(FinalCall.com) - While the country�s attention is focused on the threat of future acts of terrorism, a real tragedy continues: Children of this country are coming up missing every day.

The recent cases of Rilya Wilson, Precious Doe and Diamond and Tionda Bradley are a few of the names that have gained national attention. But rest assured, the number of missing and exploited children reaches into the thousands.

Five-year-old Rilya Wilson was given up by her caretaker early last spring to a person who claimed to represent the state�s Department of Children & Families (DCF). The thing that makes this case even more tragic is that the real DCF workers reportedly were lax on their jobs. When the Rilya case came to light, they had already resigned from the agency due to discrepancies on another case.

Precious Doe�s case hit the media last year when Kansas City officials were trying to identify the decapitated body of one of our babies. It was thought that the body might be Rilya�s, but DNA tests eliminated that possibility. So Rilya goes missing, and Precious remains unidentified.

Diamond and Tionda Bradley caught the nation�s attention when the FBI was called into the case and a massive search ensued in Chicago�a search that has even taken investigators overseas. Yet, they remain missing as the year anniversary of their disappearance approaches.

We salute all those concerned citizens that have joined in searching for our missing babies as news of their disappearances come to light. But we must stop them from coming up missing in the first place. That means parents and caregivers must take preventive measures.

How many of us follow the simple guidelines given by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: 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. And by all means, know for sure the name and character of anyone you release a child to.

On the other hand, state agencies like Florida�s DCF must constantly examine their policies to make sure they are accomplishing their goal of protecting children, and they must vigilantly monitor their workforce.

Florida�s agency recently came under scrutiny after the Rilya fiasco was exposed. A panel formed to review the agency offered common sense recommendations that monitoring would already have accomplished. Such recommendations include enforcing the requirement that caseworkers personally visit each child under the agency�s supervision once a month, updating information in a web-based system that would make tracking children easier and requiring that each child�s file contains fingerprints, a birth certificate and a current photograph. It should not take a panel to tell a state agency that it needs to do these things. All other child welfare agencies should immediately make sure these simple measures are being taken.

In this day and time when we�re all busy and working�or at least trying to�our children can become a second thought. We take them for granted � until they become a statistic with NCMEC.

Childcare starts with the parent and expands from there. That�s why that old African proverb rings true in this day of unsafe communities: It takes a village to raise a child.

... And we might add, protect a child.

Report missing children to NCMEC at 1-800-843-LOST and your local police department.