Thanks to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD) and PROTECT members around the world, Congress has appropriated $50 million to state and local ICAC task forces.

 NEW: How the Stimulus Funds Were Distributed!

The money will go to task forces that "go back through the Internet" to track down child pornographers and rescue their victims.

The funding will also save or preserve law enforcement jobs and specialized anti-child exploitation task forces.

Another $4 billion in law enforcement grant funds for the COPS and Byrne grant programs will also be available as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, much of it available for child exploitation work.

The funding will lead to the arrest of thousands of criminals preying on children. With aggressive leadership from the Justice Department and enforcement of the 2008 PROTECT Our Children Act, it will also lead to the rescue and protection of thousands of child victims.

PROTECT requested Mikulski's help to include stimulus funds for the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces. The Maryland senator has been a stalwart supporter of pro-child, anti-crime efforts. The $50 million in funding was cut in half during Senate negotiations, but restored after PROTECT forces scrambled to save the funding.

In addition to the stimulus funding, PROTECT's efforts to increase anti-child exploitation resources in the regular budget are beginning to pay off too. PROTECT worked in 2008 with the Surviving Parents Coalition to increase spending on the state and local task forces. A Senate appropriations bill increases the ICAC budget from $15.9 million to $30 million. House appropriators are recommending $25 million.

Child Rescue Economic Stimulus Information Center
Quick Overview:
The heart of President Obama's Economic Recovery Plan is getting federal dollars to "shovel-ready" projects to generate jobs and economic activity. The President says these projects should be important for America and subject to full accountability. The single best way to do that, right now, is to gear up the national effort to combat child exploitation. This can be done by directing economic stimulus funds for the Justice Department (BJA, COPS and OJJDP) to state and local law enforcement for anti-child exploitation work.   

Background:
This activity will create and preserve jobs, stimulate the technology sector, rescue child sexual assault victims and interdict child pornography. (Read "Shovel-Ready" for detailed explanation) . Funding anti-child exploitation and child rescue efforts was the focus of Vice President Joe Biden's PROTECT Our Children Act , passed by the 110th Congress. Principal co-sponsors included Sen. Orrin Hatch , Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Rep. Joe Barton . The bill was championed by Oprah Winfrey and fought for by hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Highlights:

Here are the highlights:

1. These task forces and programs are already up and running 
   
2. Huge backlogs of leads are ready to be worked now
3. Spending will support highly-specialized investigators as well as general first responders
   
4. Tens of thousands of criminal suspects are already identified
   
5. Thousands of children could be located and protected within 18 months
6. Prevents law enforcement job losses
7. Provides millions in technology immediately
8. Performance outcomes include jobs created or saved, technology deployed, victims identified and protected and child pornography traffickers prosecuted... not subjective education or awareness campaigns

Check back here often for detailed information and updates.

MORE INFORMATION:
Making the Case: Child Rescue Really is Economic Stimulus
"Shovel-Ready":  How Much Work is There to be Done?
$4 billion Obama Stimulus Changes Strategic Landscape
Background Information (including PROTECT Our Children Act)
Rep. Wasserman Schultz Press Release on passage of the PROTECT Our Children Act