ALBANY - New York State today marks the one-year anniversary of its Missing Adult Alert system, which is activated when an individual 18 years old or older with dementia, autism or other cognitive disorder, brain injury or mental disability is reported missing and is at credible risk of harm.

Administered by the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at the state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the alert program went live on Oct. 23, 2011. Since that time, DCJS has issued 21 alerts, and in seven instances, law enforcement officials have credited the alert system with helping them locate the adult that went missing in their communities.

New York State’s Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Elizabeth Glazer said: “Time is of the essence when anyone goes missing, but it is particularly critical when individuals who are unable to care for themselves because of a cognitive impairment or brain disorder wander away from home. This system allows law enforcement to mobilize the public and other agencies to assist in the search, increasing the odds that these individuals will be quickly located and reunited with their families.”

Missing Adult Alerts are similar to AMBER alerts, or the Missing Child/College Student Alert system, which also is administered by the Clearinghouse.  

After receiving a Missing Person report, a law enforcement agency must determine there is a credible risk of harm to a missing individual before contacting the Clearinghouse to request the alert. Once an alert is requested, information about the missing adult is distributed electronically throughout New York State within minutes to the following entities: police agencies, television and radio stations, newspapers, hospitals, New York State Thruway travel plazas and toll booths, airports, bus terminals, train stations and border crossings.

Variable highway signs are activated with Alert information for up to eight hours. Unlike an AMBER Alert, however, radio and television station managers decide if and when to broadcast Missing Adult Alert information.   Information also is distributed via NY-ALERT; to register to receive alerts and help spread the word when a vulnerable adult goes missing, visit www.nyalert.org. More than 13,000 people have signed up to receive Missing Adult Alerts.