Cranford Mother Takes Autism Advocacy To Governor Murphy

CRANFORD, NJ - Earlier this week, Cranford mother and Westfield business owner Jennifer Love went public with her plan to equip all transportation for special needs students with GPS systems and cameras.

Love is championing Emma's Law, named after her 17-year-old autistic daughter, which would see these safety concerns addressed across the Garden State.

Emma attends The Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune and a change in the transportation provider placed Love at odds with the company. According to Love, the issue began when the school her daughter attends changed transportation providers.

"I contacted the new company and requested to meet and speak to the driver and aide before the first day of the route. I was told that was not possible. They disclosed to me that we were able to meet the bus driver and the aide the day of morning pick up. When they arrived, I asked for the bus driver and aide's contact information," Love told Patch.

She was told that it was against their company policy to give out their contact information.

"That is absolutely absurd to me. I was told that if I had an issue, I need to discuss I had to go through the front office of the bus company," Love said. "The problem is that the office opens at 9 a.m. and my daughter is traveling at 7:30 a.m."

When a student goes to an out of district school, transportation is paid for by the district and arranged through the Union County Education System system. Love said this system leaves families at the mercy of whatever bus company bids the lowest and whatever policies they have in place for communication.

After a disastrous experience years ago where a bus was lost in Camden for five hours, Love said she is not leaving anything to chance. Love said one of the things that disturbs her is how in 2019 buses are not equipped with surveillance cameras and GPS tracking. And that there isn't an open line of communication to parents.

"I do not think this is an unreasonable request, to be able to communicate with the people who are in charge to take care of my non-verbal special needs child. Typical children are able to communicate for themselves, my daughter does not have a voice so I have to be her voice," she said. "When you call an Uber, you get a text message with the resume and name as well as a photo of the driver. Should we not have at least that for the people we are entrusting our most vulnerable and precious children?"

Looking For Help

After sharing her story on social media and with Patch, Love met with District 21 Assemblyman Jon Bramnick to gain support for Emma's Law and did a radio interview on New Jersey 101.5.

The consensus was that Love should bring her plight directly to Governor Phil Murphy, bypassing legislation and urging Murphy sign an executive order. To that end, Love has started an Emma's Law Facebook page and is urging people to contact Murphy.

Love posted a call to action on the page.

"Everyone please start calling Governor Murphy to ask him to consider an executive order to push Emma's Law through," Love said.

The hope is that the action would require every vehicle transporting special needs individuals to be equipped with real time GPS tracking, surveillance device and a communication device.

Murphy's office can be reached at 609-292-6000 and those interested can also send a message through the website.

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