Last month, we stood together in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for its 60th-anniversary celebration, with onlookers likely wondering why the Virginia attorney general was standing with two of the most legendary defenders in football history: Mike Singletary and Randy White. We were there to record a new message aimed at raising awareness about missing children.

The new Public Service Announcement we recorded advises parents to "Be Prepared, Not Scared." Sadly, this message carries even greater weight given that, right after we left Canton, Ohio, a young girl in the community became part of an increasing trend of runaway children in the region.

This year alone, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has helped find more than 1,072 missing Ohio children as a result of a successful human trafficking sting .

While missing children statistics are categorized as white and nonwhite by the U.S. Department of Justice , studies show black and Hispanic children make up 57% of all runaways, and that black females ages 11 to 21 are four times more likely to go missing than their white counterparts.

While the media often overlook the unsettling rise in runaway cases, law enforcement agencies and NFL Alumni are unafraid to communicate the unvarnished truth to parents: human trafficking is spreading, more minority children are missing than ever, and there is a chilling connection between runaways and opioid abuse, gang activity, and trafficking. Indeed, law enforcement officers shared with one of us that traffickers often lure Midwestern girls into exploitative situations with false promises of drugs, money, and freedom.

This battle is one state, federal, and local law enforcement communities fight tirelessly every single day. The exploitation of our children is real. Predators stop at nothing.

That's why our new prevention initiative is so important. By providing safety game plan materials to parents and public policy leaders, we can adapt our approach to evolving threats against young people with increased urgency and a preventive defense that will work.

Other organizations are also leading the charge in this effort. In August, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement announced in the Chicago area a new initiative to distribute 1 million child ID kits, aiming to protect children and develop new tools and resources for missing minority children. These kits, which include a fingerprint card and DNA kit, should be completed and stored by parents at home and given to law enforcement in case of an emergency.

These public-private partnerships, including others such as the Child ID Program with NFL Alumni , make such a difference. In 1997, when Amber Hagerman vanished, fewer than 2% of parents had their child's fingerprints for emergencies. Since then, millions of child ID kits have been distributed through various partnerships in all 50 states.

In Virginia, these partnerships have even brought Washington, Cowboys, and Bears football greats onto the same team to explain why it is so important as parents and grandparents to have a safety game plan.

At a human trafficking summit in Virginia, we discussed how human trafficking continues to spread and why the link between opioid abuse and human trafficking is one of the single biggest threats to family safety. Trafficking and opioids are sadly intertwined, from the involvement of cartels to the control exerted over victims. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates a quarter of human trafficking survivors have an opioid problem. We believe this figure is actually far higher.

Bad actors also exploit online platforms to target children. Parents should know more about the exploitation of minors and illegal sex trafficking online.

Parents need to be prepared and have a family safety game plan that includes how to keep their children safe online and keep an updated child ID kit at home if the worst happens.

It’s time to put our children first, add to our collective knowledge base about these new threats, and actively help parents defend against them.

Jason Miyares is the attorney general of Virginia. Mike Singletary is a member of the College & Pro Football Halls of Fame and a former player for Baylor University, the Chicago Bears, and the San Francisco 49ers. Randy White is a member of the College & Pro Football Halls of Fame and a former player for the University of Maryland and the Dallas Cowboys.