Credit: Obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica The figure is outdated and exaggerated, according to experts. The envelopes that contain the National Child Identification Program’s fingerprinting kits claim that over 800,000 children go missing every year. “The organizations promoting the kits are preying on people’s fears,” said Stacey Pearson, a child safety consultant who oversaw the Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children during a 20-year stint with the Louisiana State Police. They are currently considering funding additional kits for the next two years.īut similar kits are available for free from nonprofit and governmental entities, and claims made by the company about the number of missing children and the effectiveness of such kits are exaggerated, according to missing child and law enforcement experts. In Texas alone, lawmakers allocated about $5.7 million on kits for all students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The fingerprinting kits were produced by the National Child Identification Program, a Waco-based company that has persuaded lawmakers and attorneys general in at least 11 states to provide the kits, at times spending millions of dollars purchasing them. Tucked into each envelope were an inkpad and a piece of paper prompting parents to take their children’s fingerprints, record their physical attributes and get a DNA sample by having them suck on the corner of the form.Įvery envelope also came with a warning: “Over 800,000 children are missing every year - that’s one every 40 seconds.” Last fall, millions of public school children in Texas brought home envelopes that bore the state seal and read, “A gift of safety, from our family to yours.” Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.Īlso, sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. There’s no evidence they do." was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans - and engages with them - about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. " A former NFL player persuaded politicians that his child ID kits help find missing kids. By Kiah Collier and Jeremy Schwartz, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica
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