Texas Lawmakers Pull Funding for Child Identification Kits Again After Newsrooms Report They Don’t Work

This news article is a collaboration with The Texas Tribune, which is a nonprofit and nonpartisan local newsroom dedicated to informing and engaging with Texans. To stay informed about their crucial coverage of Texas issues, sign up for The Brief Weekly.

Texas lawmakers have decided not to allocate funds to purchase child identification kits that experts have deemed ineffective. This decision came after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed that legislators were attempting to fund the program once again. It is the second consecutive budget cycle where the Legislature has considered buying these products, only to reverse course after evidence showed the kits do not work as promised.

The initial investigation by ProPublica and the Tribune in 2023 exposed that the state had previously spent millions on child identification kits from the National Child Identification Program, led by Kenny Hansmire, a former NFL player with a troubled history. Despite more affordable alternatives being available, Hansmire used outdated and exaggerated data on missing children to boost sales and gained support from influential Texas lawmakers.

In 2021, Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell introduced a bill that essentially directed state funding towards Hansmire’s business for child safety programs. His company received around $5.7 million from the state that year. Two years later, both the House and Senate proposed additional funding for the program, but this was later removed from the final budget following the news organizations’ investigation.

Although there was a proposal to include funding for the kits in the House budget this year, the Senate did not support this allocation. The final budget passed by lawmakers did not include any designated funding for the identification kits, and key legislators did not respond to inquiries about the decision.

Hansmire did not respond to interview requests, maintaining that his kits have aided in identifying missing children. However, none of the Texas law enforcement agencies contacted by the newsrooms could provide a case where the kits had helped locate a missing child.

Child safety consultant Stacey Pearson supported the decision to exclude funding for the identification kits, emphasizing the lack of evidence supporting their efficacy. Pearson expressed hope that Texas lawmakers will not reconsider funding for the program in the future, urging them to prioritize more effective and beneficial initiatives.