(FinalCall.com)�Diamond and Tionda Bradley simply disappeared a year ago in Chicago after their mother left home in the early morning for work�a job the single mother dearly needed to keep the family together.

Rilya Wilson was handed over by her caretaker to a woman who said she was a worker for the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Miami-Dade, Fla., more than a year-and-a-half ago. The fact that the girl was not in her home only came to light this spring when caseworkers visited the caregiver�s home and were told of the situation for the first time. Rilya has not been seen since.

The decapitated body of a young Black girl was discovered in Kansas City, Mo., and still has not been identified. The community has dubbed the child "Precious Doe."

Each year thousands of children simply vanish, either because they run away from home, are abducted by a stranger, or taken by a parent. The problem is so great that since 1983, May 25 has been observed as National Missing Children�s Day to bring increased attention to disappearances and to promote a national policy to protect children.

In the Rilya Wilson case, a May 25 news report said child welfare caseworkers have told police that at least 21 other Miami-Dade children under state care have vanished. One girl has been missing for seven years. That same day, Gov. Jeb Bush said a review of cases handled by the Department of Children & Families found no other cases like Rilya�s.

While there�s no way to guarantee a child won�t disappear, experts say families and communities can do things to help keep children safe.

Child advocates urge common sense approaches, parental involvement and safety guidelines as methods for prevention. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) safety guidelines include having children check-in with parents or guardians before getting into cars or leaving with acquaintances; checking with parents or trusted adults before accepting anything from anyone; taking a friend when going places or playing outside; and knowing their name, address, telephone number and parents� names, among other measures. Attentive neighbors, technology, mass media campaigns, and getting photos of missing children into the public quickly helps resolve cases, they add.

The NCMEC, a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1984, provides assistance to parents, children, law enforcement, schools, and communities in finding missing children and raising public awareness about prevention of child abduction, molestation, and sexual exploitation. Its recovery rate is up from 60 percent in the 1980s to 91 percent today, the group said.

Lyle Hartog, public information officer for the New York State Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse, said the biggest challenge for parents is finding information about tools available to help search for children, such as local and national police agencies and missing children agencies.

"With the technology and advances that the [Division of Criminal Justice Services] has, and what the state is able to do with Internet links and the databases we have access to, it�s harder to abscond a child and get away with it," Mr. Hartog stated.

Nationwide, families and organizations have utilized these tools, along with the strength of politicians, to close the gap between missing children and their loved ones. Programs like the NCMEC and the Missing Children Investigation Center connect the public, private organizations and law enforcement.

In recognition of National Missing Children�s Day, New York Gov. George E. Pataki praised technological advancements that aid in safe recovery of missing children. Advances have led to at least three recent child recoveries, the governor said.

A NCMEC spokesperson said that as people become more aware of the center, missing children reports increase. Recoveries also increase because of electronic photos and imaging, the spokesperson said. NCMEC stresses that people need to be alert and actually stop and look at missing child photographs.

In San Diego, Calif., at the Friends of Jahi center, family members and volunteers are tirelessly searching for two-year-old Jahi Turner, last seen in April at a park playground with his stepfather. The center says community involvement is the important thing.

Sandra Dixon of the Friends of Jahi center points to the May 22 discovery of the body of missing Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy to stress the importance of searches. "They went through that park numerous times and never found her, but because they continued to search, they found her body," said Ms. Dixon.

The activist and child advocate warns against carefree attitudes about playtime and walks to the corner store. Even while pausing from a park search for Jahi Turner, she sadly witnessed parents taking their children to the playground, leaving them, and walking back to their cars as children played without supervision.

"Be there, care for them, and I don�t mean take them to the slide and turn away. I mean be at the bottom of the slide and wait for them to slide down. Go back to the old fashioned momma, grandmamma type of thing," she said.

"The parents should sense behavior problems with their children, and parents should know the friends of their children," said Bill Robinson, senior public information officer for the San Diego Police Department, regarding runaway children.

The San Diego Police Department devotes thousands of hours annually to help families search for loved ones, he said.

Fruit of Islam members from Milwaukee and Chicago May 18 joined in another day of searching for 7-year-old Alexis S. Patterson who has been missing since May 3. Alexis was last seen by her stepfather and brother, who had walked her to Hi-Mount Community School, located one-half block from their home. It was later discovered that Alexis never attended school that day, and was possibly seen in the company of an unknown female.

Alexis has a very small scar under her right eye. Her hair was in two braids pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing gold hoop earrings. Alexis was last seen wearing a light blue long sleeved shirt with small horizontal white stripes, light blue pants, white and blue Nike high top tennis shoes, and a red hooded pullover nylon jacket with a gray stripe on the sleeves. Alexis was also carrying a pink Barbie backpack.

Leads that have led divers to a nearby lagoon and several lakes on the city�s Northwest Side have come up empty. Recently, there was also a search in a Northside warehouse where police used canine units.

Social psychologist Dr. Julia Hare, of the Black Think Tank, told The Final Call that parents and guardians must reprioritize and spend time with children over dinner, doing homework and making sure an adult is always accessible.

"We have to reprioritize and spend time with our children. We don�t mind (having) neighborhood watch groups to watch our houses, but we don�t form these groups to watch our children," she observed.

The safety of any one child is everyone�s concern, Dr. Hare added. Just as people who shop do not have to live in neighborhoods where they spend their dollars, they do not have to live in neighborhoods where children are suffering to help, she said.

"Black people have reached the point where our communities are so fragmented, we�re going to have to form support groups to teach what to look out for, such as changes in habits, so we can form intervention programs," Dr. Hare added.

(Information on missing children can be relayed to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-LOST. Leads and tips concerning Alexis� whereabouts can also be reported to the Milwaukee Police Department at (414) 935-7401. Dwayne X Brown contributed to this report.)