does the 116 000 hotline work in my country?

The 116 000 number works in 32 countries in Europe. You can find the list of countries here.

The 116 000 hotline is not available in my country, who can I contact instead?

Always contact your national police to report a missing child or to share information relating to a missing child.

Other national hotlines or children’s organisations are available in your country, you can find this online.

Who can call the 116 000 hotline?

Everyone. Children, young people, parents or carers, families, and third party adults.

If you know about a missing child or if you know of a child at risk of going missing, the 116 000 hotline will be able to support you.

What information am I required to give when I call the 116 000 hotline?

You will be asked for details related to the missing child and their circumstances.

The more information provided the more help this will be for the protection of the child.

Do I have to share my details, I want to remain anonymous?

No, you do not have to share your details. Only share your details should you wish to.

Learn more

The iCare project aims to develop and implement a set of comprehensive tools and activities to enhance the condition of children in relation to International Child Abduction by promoting judicial cooperation and by integrating International Family Mediation as an adjunct to legal proceedings.

Facts about the topic

The main persisting problems in the area of international child abductions concern:

a shortage of comprehensive systemic data and overall information on abduction cases is a persisting issue;
the lack of information, coupled with language barriers, cultural gaps and diverging definitions of what constitutes ‘child abduction’ lead to a decrease in judicial cooperation and hinders the judicial process, slowing down the processing of return applications;
differing national approaches to the exceptions regarding the return of the child are a pressing concern for Central Authorities and other professionals dealing with child abduction cases.

Aim

Short-term:
Improve the knowledge on the ways different national legal and administrative frameworks deal with cases of international child abduction and international family mediation.

Mid-term:
increase the capacity of the concerned stakeholders and consolidate a multi-stakeholder community for the collection and exchange of good practices.

Long-term:
improve the situation of children in international child abduction cases by
• improving the overall cooperation between the stakeholders when handling cases of international child abduction
• mainstream international family mediation as a viable method to be frequently applied during the judicial process

Resources

iCare website

Twitter

Facebook

Contact person

Greg Kostka
Senior Project Officer International Abduction & Cross Border Mediation

Partners

The iCare project has received funding from the European Union’s Justice Programme (2014-2020) under Grant Agreement No 101007436. This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.