FIND ME ASAP includes visibility-aware prompts because missing Black children and African American children can be overlooked, misdescribed, under-amplified, or not described with enough detail during urgent situations. Accurate photos, respectful descriptions, hairstyle details, skin tone clarity, and shareable summaries help families communicate urgent information more clearly.
This is practical, not performative. When details are missing, descriptions are inaccurate, or photos are unclear, the people looking for a child are working with less. These tools help families give searchers exactly what they need.
Black children are disproportionately misclassified as runaways instead of endangered missing children — which can delay official alert activation and organized search response. Accurate age documentation and clear "CHILD" identification in all alerts matters.
Generic descriptions like "dark hair" or "dark skin" are not enough. Hairstyle, hair accessories, skin tone detail, and culturally specific features give searchers and the public a clearer picture of who they're looking for.
Flyers and social media images sometimes lose visibility for darker skin tones due to low contrast, poor lighting, or image compression. Clear, high-contrast, well-lit photos — particularly close-up face shots — significantly improve recognition.
Research and reporting have consistently shown disparities in media coverage, alert activation, and community mobilization for missing Black children compared to other groups. Families can use FIND ME ASAP to generate and share materials across multiple channels simultaneously.
Use these terms to accurately describe hairstyle on flyers, alerts, and police summaries. Tap to select what applies — copy to your emergency kit or flyer.
Include natural color, highlights, colored extensions, or hair accessories like beads, barrettes, ribbons. Include color of those accessories.
If the child was wearing a bonnet, headwrap, hijab, or hat, include the color and type — these are visible identifying details.
Before using a photo on flyers and social media, check these items. The goal is clarity — not beauty — so the child is immediately recognizable.
Understanding what Ebony Alert-style systems are, where they exist, and what FIND ME ASAP can and cannot do.
Ebony Alert-style systems are official law-enforcement alert resources created to address visibility gaps for missing Black people and young people of color in jurisdictions where they exist. They are activated by law enforcement or authorized agencies based on specific program criteria — similar to how AMBER Alerts work.
The availability, criteria, and activation process vary by state, county, or jurisdiction.
FIND ME ASAP helps families prepare accurate descriptions, high-visibility flyers, police-ready summaries, and shareable alerts that can support communication with law enforcement, schools, caregivers, family, and community networks.
It includes fields specifically designed to capture hairstyle details, skin tone descriptions, photo contrast checks, and identity protection notes — so the information law enforcement and the public receive is accurate and complete.
You can ask officers directly: "Are there any alert options for missing Black children or young people in this jurisdiction?" — and you can ask to have "endangered" status documented, not "runaway." Document the officer's name, badge number, and report number.