POSTER CREATION AND PRINTING

The Administrative Coordinator is also responsible for creating and printing the missing child posters. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, one in six missing children is located because a member of the public recognizes the child from seeing their photograph. Missing child posters have proven to be invaluable to search efforts, and the creation and distribution of such posters should be responsibly coordinated.

Things for the Administrative Coordinator to consider:

• To create a poster see the sample provided, or contact missingkids.ca to have us create a poster for you.

• Be aware that other organizations may also be producing missing child posters. It is preferable if only one missing child poster is being distributed, so if you know of another organization distributing posters, try to coordinate your efforts with this organization to ensure that no more than one type of poster is being distributed.

• All distribution of posters needs to be carefully tracked. This includes posters distributed by hand, email, or fax. This is to help protect the child and the searching family’s privacy. When there is a tragic end to a missing child case, the posters may serve as a very upsetting reminder. Proper tracking of missing child poster distribution will help facilitate the prompt removal of the posters when needed.

• Regardless of the circumstances of the recovery, immediate efforts need to be taken to retrieve all posters distributed by hand, and Located notifications need to be sent to electronic recipients. It is always important to protect the recovered child's privacy.

• If you are receiving services from missingkids.ca, posters can also be easily sent out using the missingkidsALERT system. As a pre-emptive measure you can get local businesses and individuals to sign up for the missingkidsALERT system in case of an emergency. See www.missingkids.ca/missingkidsalert for more details.