Lost Child Plan
The Code Adam–style plan Rainbow DJ Lab follows, minute by minute, if a child cannot be found.
Status
This policy was adopted by the Ras Tafari Inc. board on October 17, 2026. Exact exits, search zones and the meeting point at Rainbow Beach Park will be set during the site walk with park staff, which has not happened yet (launch checklist item 6, Governance). Until then, this page gives the steps; the site map comes later.
How we prevent it
- Headcounts at the start of class, after the Move Break, before and after every move between rooms or between inside and outside, and at the end.
- Buddy system for restrooms, with an adult at the restroom entrance (see Restroom supervision).
- Children never leave the class area except with a buddy and an adult's knowledge.
- Outdoors in summer, the class area is marked off and children stay inside it.
- Children wait inside with coaches until their authorized adult arrives (see Arrival and sign-out).
What we teach children
In kid words, in their first class: "If you can't find us, stay where you are and yell 'DJ Lab!' Or go to a park worker or a grown-up with kids and say you're lost from the DJ Lab. Never leave the park with anyone."
Minute by minute
This plan is modeled on Code Adam, the missing-child alert used by stores and public buildings, named for Adam Walsh. The words "Code Adam" are used only among staff and park employees.
| Time | Who | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Minute 0 | Any adult who notices | Says "Code Adam" to the other adult and, if inside the fieldhouse, to park staff. Gives the child's description: first name, age, height, hair, clothing, shoes. |
| Minute 0–1 | Second adult | Gathers all other children together in one place, does a headcount, and keeps them there. The class stops. |
| Minute 0–1 | Lead coach | Calls the parent at once. Asks if the child may have been picked up or gone somewhere familiar. |
| Minute 1–2 | Lead coach and park staff | Cover the exits. Ask park staff to watch building doors. Outdoors, watch the paths out of the area and toward the parking lot and the lake. |
| Minute 1–2 | Lead coach | Checks the sign-out log: was the child already signed out? |
| Minute 2–10 | Lead coach, park staff, any available screened adult | Search: restrooms (an adult calls the child's name from the entrance, then checks inside together with park staff), the gear area, hallways, any room the child used, the lawn, playground, and the area toward the beach. |
| Minute 2–10 | Second adult | Stays with the group. Never leaves the other children to search. |
| Minute 10 | Lead coach | If the child is not found, call 911. Give the description, where and when last seen, and who they may be with. Keep searching. |
| Minute 10 onward | Lead coach | Calls Stephen Henry (Lab lead). Meets police and follows their direction. |
| Any time | Any adult | If the child may be near the water, or may have been taken by someone, call 911 at once. Do not wait 10 minutes. |
Because the lake is close, any sign the child went toward the beach means calling 911 immediately.
If the child is found
- The adult stays with the child and tells the team: "Code Adam cleared."
- If the child was found with an adult who is not their parent or authorized adult, staff note what they can (description, vehicle, direction) and tell police. Staff do not put themselves or the child at risk to stop someone.
- The child is checked for injury and comforted. No scolding.
- The parent is called with the update right away.
- A full headcount of the group is taken again.
Afterward
- The parent receives a written report within 24 hours. See Incident reporting.
- Every lost-child event, even one resolved in two minutes, is logged and reviewed within 7 days to find the gap.
- The team practices this plan at the start of each season (see Emergency action plan).
What you'll be told
- A call at once if your child cannot be found, before the search is over.
- A call the moment your child is found.
- A written report within 24 hours of what happened, how it happened, and what we are changing.
Sources
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (Code Adam was created by Wal-Mart in cooperation with NCMEC in 1994): https://www.missingkids.org/
- Code Adam Act of 2003, Public Law 108-21, Subtitle D (requires federal buildings to have missing-child procedures: description, alert, exit monitoring, search, contacting law enforcement, documentation), reproduced as a note to 40 U.S.C. § 3101: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/40/3101
- The 10-minute threshold for calling 911 is the Lab's own commitment, matching the common Code Adam practice; it is not set by the federal Act.