Key provisions from Smith’s Kevin and Avonte’s Law (HR 4221)—designed to help protect and locate children with Autism and elderly persons with Alzheimer’s who wander— were included in the Omnibus bill signed into law last week. The spending package authorized $10 million in funding over five years for the Missing Americans Alert Program.

    “The new provisions and the added funding will support critical wandering prevention programs that have saved lives, and will continue to save lives,” Rep. Chris Smith, co-founder and co-chair of both the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Congressional Autism Caucus, stated.

    “Wandering is a common—and serious—problem facing these Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, as an estimated 60 percent of Alzheimer’s patients wander,” Smith said. “Similarly almost half of children with Autism have wandered at some point, according to a 2012 Pediatrics study. Wandering can and has resulted in serious injury or even death.”

    Smith originally introduced the Kevin and Avonte’s Law in the 114^th Congress and it passed the House with broad bipartisan support, receiving over 340 votes. It was not acted upon in the Senate; Smith re-introduced it in November.

    The bill is supported by the National Autism Association, the Alzheimer’s Association, Autism Speaks, Autism New Jersey, the Autism Society, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, SafeMinds, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.

    As incorporated in the Omnibus, the law, funded at $2 million per year through FY 2022, will provide grants to help educate local law enforcement, health care agencies, and other organizations on wandering prevention for patients with Alzheimer’s and children with Autism, as well as persons with intellectual disabilities.

    Funding for these programs will also help them set up and improve communications and alert systems and utilize non-invasive tracking technology to prevent wandering-related injuries and deaths. 

    Under the Omnibus, the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program has also been re-authorized and expanded to become the Missing Americans Alert Program.