A Chapel Hill ISD criminal justice student takes a fingerprint sample for a child identification kit.

The criminal justice program at the Chapel Hill ISD Career and Technology Center is offering district parents and community members with a child identification kit that will assist families and authorities if a child goes missing.

Ty Whitworth, criminal justice instructor, said the idea came about a couple years ago but recently was brought to life for the winter ‘Shops on the Hill’ event showcasing items and projects of CTC programs.

“The students were challenged to provide something for the event that they could hand out on the spot and have an opportunity to speak to parents and showcase a skill they’ve acquired in the program,” he said.

The identification kits consist of demographic information for the parent to write down things such as name, date completed, contact information, current height and weight, age, nickname, and eye color. There’s also a place for a current picture of the child, space to apply dental records, medical records, fingerprinting information, and additional identifying features.

According to Whitworth, the kit’s purpose is to assist parents by providing them with a record of their child’s identifying features to assist investigators in the unfortunate event they go missing.

“There’s several ways if a child comes up missing can be resolved, and the child can be found. Sometimes you may find the child, and they might not know who they are or where they belong. If there’s information in the database that can help put two together where they belong and who they are, then that’s a great assistance,” he said. “It’s a much quicker process if the information exists, for the child to return.”

Another asset of the kit is a fingerprint obtained by the CTC criminal justice students, allowing them to use their skills to test.

“It’s really easy to get an impression that’s not usable, and knowing the difference is the skill. How to get one and knowing when you have one that it’s not, and my kids know how to do that,” Whitworth said.

Madelyn Shelton, senior at Chapel Hill High School, has conducted fingerprints on children and said the kit allows her to feel like she’s serving the community.

“Fingerprinting a child for the ID kit, it’s definitely interesting but I know in the long run this is definitely a good thing. It might be weird at the moment, especially for them, because they don’t understand it but personally for me knowing I am helping these parents in some way it’s a good feeling,” Shelton said.

Whitworth added that a big goal he hopes the students take away is to bring a light to the community and showcase that criminal justice is more than “catching the bad guys.”

“A lot of times people when they think about criminal justice fields, they focus on things other than assisting and helping fill the needs. It’s not all about that, it’s not about catching the bad guy, getting into an altercation, or some form of violence and negativity. A lot of it, it’s about doing good and spreading goodwill, and building the relationships so when the bad things do happen then there’s a relationship already so people can feel safe to communicate with one another,” he said.

Along with the kit, Whitworth also advises parents to attach a hair sample and a fingernail clipping inside the bag. “Depending on how you collect that, you can provide additional information as well as DNA to help match if there’s a need for that,” he said.

There are two different styles of kits for parents, a detailed kit with space for dental records or diagram for body marking and another without that extra information.

Those interested in the ID kits can contact Chapel Hill High School at 903-566-2311 and mention they are interested in the missing child ID kids from the criminal justice program.