CHIP program in force at health fair

Coinciding with the Health and Wellness Fair at the Cheyenne County Community Center this Saturday, members of the Frank Welch Masonic Lodge are teaming up with law enforcement officials to provide the Nebraska Freemasons Child Identification Program, also known as CHIP.

The program will be offered from 8 a.m. to noon or until the last group has gone through at the center, according to lodge member Scott McDaniel.

The program is endorsed by the State Troopers Association of Nebraska, the Nebraska Sheriff’s Association, the Nebraska Dental Association, the Nebraska Dental Hygienists’ Association and the Nebraska Dental Assistants’ Association. It provides children with a “CHIP kit” which includes a video interview, fingerprints, tooth prints, DNA cheek swabs, still photos and a scent pad of the children.

The service is free and could help law enforcement substantially in the case of a child’s disappearance.

“This will give a parent, if they have lost a child for any reason, ready access to everything that law enforcement needs to help find that child and God forbid something happens to them, it give information for recognition after the fact,” said McDaniel.

According to officials at the National Crime Information Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, “On average in the United States a child is reported missing every 43 seconds. Most parents don’t have the proper items ready at a moment’s notice that may help save their child’s life.”

Over 1 million children are reported missing in the United States each year, and officials say that while most children are found, many are not.

“We do this about every year or every two years,” said McDaniel. “What it consists of is fingerprints, a DNA swab, teeth prints, a scent swab, and then some pictures along with the children talking and they are rotating so you get a 360-degree view of them and their height and weight.

“It’s entirely free to the public and nothing is retained other than a permission slip. The parents take all the information home with them,” said the member.

McDaniel explained that this is a service vital to the children of the community, and that it is important to keep children’s information up-to-date.

“Normally a child changes in characteristics enough every two years that they need to have it redone, especially the pictures and fingerprints and everything,” he said. “The DNA swab, if they keep it in the freezer, will last about five years.

“A number of lodges in the state of Nebraska put this on every year and there are Masonic organizations in about 20 different states that put this on. So it’s been going on for quite sometime,” said the member.

The program first began in New York in 1994 and included videotape of the child and fingerprints, according to CHIP historians.

McDaniel said that to his knowledge the lodge in Sidney has been offering the service once a year or every two years for approximately the last 12 years.

“When we first were doing it they had a little videotape that they took home with them and now we switched all of it to be electronic and they get a DVD too to take with them,” he said.

“It’s a great program and I highly encourage everybody to bring their children up and get it done. At the station itself it takes about five minutes, but it will probably take 10 to 15 minutes to get through depending on the number of people that we have going through, so plan on a little bit of a wait.”

McDaniel said that included in the child interview are questions for the child asking what they like to do, how they get to and from school and where they go to play – all while asking them to turn 360 degrees.

“This way parents have a facial picture, side-by-sides, and a back picture of them and they are up against a backdrop where you can get the height of them at the time.

“From that station then they go to the dental area to get the rest of the stuff done,” he said.

“The scent pad is new this year,” McDaniel continued. “In the past they were using the scent off of the tooth print but now they have added this to it so they are constantly changing it.”

He said that law enforcement (the Nebraska Highway Patrol, the local Sheriff’s department and the city police department) will run the fingerprints and help with the kids.

“It also helps the kids not to be frightened of law enforcement because they are there and they are talking to them and everything,” said McDaniel. “It’s a win for law enforcement and highway patrol has helped every since we started this. They’ve really been a great partner -- just as the other law enforcement agencies have.”

McDaniel said that the dental community also does their part to pitch in on this important program.

“We’ll also have people from the dental community to help with the DNA swabs and the tooth prints, and then we have other people from the community volunteering their help. They really have been a great support,” he said. “It takes about five to six people to run a station and then we have a check-in and a check-out area.”

McDaniel stressed that he hopes many parents bring their children to the free program aimed at keeping them safe.

“We’re trying to provide this to the community so that the parents have information readily available to them should one of their children become lost, whether they are out visiting friends or lost lost. We want to give them and give back to the community and this is one way that we do that,” said McDaniel.

“Hopefully they will never need them. But these days you hear about children missing all the time. We haven’t lost a child around here to my knowledge but that doesn’t say it can’t happen.

“It happens virtually everywhere so this helps - even in an auto accident. If for some reason the child got burnt in an auto accident then they would have that information available to identify them.

“It’s not just for when they are lost but any kind of accident that could happen,” he said.