PRIMA Endorses 9-1-1 Call Center Best Practices

The Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA) announced a partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to endorse its 9-1-1 Call Center Partner Program.

The program recognizes agencies that adopt best practices for handling 9-1-1 calls involving missing and/or sexually exploited children, PRIMA said.

To promote the adoption of these best practices, PRIMA also has agreed to endorse the ANSI standard 1.101.2-2010 with the hope of increasing its adoption by public entities throughout the United States.

"By endorsing this program, PRIMA is recognizing the link between the success of a program to increase child safety and a reduction in risk to public entities that operate 9-1-1 centers," said Lisa Lopinsky, PRIMA executive director. "A partnership with NCMEC was an obvious choice because many of our members operate 9-1-1 centers."

She noted that the extensive work NCMEC has done to establish this standard will benefit those entities and increase the likelihood of a positive outcome when a child is in danger. "Our goal is to help NCMEC garner more participation in this important program," she said.

Every 9-1-1 call center must have in place policies and training to help ensure that every missing and sexually exploited child is given the best chance to be found alive and unharmed.

As part of this partnership, PRIMA said it will work to educate its members on becoming a NCMEC 9-1-1 Call Center Partner in order to obtain the skills and resources needed to respond to calls about missing and/or exploited children.

Representatives from NCMEC will participate in PRIMA's Annual Conference in Portland, Ore., in June 2011, as part of this initiative.

Interested entities may learn how to become a 9-1-1 Partner at www.missingkids.com/911.