CLINTON TOWNSHIP (WXYZ) — A Michigan father's frightening experience with his autistic son has led to a statewide program helping protect special needs children and their families.
Michael Ransom, a fingerprint specialist for the Michigan State Police Department, created the Vulnerable or Impaired Person Program after his son was mistakenly sent home on a school bus eight years ago.
"My son is autistic, the school sent him home on a bus. I got a call at work saying I'm sorry we sent your son on a bus, now we were supposed to send him to a caregiver," Ransom said.
The scary incident sparked Ransom to take action, leading to the passage of Bubba's Bill, named after his son. The legislation allows parents of special needs children to add them to an automated fingerprint identification database.
"I started racing home, he couldn't work a lock even if he had a key, best-case scenario, he would have busted down the door," Ransom said.
The VIP program takes just minutes to complete. Children have their photos and fingerprints taken and paired with their information, which is stored in the state system. About 1,000 kids are currently registered in the database.
At Wyandot Middle School, about a dozen students participated in the free program. Amy Siler signed up her daughter, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
"Just in case something were to happen, I think it's a good idea," Siler said. "She has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. If something were to happen, she can't tell you anything about herself."
If a registered child goes missing, law enforcement can identify them using a live scan device or mobile fingerprint scanner.
"We'll take their photos, their fingerprints, pair it to their information, and we'll store it in our system," Ransom said.
Ransom describes the program as an extra layer of protection for families.
"It's just one more tool in our toolbox, it's not a fix-all, but anything to give us more peace of mind with our kids and safety we'll do," Ransom said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
