Michigan's Rodriguez helps kick off child ID drive

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez helped kick off a drive to distribute 290,000 child ID kits to every kindergarten and first-grade student in the state this fall.

He announced the initiative Monday at a news conference joined by local and federal law enforcement officials.

Rodriguez says his goal is for every student in Michigan to have the FBI-approved kits.

The kits help parents collect fingerprints and DNA in nonintrusive ways, list physical characteristics and add a picture to help locate missing children.

The National Child Identification Program says 800,000 children - one every 40 seconds - in the country are missing each year.