National Child ID kits given out to Virginia middle schoolers

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Keeping your family safe is always a top priority, and now there’s a new tool to help ensure you’re prepared for the worst.

Child ID kits can be essential in the first 24 hours if a child is abducted or goes missing.

Attorney General Jason Miyares spoke to a group of students at Chickahominy Middle Schooler Tuesday afternoon about National Child Identification kits.

Miyares, the National Child Identification Program Executive Director, Kenny Hansmire, former Washington Commanders defensive end Charles Mann and Hanover County Sheriff David Hines talked about the importance of keeping children safe and how the kits can help find a missing child quicker.

National Child Identification kits have been around since 1997, but they’re just now coming to the Commonwealth.

Now, every middle school across the state will get some of these critical resources. The kits include an inkless fingerprinting card, a place to put a strand of hair for DNA, a picture of the child and instructions on how to use the kit.

The kit does not go into a database. Parents or guardians keep the kit somewhere safe, so it will be readily available if a child goes missing or gets taken.

All the information inside the kit helps law enforcement hit the ground running in the first 24 hours of a missing child investigation. Those first 24 hours are crucial, and already having the identification information will give investigators more time to search physically.

“With this type of information, when the tragic, the unspeakable happens, it’s so important to get the right information to law enforcement as quickly as possible, said Attorney General Jason Miyares. “So I know it’s given me peace of mind, and we’re happy to give some peace of mind to Virginia parents.”

These kits were created when Amber Hagerman was abducted and killed in Texas in 1996. She is the reason we have the ‘Amber Alert.’

According to Child Find of America, 2,3000 children go missing throughout the country every day.

If you want a kit for your child, you can contact the Attorney General’s Office.

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