Page 14 - MidWeek - July 28, 2021

14 MIDWEEK JULY 28, 2021
Amanda Leonard and Kaleilani Grant, who make up the entire state Department of the Attorney General’s Missing Child Center-Hawai‘i, are doing amazing things to keep the islands’ keiki safe.
When a child goes missing, parents and guardians should report it to the police as soon as possible — there is no waiting period. It’s also important to call Missing Child Center-Hawai‘i at 808- 586-1449, as well as National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 800-843-5678.
T here’s a small but mighty entity within the state’s Crime Prevention and Jus- tice Assistance Division dedicated to
which resulted in the recovery of five en- dangered runaway teens from the foster care system. So effective was the multiagency operation that it garnered national attention — and an accolade to boot.
it’s the MAILE AMBER Alert) — among countless others.
the plight of Hawai‘i’s keiki. Its mission: to locate the thousands of children reported miss- ing in Hawai‘i each year and recover them before something tragic happens.
“We couldn’t have done it without our part- ners,” says Grant. “Seeing the community (and) different agencies coming together to keep our community safe and keep keiki of Hawai‘i safe is just so amazing.”
“Like Kalei said, we don’t do this alone,” Leonard adds. “This is a collective effort of local, state and federal law enforcement part- ners.”
Leading the valiant effort are Amanda Leonard, coordinator for the state Depart- ment of the Attorney General’s Missing Child Center-Hawai‘i, and assistant coordinator Kaleilani Grant — whose exemplary work in the islands is getting noticed across the country.
The specialized criminal justice program works closely with the four county police de- partments, Hawai‘i Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, FBI, Homeland Securi- ty, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the Department of Justice and its national AMBER alert program (locally,
While the work most definitely is a team effort, a lot falls on the shoulders of Missing Children Hawai‘i’s dynamic duo, who are the only two in their department. With so much ground to cover and so many moving parts, being able to work together is paramount.
Both were honored with the U.S. Depart- ment of Justice Child Protection Award for their efforts with Operation Shine the Light,
“Our individual strengths contribute to this team, and we are able to have this consistent rhythm in our work to be able to balance it all,” says Grant.
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