Parents encouraged to get DNA kits for their children Saturday

Free child safety event blends fun with advice Brentwood Journal news reports • September 3, 2008 BRENTWOOD — Parents can create free child identification kits for their children at the DNA Lifeprint Child Safety Event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Andrews Cadillac and Land Rover Nashville, 1 Cadillac Drive in Maryland Farms in partnership with United Way of Williamson County. A D.A.R.E. officer with the Brentwood Police Department will be available to answer parents' questions about child safety, the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation will be onsite to sign up children for the free book program, and children can tour a Brentwood Fire Department fire truck. The number of fingerprinting stations at this year's event will be doubled after hundreds of families lined up for hours to have their children fingerprinted last year. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recommends that parents keep current, easily accessible information about their children, such as fingerprints, digital photographs, DNA samples and medical records. "The big turnout at last year's child safety event showed us that parents are eager to have a child identification kit that would allow them to work quickly with law enforcement if their child were reported missing," said Nelson Andrews, general manager of Andrews Cadillac and Land Rover Nashville. The cost of the DNA Lifeprint kit (dna-lifeprint.com) is underwritten by the dealership at no cost to parents and includes: • A FBI-certified 10-digit Biometric Fingerprint Profile, which is the newest and most advanced technology for obtaining fingerprints. • A DNA Identification Kit that parents use at home to preserve a child's DNA sample, which can be distributed immediately to law enforcement agencies nationwide if a child is reported missing. • A high-resolution, full-color digital photograph of child. • A Child Safety Journal to record vital information that law enforcement officials need immediately after a child is reported missing, such as height, weight, eye and hair color, date of birth and unique physical attributes such as eyeglasses or braces.