Details

September 5, 2026 - By Brett Mattson, Naomi Freel, Kya Hector, Grace Thrush - On August, 21, 2026, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced a new initiative to use existing emergency alert systems and protocols to specifically help locate missing adults and children with national association of counties logoautism. The new alert, called the Autism Missing and Endangered Person Alert Initiative, will operate through a partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The partnership aims to improve coordination between first responders, law enforcement agencies and community partners to better locate and respond to missing individuals with autism.

The announcement followed a recommendation from the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), an advisory group of federal agency representatives, parents of autistic individuals and autistic individuals themselves, to establish the alert system.

This initiative will:

  • Promote interagency coordination using existing systems to improve alerting for autism-related incidents. This will be done utilizing the Missing and Endangered Persons (MEP) alert category using FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). 
  • Provide guidance and best practices for local authorities on how to best use existing protocols and prevent the leading causes of preventable injury for autistic individuals
  • Support updated IPAWS messaging to include more autism-specific messaging. This may include emphasizing nearby hazards, and instructions on how the public can help. 

County Impact

Counties provide critical services to their citizens related to public safety, emergency preparedness and healthcare. The Autism Missing and Endangered Person Alert Initiative has the potential to provide counties with better guidance on how to respond to autistic individuals who go missing, integrating resources together to more quickly reunite people with their families. Emphasizing coordination between federal agency-defined best practices and community-focused training for the county officials providing those services will be important to keep counties safe and secure. 

Source: NACO