FLORIDA – Florida’s new spectrum alert system took effect July 1, bringing a targeted, potentially life-saving tool to help locate missing children with autism spectrum disorder.
The alert system is designed to quickly notify the public when law enforcement believes a missing child with autism is in immediate danger. Unlike the statewide amber alert, the spectrum alert is sent to a 5-mile radius around the child’s last known location — a deliberate design choice rooted in how children with autism spectrum disorder typically go missing.
“When that goes out, it goes across statewide [for an amber alert]. We want everybody in the state looking for that child,” said Melissa Buheda, director of missing persons and offender enforcement with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). “However, with the spectrum alert, because the children are not — almost all the time — wandering on foot, that is going out to a 5-mile radius of where the child was last known to be seen.”
How the alert works
When a child with autism goes missing, the first step for families is straightforward: call 911.
“They need to contact their local law enforcement agency, who will initiate it with FDLE to get that alert initiated,” Bujeda said. “So their first step needs to be to call 9-1-1 and alert them that their child is missing and in danger.”
From there, FDLE coordinates the alert through the Wireless Emergency Alert system — the same platform used to deliver amber alerts to cell phones. Floridians can also visit FDLE’s website to sign up for alerts directly.
When residents receive a spectrum alert, Bujedas aid the ask is simple: use your eyes.
“If you get that spectrum alert on your phone, that is everybody go outside, look — if you have bodies of water in your area, go outside, check those retention ponds, check the lakes that you may see to see: is that child in my area?” she said.
What the community should — and shouldn’t — do
Bujeda emphasized that community members who spot a child should resist the urge to approach them directly and instead call 911 immediately.
“We don’t want the child to get excessively scared or have a tendency to run further away,” she said. “If that child is sitting down on the side of the road or sitting down wherever it may be, just call 9-1-1. Let law enforcement know they have eyes on the child and law enforcement can get to the scene immediately.”
Bodies of water are a key area of concern. Florida ranks fifth in the nation for autism-related drownings, according to Buheda, and children with autism are often drawn to water — making it among the first places residents should check.
“Right now in the United States, 1 in 31 children are now diagnosed with autism. So this isn’t going to be a rare scenario.”
Training first responders
A critical component of the new law is statewide training for law enforcement officers, aimed at helping them understand how to search for and safely approach children with autism.
“We created a training for all law enforcement across the state of Florida that talks about those particulars,” Bujeda said. “They may be calling the child’s name trying to find them, but the child is hiding instead.”
Bujeda noted the training benefits officers beyond missing person cases.
“The information is not just helpful for law enforcement for the missing person calls, but in their general just policing activities,” she said.
How to get more information
Residents can sign up to receive spectrum alerts through FDLE’s website at member.everbridge.net.
Families of children with autism are encouraged to contact local autism spectrum disorder organizations for additional resources on how the alert system works and how it can support their families.