Abinanti Applauds State's Support to Locate Missing Vulnerable Children

Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh/Mt. Pleasant) today applauded the state’s recent support for county and municipal programs that use electronic tracking devices - wrist bracelets transmitting radio signals - to locate missing cognitively impaired individuals.

The Governor’s office announced that the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), which presently administers missing vulnerable individual alerts, would provide almost 600 Project Lifesaver tracking devices to 48 counties and additional training as needed.

“The state’s bolstering local efforts will greatly enhance the effectiveness of these programs,” said Abinanti, who first introduced legislation to require a state program in January 2014. Abinanti introduced his legislation (“Avonte’s Law”) after Avonte Oquendo, a child with a developmental disability, lost his life after wandering away from his school in New York City.

Abinanti noted that the Westchester program, which has fitted numerous vulnerable individuals with these wrist bracelets, has allowed Westchester police to successfully locate several Alzheimer’s patients who have wandered.

Abinanti initially called for a Westchester program to be created when he was a County Legislator in 2007. Then County Executive Andy Spano established the program in 2008.

“Now DCJS should develop a program using the latest available technology to ensure that we have a coordinated statewide response to find missing persons,” said the Westchester Assemblyman. “Today’s announcement is a good first step.”