COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is urging Ohio fifth graders and their teachers to take part in the 2016 National Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Missing Persons Unit began accepting poster contest entries today.

The contest, whose theme is “Bring Our Missing Children Home,” is sponsored nationally by the United States Department of Justice. The purpose of the contest is to help raise awareness about child safety, exhibit America’s efforts to bring missing children home safely, and highlight the importance of preemptive education programs.

So far in 2015, more than 18,000 children were reported missing in Ohio and more than 1.3 million children were reported missing in the United States.

Fifth graders across the state are eligible to submit a poster to the Attorney General’s Office that incorporates the theme of the contest into their artwork. The artwork will be judged on creativity, reflection of the contest theme and design originality.

The top three posters will be selected by a panel of judges from the AMBER Alert Steering Committee and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The winners, their parents, and teachers will be invited to Columbus to meet with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and receive their awards.

Ohio’s first place winner will then be entered into the national contest, where one nationwide winner will travel to Washington, DC, to participate in the National Missing Children’s Day ceremony.

The deadline to submit posters to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office is March 1, 2016.

For an application and contest rules, visit www.ohioamberplan.org.