Oct. 24, 1997

Notre Dame to Take Part in Child ID Program

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame will take part in the American Football Coaches Association’s national child identification program in conjunction with the November 1 Notre Dame-Navy football game.

Parents attending the game in Notre Dame Stadium will receive an inkless fingerprint identification packet as they exit the stadium following the game. The program enables parents to have pertinent information close at hand in the case of missing or abducted children.

The program is designed to reach more than 20 million children over the next five years. It’s being introduced at all 112 NCAA Division-I football stadiums this fall under the auspices of the AFCA, with plans for distributing more than 2.4 million kits in 1997.

The kit contains an inkless process for finger printing and has spaces to list the child’s identifying marks, doctors’ phone numbers and other pertinent information. The information is designed to be kept at home by parents and provided to law enforcement authorities only in case of emergency.

“We’re please to be able to support the AFCA in this worthy project,” says Notre Dame athletic director Mike Wadsworth.

“Every Division-I institution in the country will be distributing these identification packets at one of their home football games. It’s the largest community service program of its kind in United States history.”

In addition to distributing the kits at college games, the AFCA has expanded the program to include a pilot project with the High School Coaches Association (in states of Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas), as well as with state PTAs.

The HSCA will distribute kits to parents attending football games at 2,400 high schools, while the PTAs expect to reach parents of high school, junior high and elementary school students.

Partners with the AFCA in the project include Champion International Corporation and Inkless Image Corporation. Champion is providing more than 500,000 pounds of paper for the project, while Inkless Image has provided the kits themselves.

NOTE:
Notre Dame assistant head coach Kirk Doll serves as chairman of the assistant coaches committee for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is an ex officio member of that group’s board of trustees.