The State of Florida is launching a major safety initiative aimed at helping parents or guardians quickly submit information to law enforcement in the event a young child goes missing.
Last week, Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that parents of all kindergartners in the state will receive a free child identification kit to keep at home.
Working with the National Child Identification program, Moody said the kits are low-tech tools that help parents securely record and store important information about their children in one place in case an emergency arises.
“As a mother, I really hope that no parent needs to use the kit, but if a child goes missing, it could prove vital in helping law enforcement and the public in their search,” Moody said.
TEXAS STUDENTS WE TAKE HOME DNA AND FINGERPRINT KITS TO IDENTIFY THEM IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announces that child identification kits will be distributed to all parents with a kindergarten child in the state.
(@AGAshleyMoody/Twitter)
Moody said approximately 250,000 kits will be provided to all Florida school districts for distribution to parents of kindergarten children in public, private and charter schools.
Once received, parents can use a kit to collect information about their child, such as physical characteristics, photographs, fingerprints, and DNA, that would be valuable to authorities in the event the child went missing.
According to the National Child Identification Program, more than 800,000 children go missing in the US each year, which equates to one every 40 seconds. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said more than 25,000 incidents involving missing children were reported to agencies across the state in 2021.
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A look at the instructions that parents will receive in the child identification kit to capture their child’s fingerprints.
(National Child Identification Program)
Florida Sheriffs Association President and Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhaus added that “there is no such thing as being over-prepared when it comes to the safety and well-being of our children.”
“With a child going missing every 40 seconds in the United States, we all need to be prepared for worst-case scenarios,” Nienhaus said. “God willing, law enforcement will never need to see your child ID kit, but the National Child ID Program allows families to be proactive with their home kit in the event of an emergency.”
National Child Identification Program executive director Kenny Hansmire said Moody is “taking important steps” to lead the charge in protecting Florida’s children by launching the program and distributing the kits.
“This is a security gift from the attorney general’s office. It doesn’t go into a database,” Hansmire said. “We hope to God that it will never be used, but if [parents] We ever have to turn it over to law enforcement, we want them to have it.”
A person demonstrates how to leave a fingerprint on a card provided in the National Child Identification Program kit.
(National Child Identification Program)
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The launch is a joint effort between Moody, Hansmire, Nienhaus, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks, and representatives from the Department of Education, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, and the Florida Association of School Resource Officers. Florida.
In launching the program, Florida joined 24 other US states that already work with NCIP. The organization reports that more than 81 million kits have been distributed in all 50 states over the past 25 years.
