Tyler, Texas (KYTX) -- Saving a child's life may start with the click of a camera. At least that's the hope of one Lifetouch program that exists to recover missing children.
Parents say free resources like the SmileSafe Kids program is just one more tool in their belt, in case the worst happens. "It means the world to me, it's the most recent picture of my child," Valerie Poole, a mother of a 7-year-old student at Winona Elementary, said.
Valerie's son John David is active, and she says he can wander. "With all the sports and stuff, safety is a big thing. You always want to know where your kids are," Poole said.
She's embracing the extra security John David brings home every year in the form of an ID card. "Features change, hair changes, so the program that they've got started is a wonderful program," Poole said.
The program is formed out of a partnership between Lifetouch and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"The goal is for Mom and Dad to carry those cards with them at all times so that if something were to happen to that child they've got an immediate, instant current access to a photo," Curt Malone, territory director in East Texas for Lifetouch, said.
Each child is given two cards. A phone number is on the card a parent can call in the event of an emergency to release the photo to authorities in 15 minutes.
"It's kind of like insurance, it's one of those things we hope a parent never has to use, but they can feel safe knowing that they've got it and we can get them a current image immediately," Malone said.
Employees at Lifetouch say the program that started in 2004 works.
"In Texas, we've actually had 2 children since the beginning of the program that have been recovered directly from using the SmileSafe Kids card," Malone said.
The cards are issued in schools that provide Lifetouch portraits up until the 8th grade.
If your child doesn't go to one of these schools, or is younger than school-age, you can still get a photo I.D. through the Tyler Police Department's Child ID Program.
