LITTLE ROCK — A coordinated effort involving state, federal, and local agencies successfully recovered or located eight missing and endangered children in Arkansas during Operation HOPE, officials confirmed. The four-day operation, which began on Tuesday, August 18, focused on cases involving children reported missing from foster care and other high-risk circumstances.
The Arkansas State Police (ASP) led the operation in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families, the HHS Office of Inspector General, and other law enforcement and child welfare partners.
At the outset of the initiative, authorities identified four children in Arkansas foster care who were reported missing. Three were safely recovered on the operation’s first day. Over the four days, investigators also handled six additional cases involving missing or endangered children across the state. In total, Operation HOPE addressed 10 cases, with eight children safely recovered or located.
Of those eight, seven were in the care of Arkansas DCFS, while two children reported missing from Colorado foster care were found in the state. The cases included children missing from foster and residential placements, as well as scenarios involving allegations of child abduction and indicators of potential human trafficking.
Despite these efforts, two children in Arkansas foster care remain missing. Special agents and partner agencies continue to investigate to ensure their safe return.
“Every missing child case demands an immediate, coordinated response,” said Sgt. Matt Foster, Arkansas’s Human Trafficking Coordinator. “Operation HOPE brought together the expertise and resources of law enforcement, child welfare professionals, and federal partners to locate vulnerable children, investigate the circumstances surrounding their disappearance, and ensure they receive the support they need once they are found.”
Operation HOPE builds on Arkansas’s ongoing efforts through the VALOR initiative, a statewide program launched in January 2024 to improve the response to missing and endangered children. At its inception, Arkansas had 184 active cases involving children reported missing before age 18, including 40 to 50 cases of children missing from foster care. As of August 21, 2026, the state’s number of active missing-person cases involving minors has dropped to 80, with only 30 of those individuals currently under the age of 18. Among that group, just two children in foster care remain unaccounted for.
“Every child in foster care deserves protection, so when they go missing, it is our utmost responsibility to bring them home,” said Alex J. Adams, Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families. “When Operation HOPE launched in May, we promised to replicate it across the nation. We are proud to have partnered with Arkansas to achieve this progress and will continue working until every child in the nation is accounted for and safe.”