Created in 2004 as a petition to stop parental child abduction, the leading cause of missing children world-wide, Helpspan.org is world renowned for bringing awareness and creating legislation protecting children from this form of child abuse. Parental child abduction is the act by either parent of concealing a child and denying access to the child from family members, without just cause, or notic
e. This is a malicious attempt to destroy the character of other family members and to control the psychological being of the child. The laws we propose work with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) and existing federal law, Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA), creating new laws that protect children when a court order is not enacted. in 2005, awareness of parental child abduction was fairly new and the producers of the Dr. Phil Show contacted Michael Castillo to air this story. With the use of grass roots marketing methods hundreds of emails and letters came in from many who wrote about their experiences with parental child abduction and expressed their support. Public awareness exploded when national radio host and friend, Jimmy Jay, graciously donated the Helpspan.org radio ad. This drew international attention. The very first Helpspan law was created in 2007 in Missouri. The Helpspan petition was requested to be used as a working model for future legislation. The Missouri legislation gained notoriety and national media coverage propelled Helpspan.org into a social movement. Soon people from Europe, Middel East, and Canada began calling for assistance using this petition as a model for legal proposals. Helspan.org was 3th top search for parental child abduction and ranked #10 in most searched websites by LinkedIn. In January 2011, Harris County Chair and friend, Rhonda Omberg initiated the first meeting between Michael and Representative Scott Hochberg. This was the start of this historic legislation and child advocacy. Working closely with Legislative Aide Rahul Sreenivasan and gathering support through Congress. The petition was supported by Representatives Scott Hochberg, Tan Parker, Pete Gallegos, and Senator Juan Hinojosa. Speaking before House and Seante committes, gathering 100% Yah (82)HB 2662, (82)HB 3439, and (82) HB 2367 were created and signed into law on September 1, 2011. HB2662 is the nation's first law that recognizes parentally kidnapped children and runaways, who are in danger, as missing and therefore, listed in the National Missing Person's Clearinghouse in which an Amber Alert can be issued. There are now 8 states with parental child abduction legislation. With a rise of parental child abduction each year, it is discerning to realize that these states rely maily on existing criminal code or the Parental Child Abduction Act which protetcs a child from being removed from the United States but not the state. These laws also do not protect a child at the time of birth until a court order is signed. This is why Helpspan was created and it is our goal to create parental child abduction laws in each state with our final goal to create this type of legislation as a national law.
