{"id":69,"date":"2026-05-22T04:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69"},"modified":"2026-05-22T04:39:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:39:19","slug":"texas-lawmakers-are-again-pushing-to-spend-millions-on-kits-to-find-missing-kids-experts-say-they-dont-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69","title":{"rendered":"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Two years ago, Texas lawmakers quietly cut millions of dollars in funding for kits intended to help track down missing kids, after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed there was no evidence they had aided law enforcement in finding lost children.<\/p>

Read more Texas Lawmakers Push to Enforce Election Transparency Law After Newsrooms Found School Districts Failed to Comply<\/a><\/p>\n

The company that made the kits had used outdated and exaggerated statistics on missing children to bolster their sales and charged for the materials when similar products were available for less or for free.<\/p>\n

Now, some Texas legislators are again pushing to spend millions more in taxpayer dollars to purchase such kits, slipping the funding into a 1,000-page budget proposal.<\/p>\n

Although the proposal does not designate which company would supply them, a 2021 bill introduced by Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell all but guarantees Texas will contract with the same vendor, the National Child Identification Program. Back then, Campbell made clear that her intent was to enshrine into law a long-standing partnership between the state and NCIDP that goes back more than two decades. Her legislation, signed into law that June, also specified that whenever the state allocated funding for such materials, the Texas Education Agency must purchase identification kits that are \u201cinkless,\u201d a technology that NCIDP has patented.<\/p>\n

The Waco-based company is led by former NFL player Kenny Hansmire, who ProPublica and the Tribune found had a history of failed businesses and financial troubles, including millions of dollars in federal tax liens and a ban from conducting certain finance-related business in Connecticut due to his role in an alleged scheme to defraud investors.<\/p>\n

Hansmire cultivated relationships with powerful Texas legislators who went on to support his initiatives. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, championed Campbell\u2019s legislation funding the kits and later told the news organizations that the state should prioritize anything that can speed up the return of a missing child. Campbell told lawmakers in a hearing that the bipartisan measure, which was brought to her by Hansmire and Patrick, was important to \u201cprotect our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Patrick, Campbell and Hansmire did not respond to interview requests for this story. Hansmire previously told the newsrooms that his debts and other financial issues had been resolved. He also defended his company\u2019s kits, saying they have helped find multiple missing children, and instructed reporters to ask \u201cany policeman\u201d about the kits\u2019 usefulness. However, none of the dozen Texas law enforcement agencies that the news organizations reached \u2014 including three that Hansmire specifically named \u2014 could recall any examples.<\/p>\n

Stacey Pearson, a child safety consultant and former Louisiana State Police sergeant who oversaw that state\u2019s Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children, said she has never seen any cases demonstrating that these kits work, including in the last two years since lawmakers discontinued the funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand why we\u2019re going back to this,\u201d said Pearson, who spoke with the newsrooms recently and for their previous investigation. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a good idea in 2023 and it\u2019s not a good idea now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the lack of evidence, Pearson said companies like NCIDP are able to profit off the kits by marketing them as part of a larger child safety program, a strategy that makes opposing lawmakers look as if they are against protecting children. Texas allocated nearly $6 million for the kits between 2021 and 2023.<\/p>

Read more Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.<\/a><\/p>\n

Lawmakers did not explain their reasoning when they decided to stop paying for the kits in 2023. Republican state Sen. Joan Huffman, who chairs the high chamber\u2019s Finance Committee, told the newsrooms at the time that both the House and the Senate had agreed to remove the funding \u201cafter review and consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

During this year\u2019s budgeting process, Democratic state Rep. Armando Martinez to the House\u2019s budget to provide kits to families with children in kindergarten through second grade.<\/p>\n

Martinez did not respond to an interview request.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Greg Bonnen, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, did not respond to interview requests or written questions.<\/p>\n

Bonnen was among the 33 lawmakers who voted against Campbell\u2019s bill that established the child identification kit funding four years ago. The newsrooms attempted to reach a handful of those legislators, but none responded.<\/p>\n

Huffman and the Senate have so far . Huffman declined the newsrooms\u2019 interview requests.<\/p>\n

\n

Read More<\/h3>\n
\n
\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>\n
\nTrump Is Spending Billions on Border Security. Some Residents Living There Lack Basic Resources.<\/strong>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe entire budget process is ongoing,\u201d she wrote in an emailed statement. \u201cNo final decisions have been made on most issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legislators from the two chambers will continue hashing out the differences between their budget proposals in a joint committee that operates behind closed doors. There\u2019s no guarantee that the funding will make it into the final budget, which lawmakers must pass before the legislative session ends in early June.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Pearson cautioned legislators to question whether the kits are the best use of state funding, given the absence of documented success.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy advice would be for lawmakers to ask themselves, \u2018If this was your personal money and not the taxpayers\u2019, would you spend it on this program?\u2019\u201d Pearson said. \u201cAnd the answer is going to be no.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Texas Lawmakers Pull Funding for Child Identification Kits Again After Newsrooms Report They Don\u2019t Work<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, Texas lawmakers cut millions in funding for kits intended to help track down missing kids, after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed there was no evidence they work. Now, lawmakers are pushing to purchase more kits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work. - Moving Services America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work. - Moving Services America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two years ago, Texas lawmakers cut millions in funding for kits intended to help track down missing kids, after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed there was no evidence they work. Now, lawmakers are pushing to purchase more kits.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Services America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T04:39:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a\"},\"headline\":\"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T04:39:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69\"},\"wordCount\":913,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69\",\"name\":\"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work. - Moving Services America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T04:39:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=69#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Services America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work. - Moving Services America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work. - Moving Services America","og_description":"Two years ago, Texas lawmakers cut millions in funding for kits intended to help track down missing kids, after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed there was no evidence they work. Now, lawmakers are pushing to purchase more kits.","og_url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69","og_site_name":"Moving Services America","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T04:39:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a"},"headline":"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work.","datePublished":"2026-05-22T04:39:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69"},"wordCount":913,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp","keywords":["Politics"],"articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69","url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69","name":"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work. - Moving Services America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-22T04:39:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2d1c421200fb473bc7666f050ba99823.webp","width":2000,"height":1333},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=69#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Texas Lawmakers Are Again Pushing to Spend Millions on Kits to Find Missing Kids. Experts Say They Don\u2019t Work."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/","name":"Moving Services America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}