Packers, Kaul team up to provide child identification kits

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Monday that he’s partnering with the Green Bay Packers and other groups to provide child identification kits to every Wisconsin student in grades K-12.

Kaul said the Packers, Alliant Energy, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Child Identification Program will provide 975,000 kits to private and public school students.

Parents can use the kits to fingerprint their children and take DNA swabs from them. Parents retain the kits and can turn over the information to police if their children go missing. Investigators can then use the cards to confirm a child’s identity if the child is found. The National Child Identification Program, based in Waco, Texas, says on its website that the cards can be especially helpful in confirming the identity of children who have been missing for years.

National Child Identification Program CEO Kenny Hansmire said in a telephone interview that the Wisconsin kits will cost about $2.8 million in total. Alliant Energy and IBEW will cover the cost, with Alliant covering about $1.4 million, he said.

The Packers will not cover costs but will attach their logo to the kits to help promote their use, Hansmire said. The state Justice Department also will not cover any costs but will work with the state Department of Public Instruction to get school addresses to the National Child Identification Program. The organization will mail kits directly to the schools beginning in April, he said.