The 1905 U.S. Congressional Charter obligates the American Red Cross to meet certain responsibilities as a Red Cross national society under the Geneva Conventions. One of these obligations is to provide international disaster relief. "Relief " means responding not only to the physical needs of the victims, but to their psychological needs as well. The International Social Services (ISS) division of the Office of International Services at American Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, DC., works to meet those needs.

ISS links chapters and other field units with the Central Tracing Agency (CTA) of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), other Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies, and the Magen David Adom in Israel, to provide tracing and location services to families separated by war civil disturbances, natural disasters and other calamities.

The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are the legal foundation for Red Cross tracing services for victims of armed conflict.

These services are provided by American Red Cross Chapters and other field units:

• Sending messages between separated family members- civilians, prisoners of war, and detainees - and obtaining information on health and welfare of close relatives when normal lines of communication are disrupted.
• Locating specialized resources in the United States for family members in other countries.
• Arranging, in some cases, for family reunions.

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How The American Red Cross ISS Works
Providing all these services involves every component of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement - local chapters and other field units , other national societies, and the ICRC work cooperatively. The following exemplifies the workings of the vast global Red Cross net work:

At community level, local units of American Red Cross Service to Military Families and Veterans (SMF&V) and Services to the Armed Forces (SAF) provide international social services to the community. SMF&V staff at Red Cross chapters or SAF staff on military installations are the contact points. They work directly with individuals who are making inquiries about relatives overseas, or who provide service on behalf of the ICRC or national society. Information received from individuals is sent by SMF&V or SAF to International Social Services at American Red Cross head quarters. ISS, in turn, contacts either the appropriate national society or the ICRC's Central Tracing Agency in Geneva, Switzerland.

The national Societies work directly with the American Red Cross as well as through the CTA to attempt to establish contact with the family member or members. A Society may report directly to the ISS or the CTA. If ISS is contacted, the local SMF&V or SAF staff, who then inform the individuals who made the original request about their loved ones.

The ICRC acts as a neutral intermediary in conflict situations and through the CTA maintains a file, which currently contains 46 million information cards representing soldiers or civilians who may be victims of armed conflict, prisoners of war, or civilian detainees taken prisoner, missing, or displaced during war or internal conflict. Some active files date as far back as World War II.

It should be noted, however that locating missing people can be a long and arduous task that may take several years.

Role of Each Component In Providing International Social Services

Agencies, Individuals, and Community Organizations
• Generate Tracings Services
• Receive tracing services

SMF&V/SAF
• Are contact points for Services to the community.
• Handles inquiries and work directly with family members, community, ad other agencies.

ISS
• Supports local SMF&V or SAF activities by providing guidance through direct contact and printed materials.
• Transmits requests from local units to the CTA or Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies.

ICRC/CTA
• Maintains a file of approximately 46 million names.
• Conducts the following activities: tracing, Red Cross Messages to POWs and certificates of captivity; family reunification's and repatriations; ICRC travel documents.
• Works in conjunction with other Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies and the Magen David Adom in Israel.

National Societies
• Cooperate with the CTA to locate and establish contact with people separated by conflict.

The American Red Cross Holocaust and War Victims Tracing and Information Center was created to expand services to the surviving civilian victims of Hitler's Third Reich. Half a century later, many still seek information about the fate of family members who disappeared into concentration or forced labor camps during World War II.

How The Tracing Process Works

• 1. An inquirer calls their local Red Cross chapter or station and speaks with a caseworker, who could be a volunteer or paid staff person.
• 2. The caseworker invites the inquirer to complete a Red Cross Tracing Inquiry (Form 1609) at the Red Cross office. Every effort is made to meet the inquirer in person.
• 3. When the Tracing Inquiry is complete, the caseworker will open a case file on the inquirer and forward the tracing forms to the Holocaust and War Victims tracing and Information Center in Baltimore.
• 4. Upon receipt of the form in Baltimore, the Center workers enter the case information into the computer database. Each case is assigned its own number.
• 5. Volunteer Translators translate the inquiries into German in order to facilitate the search at the International Tracing Service(ITS) on Germany, and the Translated document is then forwarded to ITS.
• 6. The Center's volunteer tracing specialists create a case file for each inquirer. They correspond with the Red Cross caseworkers in the field and with other organizations such as the Social Security Administration, US Immigration and Naturalization Service, and other foreign Red Cross societies, if , by virtue of geography, or history, a case may be better resolved through means other than ITS. Center volunteers and paid staff leave no stone unturned in their outreach to any possible source of information and view each new case as a fresh challenge.
• 7. The Center sends interim reports and follow-up correspondence to Red Cross workers in the field and they, in turn, communicate the information directly to the inquirer.
• 8. When a response is received from ITS or another society, a letter, which is to be delivered to the inquirer is mailed to the Red Cross Worker. With it is a copy of Guidelines for the Delivery of News. This specially created document gives detailed instructions on how best to relay the information to the inquirer, taking into consideration all the psychological trauma such serious news can evoke.
• 9. The Center also encloses a special form that the case worker fills out after the news is given, describing the reaction of the inquirer and the caseworker alike. This form enables the Center to continuously evaluate its delivery of service and is confirmation that the news has been delivered in accordance with the standards of Excellence established by International Social Services.
• 10. When a case is initiated through another Red Cross society, Center tracing specialists first attempt to pinpoint the location of the sought person in America, and contact the Red Cross in the community where that person is believed to have emigrated. At that point it will be up to the Red Cross workers to search in their communities for that person. Red Cross field workers and Center tracing specialists work together to solve these incredible puzzles. Reunions, though rare, are emotionally rewarding events for all those involved.