Story highlights The Black and Missing Foundation reported that 64,000 Black women and girls were missing nationwide

A New Jersey lawmaker called the incident a "national emergency"

Washington (CNN) A coalition of African-American members of Congress announced Friday that it will hold a town hall next month to address the dozens of missing black children in Washington and nationwide.

The announcement by the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls comes amid calls for federal assistance to help locate missing African-American girls whose profiles are posted almost daily on the Washington Metropolitan Police Department's Twitter feed.

"In 2014, the Black and Missing Foundation reported that 64,000 black women and girls were missing nationwide," Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-New Jersey, said Friday in a statement. "It appears that there are many structural and institutional components contributing to the issues, including economic disadvantages and/or poverty in communities of color, disparate treatment of missing black women and girls by law enforcement, and lack of public awareness or response."

"Therefore, on behalf of our constituents and the thousands of missing children and women of color across the country we will call a town hall to discuss and dissect this national emergency and seek to push forward proposals that will reconcile this disparity," she said.

The group said it had not yet finalized the timing or location for the event.

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