The Lyon County Emergency Communications Center (LCECC) is now certified to handle cases involving missing children through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) Missing Kids Readiness Program. This certification emphasizes best practices for responding to cases of missing, abducted, and sexually exploited children.

LCECC is one of only three 911 centers in Kansas to earn this designation, joining Cowley County and Rice County Emergency Communications.

In 2023, NCMEC supported 28,886 missing child cases nationwide, with 22,442 involving children who ran away from social service facilities. Additionally, 19% of these children were believed to be victims of child sex trafficking. In Kansas alone, NCMEC handled 619 missing child cases last year. Of these, 584 were linked to social service facilities, 16 involved children reported missing by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and 19 fell under other “missing children” classifications.