ON CHILD ABDUCTION PREVENTION

"Parents may enroll their U.S. citizen children under the age of 18 in the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program (CPIAP), one of the Department of State’s most important tools for preventing international parental child abduction.  If a passport application is submitted for a child who is enrolled in CPIAP, the Department attempts to alert the parent or parents to verify whether the parents approve passport issuance."

See http://travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/english/preventing/passport-issuance-alert-program.html