For years, families have been talking about the very real dangers of wandering and elopement. We know how quickly a child or adult with autism can disappear. We know many are drawn to water. And we know that when it happens, every minute matters.

Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the development of the first-ever National Autism Missing and Endangered Person Alert Initiative, bringing together HHS, the Department of Justice and FEMA to create a more coordinated, autism-informed response when an autistic person goes missing.

The plan includes an autism-specific alert capability, better first responder training, evidence-informed search practices, stronger state and local protocols, and improved data collection. It will build on existing systems like Amber Alert, although the autism-specific alert is not active yet and is still being developed.

Families should not have to figure out what to do in the middle of a crisis. The plan should already be there. Because when someone with autism goes missing, we don't have time to figure out the system. We need a system that already knows what to do.  This is a hopeful step in that direction.