ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Every parent has experienced the “my child was just here and now they’re not” problem in a mall or park or outdoor event. And in most cases the child is found after a few minutes.

But in the cases where the child is not found, panic grips the parent and they frantically try to find a current picture and recall those important facts police need to know.

That’s where Dawn Cole and Ident-A-Kid, a national child identification program, comes to the rescue.

Cole, who represents this area, was at Robertsdale Elementary School on Wednesday taking pictures, getting height and weight and fingerprints of those students whose parents chose to participate in the program.

“I have been doing this for 25 years and it’s such a great program. I did one for Silverhill Elementary School and I am hoping to have 100 kids participate today,” Cole said.

Started in 1986 in St. Petersburg by Robert King, whose friend’s child wandered off in the mall and she was unable to give a clear description to the police, he saw the need for a handy i.d… card with a picture and basic information in those times when parents are too upset to think clearly, the Ident-A-Kid website explained.

After the initial card was made, he started getting requests from schools and a company was born. Still based in St. Petersburg and going strong after almost 25 years, there are 300 program directors throughout the United States and internationally and their services are now offered to over seven million parents annually.

At no cost to the school and $7 for one card, $10 for three cards and $15 for five cards for the parent, this program is completely optional and not a fundraiser for the school. Available for Pre-K and elementary school students, materials are provided to the teachers and distributed to the students. The principal then picks a day for the representative to come. There is minimal interruption to the classroom as only the students who brought back the envelope and money participate.

The size of a driver’s license, the i.d… card contains the student’s picture, complete physical description and a fingerprint plus the parent or guardian’s address to aid in the return of the card if it’s lost, the website said. In addition, the card is laminated and contains important information on what to do if your child is missing. Updating the card every year is advised since physical descriptions can change from year to year.

The information on the card is only available to the parent and law enforcement agencies only keep files on active missing children, the website said.

There is also another option averrable since last January called eKid-ID, offered to parents as a free bonus who purchase multiple traditional i.d… cards. The same information is transferred to the parent or guardian’s cell phone as a picture message and can be stored there for future use if needed.

For more information, visit ident-a-kid.com. or contact Dawn Cole at (251) 862-2319 or email dawncole@identakid.com.