EDMONTON – After 31 years of providing services, Child Find Alberta has made the decision to permanently close its offices.
In a letter posted to the organization’s website, Jeff Rutledge, chair of the Child Find Alberta Society’s board of directors, says the organization will begin winding down its operations and stop providing services to Albertans this Friday.
Child Find Alberta opened its doors in 1983. The charity provides support services to missing children and their families.
Rutledge says the decision to close is “not a negative one,” but a thoughtful one that comes after several months of valuable discussion. He says the decision to close stems from the fact the organization’s services are no longer needed.
“Child Find Alberta was Canada’s first child search agency – when we first began, there was little alternative for families and citizens seeking resources and support,” the letter reads.
“Today, we are proud that many others have now taken up the work that we started in 1983. Indeed, as the Internet and social media have shrunk our global community, the incidence of missing and abducted children has drastically decreased and high quality educational resources and tools for parents and families have become available widely online.”
In his letter, Rutledge said the online world has created a new problem, though, by increasing the number of children being exploited electronically. Rutledge went on to say that a 2010 partnership with the Missing Children Society of Canada to meet the demands of the online world.
“We are proud of the strong working relationship that we have developed with MCSC, and are pleased that the mission of Child Find Alberta will live on through MCSC’s innovative services and continued support for families throughout Alberta,” reads the letter.