A 6-year-old is photographed Monday by Chartiers Township police Chief James Horvath at Allison Elementary School in Houston. Chartiers-Township School District is the first district in Washington County to participate in the CHIP Identification program. (JIM McNUTT/O-R)

IDs for kids ... just in case

Observer-Reporter | November 11, 2004

Five-year-old Madison Schwartzmiller likes to play on the swing set with friends Erin, Brianne and Kayla. She also knows her address and her telephone number.

All this information, along with her favorite colors and the fact that the kindergarten student at Allison Elementary School in Chartiers-Houston School District has no favorite hiding spot in her house, are on a disc that has been sent home to her parents. The disc, along with a fingerprint card and DNA kit, are part of the Child Identification Program packet.

Offered by the Pennsylvania Freemasons, in partnership with Crime Prevention Association of Pennsylvania, CHIP is in response to the alarming number of children reported missing across the United States.

Chartiers Township police took the video of the youngsters as they stood in front of a height chart.

Some youngsters, like 6-year-old Brennan Dunn, had difficulty remembering his street address or the names of his friends. And when police Chief James Horvath asked his age, he held up his hand and his index finger.

"Every so often, we'll get a kid to tell their favorite hiding spot," Horvath said. "If we get a report of a missing child, the first thing we do is thoroughly search their house. We found two that way, one hiding behind a couch and another in a closet."

Horvath said the information included in the packet is crucial in the event a child is reported missing.

"The photo can be quickly downloaded and distributed to the media, if need be," Horvath said.

Madison's mom, Chris Schwartzmiller, agrees that it's something you hope you never need.

"But it is wonderful to have this information," said Schwartzmiller, who was among the members of the school's parent-faculty organization helping. "Hopefully we'll never have to use it."

Her son, R.J., is in the second grade and also was participating in the program, which is offered to students in kindergarten through the sixth grade at the school. Allison Elementary is the first school in the county to get the program.

The DNA kit includes envelopes for hair samples, two nail clippings and three swabs for saliva samples.

Horvath would like to get a camera so the department can update the discs each year.

The goal of the program is to have 50,000 children processed in the state, said Mark Miksic of CHIPs.

The program does suffer from a bit of an identity crisis.

"When the information is sent home, some parents think we are the state's insurance program for kids," Miksic said. "So they throw out the forms, thinking they don't need insurance."

Parents are encouraged to put the information in a safe place, Miksic said, and even take it on vacation with them.