Kym's Blog

2006-11-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING ADULTS RELOCATES IN PHOENIX

October 26, 2006 (Phoenix) – A local Phoenix business man has provided the Phoenix-based National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA) with new office space at a time when the agency was financially forced to vacate and close the doors of the facility they had operated from for nearly ten years. “This act of kindness will enable the agency to continue providing services,” says Kym Pasqualini, the agency’s founder.

“However, the agency still faces a funding crisis that affects the number of those we can assist and the quality of those services,” adds Pasqualini. “We continue to plead with the public and national business community to help with contributions in order for this nationally-respected agency to continue providing the same level of service to law enforcement and families of missing adults throughout the country.”

Kristen’s Law, signed by President Clinton, established the national clearinghouse for missing adults in 2002 with an appropriation of $1 million per year. In recent years federal budget cuts have severely depleted the resources to NCMA receiving only $148,000 of federal funding for 2006.

During 2005, approximately 2000 law enforcement agencies requested the assistance of NCMA. The agency handled 23,421 missing person reports and provided assistance to over 24,741 family members of missing persons. In addition, over 300 law enforcement agencies received training provided by NCMA, in partnership with the Criminal Justice Center for Innovation at Fox Valley Technical College, the premier provider of training to criminal justice related agencies nationwide.

When the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance called on the NCMA to provide case management and support services to thousands of families of missing adults left in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, NCMA worked in partnership with governmental agencies and handled over 13,500 missing adult reports. They closed 99.9% of the cases in the months following the hurricane. The Hurricane Katrina effort cost the agency over $200,000 of their own non-federal funding and has depleted the agency’s reserves.

“Currently Kristen’s Act Reauthorization of 2005, H.R. 2103, which is pending in the House of Representatives, would appropriate up to $4 million per year to the agency, but with continued delays in Congress, the number of families needing services and the quality of those services are severely impacted,” said Erin Bruno, Director of Case Management.
The public may contact the agency by calling (800) 690-3463. For more information and to write representatives in Congress visit the agency website www.missingadults.org.

Missing Americans

2006-09-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

It’s been busy here!

In June we went from thirteen employees to only five of us. It becomes incredibly difficult to provide the quality services we have dedicated ourselves to provide to missing persons, their families and the law enforcement community.

Many families, friends and law enforcement agencies have written their local representatives in support of H.R. 2103, Kristen’s Law. Special thanks to Kelly Jolkowski for being our biggest advocate. At this critical time this agency is not just advocating for missing persons, their families and the law enforcement community . . . you are all now advocating for us. This is the epitome of unification! H.R. 2103 continues to sit idle and sadly, that tells me we are all still being ignored by our national representatives.

Hotline calls and reports of missing adults have increased due to increased awareness provided by the Montel Show and Lifetime Television for Women who have proven their concern for missing persons, families of missing persons and the continued operation of the National Center for Missing Adults. I know I speak for everyone this agency represents to say we owe a great debt of thanks to them for showing compassion and setting an example to other media networks, corporations, and our federal government.

It’s time to for us to collectively make change. We will be posting a new “Call to Action” on our website this week at www.missingadults.org. I hope the information we provide will motivate you to join our effort! I firmly believe we can make a difference together.

Think of our wonderful service men and women fighting for the freedom of all of us here in the United States. It is an unspoken rule that NO MAN IS LEFT BEHIND. When a member of their family (organization) is injured or missing our brave men and women make every effort and spare no expense to recover the individual. Our men and women of the military represent unification. Those that go missing here on United States soil, those who have literally vanished, victims of Hurricane Katrina and those lost in 9/11 deserve no less. Together we can ensure this happens!

Kym L. Pasqualini
Advocate
National Center for Missing Adults

The Invisible Population Part 2

2006-08-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Human lives are not numbers. Missing persons are not just statistics. But, if we must make a case that justifies that our nation's leaders take action on behalf of this underserved population, then let's also think of all the people whose lives are forever impacted by the disappearance of a loved one.

Let's think of the parents of a young college student who vanished or the missing person's siblings. How about the wife of an Alzheimer's patient or the husband of a woman with mental illness? What about the young children of a mother who never came home after work. Let's not ignore the extended family and close friends of missing persons. Entire families are affected when someone we love mysteriously vanishes.

Let's just say, on average, at least three other lives would be affected by the disappearance of a family member. As of July 1, 2006 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Crime Information Center (NCIC) reports 50,523 active missing adult cases in the United States. That is 151,569 family members whose lives will be forever impacted, and most of us have more than three family members who would suffer not knowing if we were alive or deceased. Now factor in that law enforcement agencies are not required to take a missing person report. These numbers would increase dramatically if we had an accurate representation of missing persons in America!

When we think of a missing person as the primary victim we need to also acknowledge family members who become the secondary victims. Family members of missing persons suffer from ambiguous loss, according to Pauline Boss, Professor of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Boss describes ambiguous loss as a fluctuation between hope and hopelessness and the most serious loss people can face. This purgatory causes severe stress and commonly causes the deterioration of the family structure, divorce, severe depression, the decline in mental and physical wellness, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), are just a few of the effects of the inability to grieve the loss of someone you love.

This is not an invisible population when we recognize all the lives affected. It could be any of us at any time and we deserve to know that our nation's leaders represent all of us . . . even those who have no voice.

The Invisible Population Part 1

2006-08-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here thinking about the many families of missing persons I've come to know over the last decade and wish others could see what I see. The other night I sat and read Kelly Jolkowski's blog and could barely hold back the tears as she described her family's life without her son, Jason. Nineteen year old, Jason Jolkowski, vanished June 13, 1993 from Omaha, NE.

Kelly has a profound way of exposing the reality of living in a perpetual limbo of "not knowing" the fate of someone you love. In her blog she writes:

We can have hope. It is our right. It is right. Until we know the truth, we have no right to declare him either alive or dead with any certainty. We must live in the “not knowing”, unable to move forward or backward in the grieving process. We know not for what we grieve. It is a limbo of extreme proportions, as it involves a life; our loved one.

Could we honestly imagine what it would be like to wake one day and never see someone we love again? Could we imagine the thoughts that would infiltrate our minds, imagining what could have happened? The potential horror and pain our loved one may have gone through? When we think of a missing adult does it pull at our heart strings like the story of a missing child? When do people stop being someone else's child? The answers to all of the questions is NEVER!

Missing adults, regardless of age are someone's family member. Someone is missing them everyday, every hour . . . every minute.

Currently, there are over 50,000 active missing adult cases in this country, yet somehow this number does not seem significant enough to warrant the appropriate level of support from those in our Nation's Capitol. Missing adults are without their voices and therefore remain an invisible population.

A Little Good News

2006-07-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

I have some good news to share.The Bureau of Justice Assistance, United States Department of Justice released $50,000 to NCMA today. There is still much work to be done but I know receiving this award was incredibly uplifting to everyone at the Center because it gave us Hope. Hope is something the families of missing persons know all too well. For me the thought of this agency closing is not an option . . . there are far too families we must serve. Far too many families are relying only on Hope.

You know three years ago the US Department of Justice and US Attorney General’s office were actively supporting families of missing adults and those agencies advocating for missing adults and their families. We participated in many meetings and conferences, a National Missing Person Task Force was developed, and law enforcement officers throughout the country were receiving training through our partnership with Fox Valley Technical College. It seemed there was progress. NCMA represents the numerous agencies that struggle to provide service to a segment of the victim population that continues to be ignored and remain underserved.

I would like to thank all of you for your encouragement and support. It is incredibly uplifting to know that so many of you are out there calling and writing your representatives to include contacting the media. This is the time to unite our voices. We represent those whose voices can not be heard . . . you the families represent your loved ones and, each other.

I must thank Kelly Jolkowski. I am in awe of the strength and courage of Kelly and so many families of missing persons we have come to know. Though I have worked in this field for nearly thirteen years I know I could never understand what it is like to live with the unimaginable. Only those walking in the same shoes could truly understand. Despite this trauma I watch as the most incredible human beings somehow evolve out of so many of these tragedies. I see Heroes. I continue to be inspired by all of you.

Respectfully,
Kym

Valuing Ourselves

2006-07-07T03:09:00.000-07:00

Good evening. I just started blogging and you may have to give me time to get the hang of this! Here goes!

Often our lives are spent only focusing on what we need to do next that we overlook important aspects of our lives. We work too much while trying to beat everyone to the finish line, neglect those who are most precious in our lives, carefully build impenetrable walls to keep others out or ignore those valuable life lessons that could enrich our daily life. We sometimes don’t pay attention to our own lives. We become so absorbed we no longer have the capacity to share our lives with others. I admit I am guilty of this at times.

The letter below was written by a very good friend who felt compelled to write to Oprah about me. I am truly humbled and feel honored to be looked upon as courageous and good-hearted. This letter gives quite a bit of insight into my life so I thought I would share this aspect of my life and thank Mark for writing such a touching letter. This reminds me to continue to forge ahead, value myslef and those around me and acknowledge I am not alone in this mission.

Dear Oprah,

I am hoping you will read this letter with heartfelt concern and urgency. I am also hoping that you may be able to make a difference in the life of an individual in our national community who has dedicated her life to assisting others.

I am writing to you about a woman who has spent her life helping people and thinking little about herself. Kym L. Pasqualini is a forty-one year old mother of four children and two step children, ages 10-22; a grandmother of three grandchildren, ages 4 months to two years; and the unofficial foster mother of many of their friends.

Kym is also the founder of the Nation’s Missing Children Organization, Inc. (NMCO). Founded in 1994, NMCO assists families and law enforcement throughout the country. In 1995 Kym expanded the charter of the agency to accept cases of missing adults. She had identified that missing adults and their families were a segment of the victim population that were clearly underserved and began providing assistance to anyone over the age of eighteen who have been determined by law enforcement to be at risk due to diminished mental capacity, physical disability, victims of foul play or those who have disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

Kym began to lobby the United States Congress in 1996 to create the first national clearinghouse in the country for missing adults to be modeled after the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the national clearinghouse for children. Kristen’s Law was signed in 2000 by President Bill Clinton and with a $1,000,000 appropriation Kym was finally able to create the National Center for Missing Adults.

She is an outspoken advocate who works with various branches of the government and has served on the Attorney General’s DNA Advisory Group and National Missing Person Task Force, the International Homicide Investigator’s Association’s Unidentified Registry and various other boards to ensure missing persons and their families receive the assistance they deserve.

Her accomplishments may not be so impressive for most individuals but knowing what Kym herself has overcome makes her achievements extraordinary. Kym has survived an incredibly challenging life. Kym and her younger brother (also very motivated) survived a childhood of sexual abuse at the hands of her step-father who purported himself to be God and also introduced LSD, marijuana and other drugs to Kym and her younger brother at ages ten and eight years old. After reporting the abuse to officials at age fourteen and being returned to the home, Kym resorted to living on the streets which led to a life of substance and alcohol abuse. She finally turned her life around as a young adult after an Arizona Supreme Court judge challenged her to become a success.

Most of us could only try to imagine the life Kym has lived and since has used those life experiences to help others. I had never realized how truly horrifying her experiences had been until recently when I was invited to watch her volunteer her time at the Perryville State Prison speaking to women inmates. She shared graphic details of the frequent sexual assaults and the physical, mental and spiritual control she had suffered that truly made me realize how remarkable an individual I know. Never even graduating middle school this young woman with barely an eighth grade education is far wiser than most.

After everything she has worked for Kym received a call from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, United States Department of Justice only days following Hurricane Katrina. She was asked if her agency could provide assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Without hesitation and without knowing the magnitude of the catastrophe the agency immediately moved into action working months to help reunite families separated in the aftermath of the hurricane. On a verbal agreement from the officials at the Department of Justice to be reimbursed, Kym’s agency expended every penny of their unrestricted funds to help. With over 13,500 reports processed, 99.8% of those cases are resolved! Almost a year later her agency has never received reimbursement from the government. Knowing she may have to face closing the doors and just this week having to let go 60% of her staff she still faces each day with courage and optimism, a trait that inspires others to live equally.

It is my hope that you are equally inspired by the courage of this young woman. This letter took me days to write because just the thought of her losing this agency and not being able to be there for the thousands of people would be a tragedy to them, myself and anybody that has ever met her. She lives to help others and right now . . . she needs our help!

Sincerely,

Mark L. O’Cheltree
m.ocheltree@missingadults.org

Katrina's Continuing Catastrophe

2006-06-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

The National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA) located in Phoenix, Arizona responded to Hurricane Katrina and assisted adult missing persons at the request of the US Department of Justice. We managed over 13,502 cases and worked alongside the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) who handled all missing children cases.

NCMEC reports all of their cases resolved. This agency has resolved 99.8% of our cases. Teamwork has produced so many success stories!

Yet, this agency expended and depleted its own funds assisting Hurricane Katrina Victims and is due to close within only weeks. As the only national clearinghouse in the nation we have begged and pleaded for increased funding and reimbursement from the federal government. What happens to families during the next catastrophe? What happens to the thousands of Alzheimer's patients or the victims of foul play we have registered here?

What injustice will victims suffer next?

Kym L. Pasqualini
Chief Executive Officer
National Center for Missing Adultswww.missingadults.org