A Child Is Missing
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1997 operating a high-speed telephone alert notification system that assists law enforcement agencies nationwide in locating missing children, elderly, disabled, and vulnerable persons, supplemented by a Child Safety Education Program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersFort Lauderdale, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What A Child Is Missing does
A Child Is Missing, Inc. (ACIM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by Sherry Friedlander-Olsen and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The organization operates a high-speed telephone alert notification system that assists law enforcement agencies in the early search and recovery of missing children, elderly individuals (often with Alzheimer's or dementia), disabled persons, on-campus college students, and other vulnerable populations in the first hours of their disappearance. Specially trained technicians activate alert calls and texts to homes and businesses within a defined radius, using digital mapping and satellite imagery to target the area where the missing person was last seen; the system is capable of placing 1,000 alert calls in 60 seconds. ACIM also runs the Child Safety Education Program (CSEP), a modular curriculum spanning ages 5-17 that is delivered through schools and summer camps, covering topics such as anti-bullying, internet safety, effective communication, and sexual predator awareness.
The organization's service is provided at no mandatory cost to law enforcement agencies, and ACIM has no jurisdictional restraints, enabling alerts to cross city, county, and state lines nationwide. The technology backbone is a proprietary alert call/text system with digital mapping, satellite imagery integration, and a sexual predator notification subsystem. A secondary product line is the sexual predator notification service, available to law enforcement agencies that require or permit community notification when a convicted predator moves into an area, and which runs at 7pm EST based on forms received by 3pm that day.
ACIM's revenue model is multi-stream and nonprofit in structure, relying on private donations, government and private foundation grants, proceeds from fundraising events (galas, jazz brunches, community fairs), and optional financial contributions from law enforcement agency budgets. Historical funding from the Florida Legislature and federal earmarks (secured via Congressman E. Clay Shaw) supported the 1997 launch and nationwide expansion, but the State of Florida has discontinued its appropriation, leaving ACIM dependent on a diversified but discretionary donor and grant base. The organization has assisted in over 70,000 missing person cases and sent over 80 million alert calls across 27 years of service, and serves law enforcement agencies on a 24/7/365 basis.
A Child Is Missing firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- A Child Is Missing
- Legal name
- A Child Is Missing, Inc.
- Website
- https://achildismissing.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- A 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1997 operating a high-speed telephone alert notification system that assists law enforcement agencies nationwide in locating missing children, elderly, disabled, and vulnerable persons, supplemented by a Child Safety Education Program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
A Child Is Missing industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Public Safety Alert Services
- NAICS
- Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120), Child and Youth Services (62411), Investigation and Security Services (5616)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Emergency Dispatch, Call Center Monitoring & Response Services (HSAHAHAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Wandering Prevention & Safety Monitoring (HSABAEAF), Caregiver Monitoring, Check-In & Family Notification Platforms (HSAHAHAE)
Keywords
Where A Child Is Missing is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Fort Lauderdale
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
A Child Is Missing business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Donations: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization relying on private funding and donations from individuals and organizations to support operations.
- Law Enforcement Contributions: Law enforcement agencies provide financial contributions from their budgets to support the Alert Program, though many agencies have limited funding.
- Grants: Funding received from government grants and private foundations to support the organization's mission.
- Fundraisers and Events: Revenue generated from fundraising events including gala dinners, community events, and silent auctions.
- State Funding (formerly): Previously received funding from the State of Florida Legislature. This funding has been discontinued.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
A Child Is Missing product offering
Product offeringCore offering
A Child Is Missing operates a high-speed telephone alert notification system that assists law enforcement agencies nationwide with the early search and recovery of missing children, elderly persons with Alzheimer's or dementia, disabled individuals, and on-campus college students. The organization places 1,000+ individually recorded alert calls to homes and businesses within a targeted radius in under 60 seconds, complementing Amber and Silver Alerts where standard alert criteria are not met. The organization also delivers a Child Safety Education Program through summer camps and schools.
Product overview
A Child Is Missing operates as a nonprofit offering a suite of public safety and education services, centered on its Alert Program and Recovery Center. The core offering is the Missing Person Alert System—a high-speed telephone notification platform for law enforcement—that complements Amber Alerts by covering cases where standard alerts cannot be issued. This is paired with Sexual Predator Notifications for community safety. The second major pillar is the Child Safety Education Program (CSEP), a modular curriculum spanning six named programs: 'Let's Be Safe Together!' for ages 5-7, 'Positive Attitude Wins I' anti-bullying (ages 8-10), 'Positive Attitude Wins II' internet safety (ages 11-14), 'The Anatomy of a Murder of a Bully' (ages 11-17), 'Express Yourself!' communication skills, and 'It Can't Happen to Me!' sexual predator awareness (ages 14-17). All services are delivered to law enforcement agencies and communities across Florida and nationwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- A Child Is Missing Alert Program High-speed telephone alert notification system assisting law enforcement agencies with missing children, elderly persons with dementia/Alzheimer's, disabled individuals, and on-campus college students. Uses digital mapping and satellite imagery to target a radius of homes and businesses.
- Missing Person Alerts Telephone alert notifications activated by law enforcement for missing individuals; system can place 1,000 alert calls in 60 seconds with individually recorded messages containing the description and law enforcement contact information.
- Sexual Predator Notifications Automated calling system that notifies communities when a convicted sexual predator moves into their neighborhood; runs at 7pm EST local time for all forms received by 3pm that day and requires a Letter of Participation from the requesting law enforcement agency.
- Child Safety Education Programs (CSEP) Age-appropriate child safety education programs covering personal safety rules, anti-bullying, internet safety, and sexual predator awareness, delivered through parks and recreation summer camps and schools.
- Let's Be Safe Together! (Ages 5-7) Age-appropriate child safety program teaching six basic rules to help young children keep themselves safe from others in potentially dangerous situations.
- Positive Attitude Wins I - Anti-Bullying Program (Ages 8-10) Anti-bullying program addressing physical, emotional, mental, and cyberbullying, teaching children to recognize and respond to bullying behaviors.
- Positive Attitude Wins II - Internet Safety Program (Ages 11-14) Educational program focused on keeping youth safer on the internet through educating, engaging, and empowering youth about online risks.
- Express Yourself! - A Course in Effective Communication Ten-hour course helping youth understand communication risks and developing effective communication skills to prevent misunderstanding, exploitation, and abuse.
- It Can't Happen to Me! - Sexual Predator Educational Awareness Program (Ages 14-17) Two-part educational docudrama series helping youth and adults recognize child sexual abuse and understand sexual predator behavior patterns.
- The Anatomy of a Murder of a Bully (Ages 11-17) Program designed to dispel myths surrounding bullies and bullying behavior targeting vulnerable, high-risk youth.
Quantifiable outcome
- Assisted in over 70,000 missing person cases
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use A Child Is Missing
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
A Child Is Missing technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
A Child Is Missing partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Guardian Ad LitemminorPartner organization in presenting 'Broward Matters' community events for volunteer recruitment and community involvement.
- Law Enforcement Agencies NationwidecoreMunicipal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies across the USA partner with ACIM to activate missing person alerts. Agencies may contribute financially from their budgets, though funding is not required.
- AmazonminorAmazon Smile program allows donors to support ACIM through Amazon purchases.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
A Child Is Missing competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- CodeRED (Public Safety Network): CodeRED provides community-level emergency mass notification via phone, text, and email for law enforcement and municipalities — ACIM already links to CodeRED for public sign-ups, indicating overlap in target buyers (sheriffs' offices, police departments) and use cases.
- Rave Mobile Safety (Motorola Solutions): Rave provides emergency mass notification, 911-integrated communications, and panic-button solutions sold to law enforcement, universities, and municipalities — directly comparable to ACIM's alert-and-dispatch service for police and on-campus college students.
- Everbridge: Everbridge is a leading mass-notification and critical-event-management platform used by governments, law enforcement, and enterprises to rapidly notify populations during emergencies — directly comparable to ACIM's high-volume telephone/text alert delivery model for missing persons.
- OnSolve: OnSolve delivers mass notification, critical communications, and risk intelligence to government and enterprise clients using voice, SMS, and digital channels — overlapping with ACIM's high-throughput telephone alert capability for public safety agencies.
- Regroup Mass Notification: Regroup provides mass-notification software for higher education, healthcare, and government, including police and campus security alert workflows — comparable to ACIM's law enforcement and college-student missing-person alert use cases.
Broad incumbents
- Medical Guardian: Medical Guardian is a major PERS provider serving seniors aging in place with monitored emergency alert devices — overlaps with ACIM's elderly-with-Alzheimer's search and recovery use case as a commercial incumbent.
- Life Alert: Life Alert is the largest U.S. personal emergency response system (PERS) provider for seniors — a broader incumbent in the elderly-alert category that intersects with ACIM's missing-elderly-with-dementia alerting mission.
Others
- Project Lifesaver International: Project Lifesaver is a nonprofit that equips law enforcement with locating technology (RF wristbands) to find wandering individuals with Alzheimer's, autism, and dementia — directly adjacent to ACIM's wandering-elderly mission and law-enforcement customer base.
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC): NCMEC is the leading U.S. nonprofit supporting the search for missing and exploited children, operating hotlines and resources used by law enforcement — thematically aligned with ACIM's missing-children mission and shared stakeholder base.
Emerging players
- RapidSOS: RapidSOS links connected-device and sensor data directly into 911 and emergency response workflows, representing a modern, data-driven evolution of the same emergency-notification space ACIM serves for law enforcement.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
A Child Is Missing social profiles
Digital presenceA Child Is Missing financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
A Child Is Missing leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
A Child Is Missing funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
A Child Is Missing M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about A Child Is Missing
What does A Child Is Missing do?
A Child Is Missing operates a high-speed telephone alert notification system that assists law enforcement agencies nationwide with the early search and recovery of missing children, elderly persons with Alzheimer's or dementia, disabled individuals, and on-campus college students. The organization places 1,000+ individually recorded alert calls to homes and businesses within a targeted radius in under 60 seconds, complementing Amber and Silver Alerts where standard alert criteria are not met. The organization also delivers a Child Safety Education Program through summer camps and schools.
Is A Child Is Missing a public or private company?
A Child Is Missing is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was A Child Is Missing founded?
A Child Is Missing was founded in 1997. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is A Child Is Missing based?
A Child Is Missing is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, United States, in the North America region.
How does A Child Is Missing make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Donations are the primary driver. The others are law Enforcement Contributions, grants, fundraisers and Events and state Funding (formerly).
Who are A Child Is Missing's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are CodeRED (Public Safety Network), Rave Mobile Safety (Motorola Solutions), Everbridge, OnSolve and Regroup Mass Notification. Broad incumbents are Medical Guardian and Life Alert. Others are Project Lifesaver International and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). RapidSOS is listed as an emerging player.
Does A Child Is Missing have an API?
No public API is recorded for A Child Is Missing.
What industry is A Child Is Missing in?
A Child Is Missing's product category is Public Safety Alert Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSAHAHAG, Emergency Dispatch, Call Center Monitoring & Response Services, with a secondary code of HSABAEAF, Wandering Prevention & Safety Monitoring. Its NAICS code is 624120.