Vote to Help Families of the Missing and Unidentified

[Kelly]

Note: This campaign has ended. You can read my closing thoughts by scrolling down to the bottom of this thread, or by clicking here:
http://www.projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=4618.msg28744#msg28744
We ended in 11th place with 485 votes.

Original text for vote:

Establish National Protocol in Missing and Unidentified Person Cases

    Every 30 seconds someone in the U.S. disappears, an average of 850,000 persons per year. Of that number, approximately 105,000 remain as open cases, unresolved. There are also unknown numbers of unidentified deceased persons, with estimates as high as 50,000.   

With modern technologies, available resources and tools, more cases could be resolved. With law enforcement budgets slashed, available training and knowledge of these tools and resources remain out of the grasp of many agencies. Cases go unresolved, family members remain in pain needlessly, criminals go free, and the unidentified deceased are buried and even cremated, taking the answers with them, sometimes forever.   

The Department of Justice crafted model legislation which would give law enforcement, coroners, and medical examiners the necessary protocol and tools to correct this injustice. Efforts have been made to pass this legislation on a state by state basis, but this process has proven to be slow. Each day that passes without these procedures in place increases the number of missing persons who may never be recovered, and unidentified deceased persons who might never be named.   

The legislation provides law enforcement with a check list of information to acquire from the family of the missing person, databases and other resources to utilize, such as DNA analysis, and the new NamUs. Coroners and medical examiners are given procedures to report the unidentified deceased, and enter all available identifiers into national databases, such as fingerprints, dental records, and DNA analysis.   

The text of the legislation can be found here: 
http://www.projectjason.org/downloads/ModelLegislation2008Revision.pdf     



Hello,

Most of you have heard of our Campaign for the Missing, a state by state effort to pass legislation which would positively impact how missing and unidentified deceased person cases are handled. (http://www.projectjason.org/legislation.html)

We’ve been successful mentoring volunteers with the passage of legislation in 6 states, with several more active. These efforts will continue on. 

I recently learned of an effort called Ideas for Change in America. This is a is a citizen-driven project that aims to identify and create momentum around the best ideas for how the 111th Congress can turn the broad call for "change" across the country into specific policies. The project is nonpartisan, and is not connected to the Obama Administration.

In this effort, the top 10 rated ideas will be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009 as the "Top 10 Ideas for America." The sponsor organization, Change.org, will then launch a national campaign behind each idea and mobilize the collective energy of a selected and related nonprofit, the millions of members of Change.org, MySpace, and partner organizations to ensure that each winning idea gets the full consideration of the Obama Administration and Members of Congress.

The "Top 10 Ideas for America" will be determined through two rounds of voting. In the first round, ideas will compete against other ideas in the same issue category. The first round will end on December 31, 2008, and the top 3 rated ideas from each category will make it into the second round. The second round of voting will begin on Monday, January 5, and each qualifying idea will compete against the qualifying ideas from all other categories. Second round voting will end on Thursday, January 15.

I have submitted “Establish National Protocol in Missing and Unidentified Person Cases” for consideration. It is now on the website and votes can be placed. It is listed in the Criminal Justice category.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/establish_national_protocol_in_missing_and_unidentified_person_cases

As you can see by the posted information and link to the protocol, this is the 2008 revision of the Campaign for the Missing legislation. While we have never pursued federal passage, this seemed like a good opportunity to make an attempt, or at least bring attention to our plight if nothing more.

Education is important, with so many not having awareness of the situation as it exists, and what those of us who live with this experience daily. If we do not try, nothing will be accomplished, that is a certainty.

What I ask of you is your vote. It’s as easy as clicking on the link above, and then on the Vote button to your left. (Registration is required, but it is simple and fast.) There is also a widget you can copy and place on your website, blog, Facebook, or MySpace page. It will, however, take more than your vote. It will take you forwarding the link to your friends and family, and asking them to vote. It will take many of you adding the widget to your page.

My son, and thousands upon thousands of other sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, etc, might be an unidentified body lying in a morgue waiting to be buried or cremated without DNA analysis done. When that happens, and it may already have, my family may never have the answers we desire. We need to put a halt to this tragedy on top of tragedy and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure everything that can be done in these cases is done. (There is much more to it than DNA, but that is one of many key elements.)

Please vote, and forward this notification via email to everyone in your address book.

Collectively, we are the voice for the missing, speaking for those who are not among us but who are forever in our hearts.

[Kelly]

Here are easy steps on how to vote for this very important issue.

First, click on this link: (If you right click on it, you should have an option to open a new window or a new tab. Choose one of those options, so you can move between this window with the instructions, and the new window with the link below.)
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/establish_national_protocol_in_missing_and_unidentified_person_cases

The page will look like this:


Click where the arrow points as seen on the image below to start the process of voting.


A screen will pop up as seen below. Fill in the blanks, using the Tab button on your keyboard to move from field to field. If this screen does not pop up, that means you have your pop-up blocker turned on. If you go into Tools, Internet Options, and then Privacy, you can turn it off, and then turn it back on when you are done. If you use FireFox, go into Tools, Options, and then Content to turn this off.


When you have filled out the form, click the Create Account button where the black arrow points as seen in the image below.


Now you should see a message at the top of the screen like the one below with your email address filled in. Go and check your email.


You will recieve an email from Change.org that says "Welcome to Change.org". In the email, you are instructed to click on a link. Click on the link.

When you click on the link in your email, this page will come up, and you will see the activation message as shown below.


Now click on the blue Vote button. This is the button which has the black arrow pointing to it as in the example below.


Once you left click on the button, the color of the button will change, (as seen below) and the number will increase by one. That's your vote and now you have officially voted to help the missing and unidentified.


The following step is optional. After voting, you may make a comment. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and type in your comment. Place a check mark where it says "Email me when there are new posts to this thread" if you'd like to be notified via email when someone else makes a comment. Click where it says "Post Comment".


Thank you for your help!

[Kelly]

It is hard to know what to say. We have failed at this initiative.

It was a good opportunity for us to make the silenced voices heard; the voices of our missing loved ones. I appreciate greatly all of you who took this to heart, pitched in, and worked hard to be heard. Your encouraging comments, efforts, and determination will not be forgotten. 

Failure is no stranger to many of us. What is important to remember is that success is often born of failure. Thomas Edison had hundreds of unsuccessful attempts to invent the light bulb, but he kept trying, and each time, he came closer to the right combination of elements. As we all know, he was successful.

Project Jason was born because we failed to pass a state law after two years, so we started the organization which bears our missing son's name. We went back to the state a third time, and we passed our law! 

Working together, we will pass needed laws to aid in the search for those whom we love and won't forget. Every day is a new opportunity to succeed. Perhaps some of you might work on passing this on a state level through our Campaign for the Missing. There will also be efforts done at federal level.

I can give you a one word reason why we will succeed: LOVE

We love those who are not with us, but will be forever in our hearts. Our love gives us the strength to go on, even in the face of numerous obstacles. That love is a committed love, and just as love never dies, neither will these efforts to do what we must. We will perservere.

2009 is a new year in which to take action and make a difference. Each day brings us one day closer to the answers we seek, and one day closer to putting solutions in place for the future. We'll make it happen.

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski

Campaign for the Missing:
http://www.projectjason.org/legislation.html