What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Print number 1205a
- Amend and recommit to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, the elder law, the public health law, and the executive law, in relation to the establishment of a statewide vulnerable person location system
Purpose
To develop a statewide missing person locator system.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill is the legislative intent and acknowledges the tragedy where Avonte Oquendo wandered away from his school never to be found alive and states that the legislation shall be known as "Avonte's Law."
Read the full memo (1,152 words)
Section 2 amends the mental hygiene law section 5.05, by adding a new subdivision (f) to provide that:
1. The commissioners of the office of mental health and the office for people with developmental disabilities are authorized and instructed to form rules and regulations and take all necessary steps to establish a missing person locator program, to be implemented in every county in the state.
2. The program will make available to all vulnerable or aging persons within their care at cost, upon request personally or through an agent, parent or guardian, a personal locator device to be placed on such individual and used in conjunction with the statewide missing person locator system developed by the state police pursuant to section 837-f-2 of the executive law.
3. The state shall provide full payment or a subsidy for any individual who cannot afford to pay for such locator device.
Section 3 amends the elder law section 202 by adding two new subdivisions 16 and 17 to:
1. Make available to all vulnerable or aging persons within the care of the office for the aging or within the care of a private facility subject to the provisions of this chapter, at cost, upon request personally or through an agent, parent or guardian, a personal locator device to be placed on such individual and used in conjunction with the statewide missing person locator system developed by the state police pursuant to section 837-f-2 of the executive law.
2. Require the state to provide full payment or a subsidy for any individual who cannot afford such device.
Section 4 amends the public health law section 206, by adding a new subdivision to provide that:
1. The commissioner shall make available to all vulnerable or aging persons within their care at costs upon request personally or through an agent, parent or guardian, a personal locator device to be placed on such individual and use in conjunction with the statewide missing person locator system developed by the state police pursuant to section 837-f-2 of the executive law.
2. The state shall provide full payment or a subsidy for any individual who cannot afford to pay for such device.
Section 5 of the bill amends the executive law by adding a new section 837-f-2 to provide that:
1. The state police are authorized and instructed to promulgate rules and regulations and take all necessary actions towards implementing a statewide locator program that will facilitate the location of lost vulnerable or aging persons.
2. The program shall be implemented in conjunction with all local law enforcement agencies and the state shall make the necessary locator equipment available in every county of the state either through the state police, or in cooperation with county and/or local law enforcement agencies.
3. The state police or local law enforcement agency shall, at cost to the recipient, provide a personal locator device to any department, office or agency that is involved in the care and/or housing of a vulnerable aging person or to any private vulnerable or aging individual.
4. The state shall provide full payment or a subsidy for any individual who cannot afford to pay for such locator device.
5. The locator device used in conjunction with this program must rely on the use of radio determination technology.
6. The state police or other law enforcement shall approve and designate private organizations that they authorize to disseminate such locator bracelets or devices for use by aging or vulnerable individuals.
Section 6 is the effective date.
Justification
Wandering poses a significant danger for the at-risk population including the elderly who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's disease and those with autism. Time is a critical factor in locating these individuals and helping to ensure their safe return.
The tragedy where Avonte Oquendo wandered away from his school never to be found alive highlights the urgency to find ways to protect the most vulnerable individuals in our state and to help prevent this type of tragedy from happening again.
A statewide program designed to make it easier to locate missing vulnerable persons is one such mechanism to achieve this goal.
Individuals who participate in these programs are given a device, which can be worn around the wrist, ankle, or clipped onto belt loops or shoelaces, that gives off an individualized signal. If the person goes missing, caregivers notify the local participating agency prompting a unit of specially trained officers to respond. One such program. Indicates that the average recovery time is approximately 30 minutes.
Programs that enable law enforcement agencies to locate at risk populations are operating in over 45 states. More than 25 local law enforcement agencies in New York State participate in such a program. In addition, Westchester County adopted a program approximately five years ago and has successfully used the technology eight times.
Wandering knows no geographical boundaries. All local systems should be either uniform or compatible throughout the state. In addition, the state's purchasing power will help reduce the cost of the necessary devices and systems. Implementing a statewide program to help locate missing vulnerable persons will save lives.
Legislative history
2014 - S.7235 - Reported and Committed to Finance
Fiscal implications
The cost to implement and run the program will depend on the number of law enforcement agencies and individuals that participate. Each personal locator device costs approximately $100. The equipment used to located a missing persons costs approximately $2,500.
In addition, personnel costs for local law enforcement agencies may decrease, as searches that could otherwise last days, weeks or even months may be completed in as little as 30 minutes.
Moreover, in response to the introduction of the federal Avonte's Law by Senator Chuck Schumer, the Justice Department has agreed to make $10,000,000 available to local law enforcement agencies or qualified organizations to provide locator devices for children with Autism as well as training. This its in addition to the funds available from the Justice Department's current Alzheimer's program that assists in the locating individuals with Alzheimer's disease that are missing.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the timely implementation of this act on its effective date is hereby authorized to be made on or before such effective date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.