RFK Jr.’s HHS announces first-ever alert system for missing autistic people

The Trump administration announced Thursday a first-of-its-kind national initiative aiming to help locate and bring home autistic people who have been reported missing.

The “National Autism Missing and Endangered Person Alert” initiative aims to bolster coordination among emergency management agencies, law enforcement, first responders and community partners nationwide to boost preparedness and response when autistic adults and children go missing, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a press release. The effort will also institute a national framework of effective strategies to address the leading causes of preventable injury and death among autistic people, such as “accidental drowning linked to wandering and elopement.”

“When an autistic child or adult goes missing, every minute matters,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said in a statement. “President [Donald] Trump has made improving the lives of Americans with autism and their families a priority. We are bringing federal, state, and local partners together to improve prevention, speed the response, and help bring autistic children and adults home safely.”

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