Peter Thomas Senese, Executive Director of the I CARE Foundation's Fall 2013 Update
The I CARE Foundation's
IS Quickly Becoming The Most Effective Global Tool Able To
Stop International Parental Child Abduction!
The I CARE Foundation Reports That
100% Of All Children Around The World Who Had Their Parents Reportt Utilizing The I CARE Foundation's International Travel Child Consent Form This Summer
Have All Returned Home!
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT BETWEEN 80% -90% OF ALL
INTERNATIONAL PARENTAL CHILD ABDUCTIONS OCCUR
WHEN A PARENT WRONGFULLY DETAINS A CHILD ABROAD.
Mr. Christophe Bernosconi, the Secretary General of the Hague Conference on International Private Law: the international tribunal governing international child abduction under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child said the following of the I CARE Foundation and our International Travel Child Consent Form:
"I have had the possibility to look at the travel form and must say that I am impressed: this is the most comprehensive document of its kind that I have seen so far and there is little doubt in my mind that this is a most valuable and important effort to prevent child abduction. I applaud your efforts and wish to congratulate you and your team . . . It is really impressive to see how quickly your international travel child consent form has started to yield practical results and how well you monitor its operation - this really is remarkable."
In my role as the Executive Director of the I CARE Foundation, I am pleased to share that 100% of all reported cases of children who traveled abroad this summer under the International Travel Child Consent Form have returned to their country of original jurisdiction. This is an increadible achievement since it is strongly estimated that between 80% and 90% of all international parental child abductions occur when a parent wrongfully detains a child abroad under the guise of a family vacation.
Recently the Colorado Bar Association published an extensive 30 page article championing the I CARE Foundation and our International Travel Consent Form. The in-depth analysis includes our extensive legal analysis on how abducting parents legally attempt to sanction cross-border kidnappings under an assortment of articles under the Hague Convention.
I invite you to read a piece that the Colorado Bar Association wrote about the I CARE Foundation and the International Travel Child Consent Form.
Generally speaking, international parental child abudciton occurs during 2 primary seasons: the summer vacation period and Christmas. Depending on what geographic area around the world you are located in, international child abduction is always in high-season.
Today, parents need to be aware that with the Christmas season months away, parents intending to abduct a child abroad will begin carrying-out their plans now. So please be careful (For a list of 'Warning Signs of International Parental Child Abduction' please visit the I CARE Foundation's website).
In the meantime, the I CARE Foundation and our remarkable colleagues around the world will continue our efforts associated with the Special Commission created to report to Secretary General Bernosconi on the utilization of the travel consent form in our effort to create such a form as a mechanical instruement for all children traveling abroad.
Finally, I would like to share that it is strongly expected that the number of reported cases U.S. international parental child abduction cases is expected to sharply fall, incredibly, for the 3rd year in a row after nearly 30 years of growth. To provide some insight, the past decase (excluding 2011 and 2012) had reported sustained outbound abduction growth of approximately 20% + per year. In 2011, the same year the I CARE Foundation commenced our extensive activity, reported cases of abduction declined by 15%. In 2012, there was an additional decline of 16%. We still have a long way to go before we close the books of 2013, especially since one of the 2 major abduction seasons is the Christmas Holiday; however, I am extremely optimistic - based upon the I CARE Foundation's own extensive abduction prevention case-load - that we will see another dramatic decline of abduction when the 2013 statistics are reported.
There is no question there is a lot ahead of us. In fact, just in the past 5 days, the I CARE Foundation stopped international abductions of American children to Russia, Japan, Phillipines, and India, while playing a key role in dozens of ongoing abduction prevention cases around the world.
To read more about the I CARE Foundation's International Travel Child Consent Form and to download a copy of the form, please visit The I CARE Foundation's website.
Kindest regards to all,
Executive Director
The I CARE Foundation