Thanks to all our Squidoo Supporters!

We help find missing children, prevent children from going missing, and promote child safety legislation like Amber Alerts.

The Polly Klaas® Foundation is dedicated to the safety of all children through:

Prevention & Education
Educating and empowering children, parents, and communities so that children do not become victims and by supporting programs which build self-reliance and emergency skills without fear.

Response
Responding to child abductions and missing children by using our expertise and techniques to assist families, other agencies, and law enforcement in the rapid response and rapid recovery of abducted children.

Legislation
Working with elected officials and government agencies to inform and educate the public in order to effect changes which will ensure that children can be safe in their own homes and communities.

Finding Missing Children--Our 24/7 Hotline

Frantic parents and law enforcement officials calling our hotline reach caseworkers 24 hours a day; 7 days a week; 365 days a year. Initial phone calls with parents average an hour, with numerous follow-up calls. We counsel parents on ways to search for their children, offer poster faxing services to parents and police, forward leads to law enforcement officials, and send out missing child flyers when appropriate.

Our Rapid Response Team eVolunteers provide feet on the street by distributing posters of missing children in their communities throughout the United States.

We are the national leader in this field. Our caseworkers attend daily to the anguish felt by parents of missing children. We turn that anguish into action. Eighty-five percent of our missing children come home safely.

Keeping Kids Safe - Our National Outreach and Advocacy Work

We work with policy makers nationwide creating legislation like Amber Alerts to help keep children safe. We are grateful for the many children throughout the nation who have returned home safely thanks to Amber Alerts.

We give opportunities to Americans in all 50 states to express their support for state and federal child safety legislation. Our advocacy work includes efforts to prevent family abductions-a shocking 78 percent of all child kidnappings are by a family member, not strangers.

Family abductions often endanger children emotionally and/or physically, even though the child is with a parent.

Preventing Children From Going Missing - Our Education Programs

We provide worldwide free distribution of child safety and Internet safety information to parents. Our online volunteers take action in their personal communities, by teaching their children abduction prevention skills and distributing missing child posters in communities throughout the U.S.

Instead of motivating with fear, our materials and programs encourage parents to talk matter-of-factly with kids about personal safety. Our nationwide poll of children aged 8-18 revealed that youth take surprising risks online. In light of how much-and how bold-kids are online today, all parents need to be armed with more realistic strategies and guidance.

We provide families of missing children with critical support in their time of greatest need. We have helped over 6,500 families.

Professional caseworkers are available to talk with parents 24/7:

--Counsel parents on search methods & resources.

--Create and distribute missing child posters.

--Post missing child photo and poster on website.

--Receive leads on child sightings.

--Help parents work with community, law enforcement and the media.

Please call today if your child is missing: 800-587-4357.

We never give up hope.

Polly Hannah Klaas was a vibrant, talented 12-year-old, with the promise of a bright future. When she was kidnapped at knifepoint by a stranger from her bedroom slumber party on October 1, 1993, the community of Petaluma, California responded with a spontaneous and unprecedented effort to find her. Residents--many of whom were strangers--of different ages, gender, and professions joined forces in a devoted search for Polly. Week after week, volunteers spent countless hours on the phones, posting flyers, managing the media, and supporting one another.

As the efforts expanded from the San Francisco Bay Area into a nationwide search, the Polly Klaas® Foundation became a nonprofit agency on October 23, 1993.

The discovery of Polly's body on December 4 of that year was heartbreaking. Out of that heartbreak, hundreds of people from across the nation called the Polly Klaas® Foundation and implored them to keep doing for other children what was done for Polly. An inspirational decision was made by the volunteers to keep up their efforts in Polly's name.

The Polly Klaas® Foundation has since grown into a national nonprofit committed to finding missing children and preventing children from going missing. Our services include providing training and education for parents, children, and volunteers, assisting law enforcement with casework, and lobbying lawmakers for child protective legislation.

Using our compassion, experience, and professionalism, we have helped more than 6,500 families find missing children. The expertise we've gained working in all types of missing child cases over the years, along with help from other agencies, has helped us maintain a yearly recovery rate of approximately 85 percent. Several organizations, including the California Senate and California State Assembly, have commended the Foundation's work.

By working together with the community, law enforcement, policymakers, and media, we can promote public policies and educate children, parents, and the entire community on how to bring children home and keep them safe.

The Polly Klaas® Foundation is dedicated to the safety of all children.

You can help find missing children, and keep children safe.

Build a lens today and join us in spreading the word.

Look on the link list below, and click on PKF/Squidoo Headquarters.

We're looking forward to seeing your lens.

Your voice means a lot to the children.