Fahy, Romero Introduce Bill to Establish ‘Purple Alert’ in New York State for People Living with Disabilities
ALBANY, N.Y. – Senator Patricia Fahy (D—Albany) and Assemblymember Gabriella Romero (D, WF—Albany, Guilderland, New Scotland) announced they are introducing legislation (S.XXXX/A.XXXX) today to create a ‘Purple Alert’ in New York State, a statewide public notification system to assist in locating and safely recovering individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Every day, around 2,300 people are reported missing in the United States. In recognition of this, and to protect especially vulnerable populations, all 50 states have Amber Alert systems for abducted children, and 37 states have Silver Alert systems for missing elderly persons. The tragic drowning of Harbe Nagi, a seven-year-old boy with autism from Guilderland, New York, brought to light a gap in the Amber Alert system, which is specifically targeted for abducted children, not children with special needs who may be missing. This legislation would direct the state police to establish a Purple Alert system that could be used to send out notifications to assist in locating people with disabilities.
Purple alerts have been implemented in six states, including Florida, Rhode Island, Maryland, Kansas, Mississippi, and Connecticut. On average, seven children with autism die per month after wandering or bolting away, primarily from drowning; in fact, tragically, 91% of wandering deaths in autistic children are attributable to drowning. Purple alert systems have proven to be highly effective. For example, in Florida, the purple alert system has a reported above 95% success rate in locating missing adults and children living with disabilities.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), over 430 missing persons have been safely recovered since the Purple Alert system was implemented. Early tracking of the system cited 250 recoveries out of 255 issued alerts, representing an almost 98% success rate.
These notification systems provide a critical, urgent service by notifying communities and greatly increasing the likelihood that the missing individual is found. According to the Department of Justice, since its creation in 1996, over 1,300 children have been found due to the activation of an Amber Alert.
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