The I CARE Foundation: For divorced, separated, or parents in a volatile situation, using the right international travel child consent form is by far one of the most important choices a parent can make when a child is either court-ordered to travel abroad or by mutual consent. The reality is that the majority of international child abduction cases occur when one parent wrongfully detains a child in a foreign country outside of a court order or consent of the other parent. Tragically, only a small minority of children abducted abroad are returned to their country of habitual residency by court-order. The vast majority of children do not come home.
The I CARE Foundation's international travel child consent form is the only global travel child consent form that was created in order to protect against international child abduction. The document has been called an exceptional child abduction prevention tool by the Secretary General of the Hague Conference, as well as a wide global range of leaders around the world familiar with child abduction.
Here is the truth of what you need to know in order to protect your child from abduction related to the child not being returned to their home when they travel abroad.
- All parents, regardless of where you and your child live, should ONLY use the I CARE Foundation's model, Hague-centric international travel child consent form.
- Despite international child abduction being a serious crime, it is seldom prosecuted. In addition, the vast majority of countries that a child may be wrongfully detained in will not uphold an extradition request based upon parental child abduction. The point being that you should not expect the criminal prosecution threat or component to prevent abduction.
- The 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention was created to protect against abduction and in essence return children to their country of habitual residence. The problem is that there are sizable abduction defenses in the Hague Convention, making it extremely difficult for a child to be returned home. For example, less than 20% of American children abducted abroad to a country that is a member of the Hague Convention were court-ordered to be returned to their country of habitual residency. Additionally, only 11% of children abducted to non-Hague countries were court ordered returned. Making up for some of the returns are voluntary returns, but lets be very clear about this: at least 50% of children abducted abroad do not come home one way or another. In the meantime, if you are a parent that has a child abducted, you can expect to pay a fortune of money in order to bring your child home. And we're not talking about a few thousand dollars. Reality is that many parents experience costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and even then, there is no guarantee they will get their child home.
- The majority of targeted parents of abduction do not see the act of kidnapping coming. And why would they? After all, the number one priority of an abductor is to make sure that their intent to abduct is not revealed. It is critical to know the warning signs of child abduction.
- The I CARE Foundation's international travel child consent form is a Hague-centric form. This means it takes into consideration nearly every possibility that may occur when an abductor wrongfully detains a child abroad. Thus far, and to the best of our knowledge, every child using our form has in fact come home.
- Numerous law journals and law publications have published material on the I CARE Foundation's travel consent form. International child abduction is complex, as too are the defenses used by one parent against another when abduction occurs. When the I CARE Foundation created our travel consent form, we took into account the complexity of all these issues. Thus, our form is detailed and specific because we know the complexities of law surrounding abduction including the arguments an abducting parent may present in order to defend against their act. What we have done is essentially removed defenses often used in abduction cases by incorporating important language in our I CARE Foundation international travel child consent form. We invite you to review our legal analysis of the I CARE Foundation's travel consent form as published by the Colorado Bar Association to understand the complexity of abduction when a child is wrongfully detained abroad.
Here is the reality: the I CARE Foundation's International Travel Child Consent Form is the best and only global international child abduction prevention tool. No matter what - any parent, but especially those who have children from a multi-national marriage, and those who have or may be experiencing divorce or separation - must use the I CARE Foundation's travel form.
On behalf of the I CARE Foundation,
