Attorney General, Packers finish distributing Child ID kits through schools

The final Child Identification Kit was handed out
1 million Child ID kits were distributed to school kids, reaching 95% of Wisconsin home
Published: Dec. 1, 2022 at 5:16 PM CST|Updated: Dec. 1, 2022 at 9:52 PM CST
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GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Each year, more than 800,000 children go missing in the U.S., according to the Department of Justice.

To help parents protect their kids, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, Green Bay Packers, and other sponsors teamed up to distribute a new tool to every student in the state. Thursday, a ceremony was held at Lambeau Field to celebrate the distribution of the last Child ID kits.

The program distributed nearly one million child identification kits to both private and public school students this year, reaching an estimated 95% of homes across the state. “On behalf of the Packers, we’re really, really pleased and proud to lead this effort in Wisconsin,” Packers president/CEO Mark Murphy said.

The program director says this is the largest child safety initiative in Wisconsin history.

Parents use the kits to fingerprint their children on the identification cards. They can then give the cards to police if their child goes missing.

Because children don’t usually carry ID, authorities say these kits could help find a missing person more quickly.

“You’re able to turn it over to law enforcement. The questions that are on the ID kit -- height and weight information, medical, fingerprint, DNA -- is on the kit, so 80% of what law enforcement needs, they can hand over immediately,” said says Kenny Hansmire, executive director of the National Child I.D. Program.

“Getting this information -- fingerprint information and DNA information -- allows law enforcement to respond more efficiently if a tragedy happens and they need to get involved,” Kaul said.

Now that the final I.D. kit was just distributed, authorities say it’s up to parents to complete it.

“The parent is in full control of the kit. and so if their child runs away, or if there’s a parent abduction or stranger abduction, they have the ability to hand the kit over to law enforcement to help find that child,” Hansmire said.