116 000

Who are we ?

116 000 is the free emergency number available 24/7 in case of a missing child. Our teams are dedicated to listening to and supporting the families of missing children. We assist families in cases of runaways, parental abductions in France or abroad, worrying disappearances of minors, and young adults under 25. Droit d’Enfance is a member of Missing Children Europe, the European federation for missing and sexually exploited children.

 
116 000 Missing Children is coordinated and managed by Droit d’Enfance. Recognized as a public utility child protection foundation since 1866, it provides shelter and support to hundreds of boys and girls placed under its care by Child Social Welfare (ASE) in the Île-de-France region. Droit d’Enfance is also the French member of the International Social Service (ISS), a global organization dedicated to child protection.

Disappearance figures 

for 2023

For the year 2023, 40,989 cases of missing minors were reported to the police and gendarmerie forces, including (*Source: Ministry of the Interior):

39,069

Runaways

1,259

Worrying disappearances of minors

661

Parental abductions

See search notices

Our principles

Act First in the Child’s Best Interest

Even though we primarily communicate with the parents and families of missing children, we act first in the child’s best interest as defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly in Article 9.

Ensure Strict Neutrality

We carry out our work regardless of origin, nationality, religion, or political opinion. We assist anyone who reaches out to us, without prejudice or bias.

Work in Collaboration

We operate within a close system of partnerships and collaboration. The situations faced by families of missing children require a synergy of action from all stakeholders and mechanisms to help restore the family bond.

Our missions

Support 

for families

We provide support and guidance to parents, families or people responsible for missing children, from the disappearance until after the child’s return.

We offer legal, psychological, social and administrative listening and support. We also act to help in the search for missing people, particularly by supporting families in publicizing wanted notices and by participating in the Kidnapping Alert system.

Study 

and research

We continuously study and analyze issues related to childhood, adolescence and family structure. This allows us to suggest reforms aimed at preventing the disappearance of children and situations of breakdown of the parent-child bond. The results of this research are shared in particular with professionals in the legal and childhood sectors, during training as well as through the organization of a conference.

Prevention 

of disappearances

We work to prevent disappearances, whatever the causes (runaway, parental kidnapping, criminal kidnapping, etc.).

Thus, by contacting 116000, parents in marital conflict will receive advice on preventing parental kidnapping. You will also find on this site advice for preventing adolescents from running away, which today represents the vast majority of cases of disappearance. The association also works towards children and young people. In 2014, she published a booklet for children to prevent criminal kidnapping.

General public  

awareness

Each year several awareness-raising actions are carried out to make the 116,000 Missing Children known to as many people as possible:

  • poster campaign
  • broadcast of awareness-raising messages (television, cinema, etc.)
  • press campaign
  • launch of the 25mai.fr website on the occasion of International Missing Children’s Day

Functioning

The 116000 Missing Children number follows up calls to 116000. It coordinates the system. Calls are received by listeners who provide initial support and transmit the information necessary to compile the file to the 116000 Missing Children monitoring unit. The case managers then resume contact with the callers.

Picto

The telephone platform

Cofely Inéo, a subsidiary of GDF-Suez, manages the telephone platform. Call reception is handled by an expert listener. They ensure that the family has reported the child’s disappearance to the police or gendarmerie. After an initial assessment with the caller, the listener evaluates the request and then refers it to the follow-up unit. Absys handles call reception at night, on weekends, and on public holidays.

116 000 is a free number available 24/7.

It is also possible to contact the follow-up unit directly through the website.

Call 116 000
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The monitoring cell

The follow-up unit of 116000 Missing Children ensures the coordination of all activities within the system and manages cases until their closure. Follow-up officers are either legal experts or psychologists. They respond from Monday to Saturday between 9 AM and 6 PM, and in case of emergency, until 9 PM (including Sunday).

The Follow-Up Officer

  • Once assigned a case, they call back the child or family and conduct a detailed assessment of the situation and the actions taken. They guide the caller on a case-by-case basis regarding the necessary steps to take.
  • The follow-up officer works closely with local victim support representatives (police/gendarmerie), the Ministry of Justice (Central Authority for Parental Abduction), and child protection organizations.
  • The follow-up officer also collaborates with the associations responsible for 116000 across Europe.

Know more

Know more

Our actions

The 116 000 is committed to supporting families whose children have disappeared through numerous mechanisms.

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Partners

Each year, the 116,000 can count on the support of its partners to support its action.

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