{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399897", "<span class=\"kicker\">November NJ League of Municipalities Magazine Op-Ed by Smith</span>'Kevin and Avontes Law Fills a Need to Help People with Autism, Alzheimers'", "2016-11-07", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By U.S. Rep. Chris Smith-\u00a0\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During the 1980s, when a child went missing, the nation knew by the photos on the side of a milk carton. As a young father myself, like all parents at the time, the images of these missing children resonated with me: I deeply empathized with the parents and prayed for the safe return of their son or daughter.  \r\n\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When a child goes missing today, we get an Amber Alert message on our phones and see the Facebook posts and tweets from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, child welfare organizations and local law enforcement offices.\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Increasingly, though, law enforcement officers are not only searching for children and young adults who are taken by bad actors seeking to do them harm, but also for children and young adults with developmental disabilities, such as autism, or Alzheimer\u2019s patients, who wander from a safe area or caretaker.\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It's estimated that 40 percent of children with autism have wandered from their homes, their schools or their local parks. Much like the children on the milk cartons, we know that their safe return is dependent on time and training.\u00a0\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That's why I have introduced Kevin and Avonte's law in the House of Representatives, to help equip local law enforcement with the technology and training to find these children and return them safely to their parents or guardians.  \r\n\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My bill will make grants available to law enforcement agencies such as municipal police and non-profits to provide training to prevent wandering and implement lifesaving technology programs to find individuals who have wandered.  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This legislation will reauthorize and expand an existing program, the Missing Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Patient Alert Program, to include children with a developmental disability\u2014such as autism\u2014and rename it the \u201cMissing Americans Alert Program.\u201d The Missing Americans Alert Program will be used to provide grants to law enforcement agencies, public safety agencies and non-profit organizations to promote initiatives that will reduce the risk of injury and death relating to the wandering characteristics of some children with autism, as well as individuals with Alzheimer's. Kevin and Avonte\u2019s Law will amend and reauthorize the program at $10 million over 5 years.\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Funding can be used to provide proactive educational programing to prevent wandering such as providing prevention and response information, including online training resources, to families or caretakers of individuals who wander. Additionally, funding can be used to provide education and training to first responders, school personnel, clinicians, and the public in order to recognize and respond to endangered missing individuals and facilitate their rescue and recovery. Funding can also be used for innovative locative technology to facilitate rescue and recovery.  \r\n\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As the co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Autism Caucus, I understand the devastating consequences from which wandering can result: the legislation is named in honor of two boys with autism, Kevin Curtis and Avonte Oquendo, who both wandered from safety and tragically drowned.  \r\n\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to a 2016 report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), New Jersey has the highest prevalence rate of autism in any state in the CDC study, with 1 in 41 children on the spectrum\u2014a 12 percent increase in the last two years. While wandering safety and prevention programs for children with autism are currently in place and making a positive impact through law enforcement agencies, I\u2019ve heard from constituents that there aren\u2019t enough resources to support these critical programs and that families who need them often don\u2019t have access.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Enactment of Kevin and Avonte's law will help change that. \r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Senate passed its version of Kevin and Avonte's law in July 2016.\u00a0This is a step forward in the effort to keep children with autism and seniors with Alzheimer\u2019s safe. I\u2019ll continue to fight for passage of this legislation in the House to ensure this bill is enacted and helps to keep children and adults\u00a0 with autism and Alzheimer\u2019s, respectively, safe in New Jersey, and in all communities across the country. \r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This much needed, bipartisan legislation is supported by a number of autism, Alzheimer\u2019s and children\u2019s groups, including Autism Speaks, Autism New Jersey, the Autism Society, the National Autism Association, the National Center for Missing &amp; Exploited Children, The ARC, the Alzheimer's Association, and the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.\u00a0\r\nElected in 1980, Rep. Smith (NJ-04) serves as the Dean of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation in the current 114th Congress. Mr. Smith represents the Fourth Congressional District, which includes large portions of Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties. \r\nThis op-ed was originally published on page 18 of the November 2016 print edition of NJ Municipalities Magazine. \r\nIt can be found in its original printed version online at: http://www.njslom.org/\u00a0and http://www.njmmagazine.org/issues/2016/2016-11/index.html.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399897"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7654749788343906, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}