Child ID Kits: Keeping Avoyelles Parish Children Safe
By: Attorney General Jeff Landry and Sheriff David L. Dauzat
Across the country, over half a million children go missing each year. Even worse, 25% of all human trafficking cases include a child, and children from minority populations are three times more likely to be abducted or go missing. Of course, if you suddenly found yourself in this unimaginable and horrifying situation, the statistics could be worse than irrelevant – they could be reducing your child to a number on a list. A list you would have never dreamed they’d be on.
In such a situation, the only number that would matter is 24: the first twenty-four hours can make all the difference in the world. That is time that must be used wisely, which is why the National Child ID Program was created in 1997 following the abduction and death of Amber Hagerman (the namesake for the Amber Alert).
The free Child ID kit includes an inkless fingerprinting system, a DNA collection tool, and areas to document your child’s physical description and identifying marks, as well as sections to list phone numbers for chosen medical professionals and a place to put a current photograph. None of this is designed to be stored within any sort of government database. Instead, this is a tool for parents to keep privately within their home, only to provide to law enforcement should the unthinkable occur – when every second counts.
The Office of Attorney General Jeff Landry and the Office of Avoyelles Parish Sheriff David L. Dauzat have worked to provide these Child ID Kits, at no expense to parents, for all Avoyelles Parish elementary school students this year. This gift of safety will be distributed by Sheriff David L. Dauzat’s Office in Avoyelles Parish. In this way, the Attorney General and the Sheriff are continuing their efforts to not only keep our communities safe but also protect our children.
For the past 25 years, the National Child ID Program has distributed over 75 million kits nationwide. We pray this initiative might help parents reconnect with their lost children, should the worst ever happen.
Of course, nothing can ever truly prepare a parent for this sort of event, but by being able to quickly provide vital information to law enforcement, the hope is that a missing or abducted child can be safely located with far greater efficiency, speed, and success. Awareness of this safety initiative and free community resources is the first step towards keeping families in Avoyelles Parish together.
The Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office is in the process of distributing the Child ID Kits to the schools on the week of April 10-14, 2023. If your child does not get one this week, please contact your child’s school or the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office at 318-253-4000. We have a few extras.
