The AMBER alert system's informational website was temporarily offline due to the government shutdown entering day seven.
According to the Huffington Post, officials said the alert system was never deactivated, but to avoid the confusion the site was restored.
"The amber alert system was never interrupted, but to eliminate any confusion, the informational site maintained by the Justice Department has been restored," the spokesperson told the Huff Post.
What caused the confusion is the Department of Justice’s official website is currently offline because of the government shutdown. However, the purpose of the DOJ website is to direct people to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children site.
Law enforcement officials in the jurisdiction issue AMBER Alerts. Local authorities, media and government are responsible for releasing the alert via all forms of communication, including text messages, tweets and road signs.
The site was taken down as a precaution, as the site would be vulnerable to hackers since the IT department is currently furloughed due to the shutdown.
"All the sites that had to go offline were put behind a firewall so that they couldn't be hacked while the IT people were on furlough,” a DOJ spokesperson explained to Huff Post.
At no point has AmberAlert system been interrupted during shutdown. to prevent confusion, informational DOJ site has been restored
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 7, 2013
However, the government shutdown has affected children. The National Institutes of Health had to defer new patients from beginning treatments because of the government shutdown.
"Due to the lapse in government funding ... transactions submitted via the web site may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted," NIH posted on their official website.
According to CNN, there were six new studies the government health organization being put on hold.
“Of that 200, 30 of them are children and 10 of which are cancer patients,” CNN reports.
Click here to read more about how the shutdown has affected NIH.
