This milestone is not only a measurement of MoCHIP’s success, but also a clear indication of the increasing value parents place on the MoCHIP program and having their children ID’d. According to MoCHIP’s State Coordinator, Nick Cichielo there is a significant increase in repeat customers, parents who bring their MoCHIP packet back to an event to be updated. With attendance up steadily each of the almost eight years in existence, it is evident that MoCHIP is considered an essential safeguard for children as the threat of child abduction forever looms.

With what began as a dozen enthusiastic freemason’s and a few borrowed laptops, today MoCHIP consists of 7 regions throughout Missouri, 126 regional coordinators and team members, 87 computers, 17 fingerprint scanners, and will now have held a whopping 1182 events with the support of 20,632 volunteers. Additionally, MoCHIP is a recognized partner of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

No parent wants to believe that the unimaginable could happen to them, though nearly 2,000 children are reported missing or abducted in the United States each day. MoCHIP has been tested eight times in Missouri that we know of, with every one of those children returned home safely to their families. The peace of mind MoCHIP provides to Missouri families is invaluable. Once again, GIRLS and BOYS ages 11-21 are statistically most susceptible to become missing, and though we cannot release details on the recoveries, each of the eight children were between the ages of 11-21.

The program consists of five major components—digital photographs, digital fingerprints, vital child information and emergency contacts, a dental bite impression, and two laminated ID cards. The photographs, fingerprints, and child data are burned onto a mini-CD that is compatible with the AMBER ALERT system already in place. The dental impression provides a virtual diagram of the child’s biting surface, which, like fingerprints is unique to each individual, and further supplies enough saliva to provide a DNA sample that can also be used as scent source for trained canine search teams. Combined, this five-part process provides a dramatic, time-sensitive recovery tool for authorities.

Once the child is processed through the program, which generally takes only 15 minutes (less if the MoCHIP ID is being updated), the parent is armed with a single pre-printed envelope that instructs authorities in the event of an emergency, something a parent in crisis would undoubtedly have trouble with, and a proactive measure to combat the time sensitivity involved in recovery. Within a matter of minutes the MoCHIP CD can be loaded into a computer directly from a police officers automobile and entered into the Amber Alert system.

On the day of the MoCHIP event, parents are urged to gather pertinent information about such as, doctor, dentist, and emergency contact and phone numbers, allergies, medications, and parent work, cell, and assorted phone numbers. Information Collection Forms and Permission Slips can be downloaded from the mochip.org Web site and filled out ahead of time. Height charts and scales are available at the event to facilitate the most current details regarding the child. As would be expected, security and privacy are of utmost importance. All information and specimens are collected on site, processed and provided to the parent or legal guardian in a yellow envelope. At the end of each event, databases are erased using state-of-the-art software. The only item retained by the Masonic Children’s Foundation is the signed permission slip.

Please visit our Web site (www.mochip.org) for more information, to find an event in your area or to schedule an event. Like us on Facebook! We are also a featured cause on Facebook and you can find us on Twitter too!