We want everyone to enjoy a better quality of life. So when a Mom approached us with an idea about how life can be better for autistic kids and their parents, we listened. One of the features of the autism spectrum is that some people with autism are prone to wandering. Search and rescue (SAR) first responders tend to use "Project Lifesaver" for  wanderers - known as "elopers" - be they autistic kids or old people. Think about those times when you hear the Sheriff's helicopter's loudspeaker asking for help finding someone - a "7 year old child with a backpack" or an "elderly man wearing shorts and a hat". Losing track of your child or adult loved one can be scary and extremely stressful. Project Lifesaver could help find those "elopers" and get them back to safety. It's too bad Sacramento County doesn't use the system. Read on to learn about what that Mom recommended to us.

The leading cause of death for children with autism under the age of 14  is accidental drowning. Children on the spectrum are 160 times more likely to die from drowning than their neurotypical peers. Several factors contribute to this increased risk, such as sensory sensitivity and communication deficits, which are direct barriers to acquiring swimming skills. However, elopement, which in the context of autism refers to the compulsion to bolt or run away— remains the most significant risk factor for drowning because it increases exposure to dangerous situations with bodies of water like our swimming pools, lakes and rivers. Approximately 49% of children with autism attempt to elope, with the behavior being the most common between the ages of 4 and 7.

In Sacramento County, increased proximity to residential swimming pools presents a significant additional risk for autistic children in particular. California already ranks second in the United States in the number of swimming pools per capita, with an estimated 1.34 million pools or one per 29 people. The City of Sacramento ranks ninth nationally among U.S. municipalities, and fourth within the state, in the number of residential pools, with 14% of all households having one. Although data like that are not available for our community, it is reasonable to assume that our suburban area has a comparable percentage of households with pools as the City of Sacramento does and maybe more.

While there are many strategies that special needs parents employ to prevent their children from eloping, most are aimed at implementing physical safeguards - like door alarms. Still, successfully addressing the behavior through a comprehensive treatment plan can take years before producing the expected results. So tracking devices and prompt law enforcement response are the most important resources to address an elopement in the event that all other preventative measures fail.

A number of different tracking devices are available to special needs parents with autistic children, with a variety of different price ranges, service plans, and functional capabilities. Many cheaper options, like Apple AirTags, are affordable but have significant limitations in an emergency. Others, like Angel Sense, feature specialized functions
designed to assist parents and law enforcement manage elopements, but they can be pricey. The Alta California Regional Centers provide Project Lifesaver tracking devices free of charge to client families who cannot afford to invest in a GPS device with a monthly service plan by giving them a Project LifeSaver band.

Project LifeSaver is a 501(c)3 public nonprofit organization that provides training, technology, and equipment at a municipality level to public safety agencies that decide to implement their response program. The band used by the Project LifeSaver program works differently than tracking devices that rely on Bluetooth or GPS to locate an individual’s position. The band is an RFID tag that uses radio waves to transmit its location. That means it can be tracked in areas where GPS doesn’t work. The Project Lifesaver tag requires a specific reader and antenna which Project LifeSaver provides. Although the Auburn, Rocklin, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Lodi and Sacramento  Police Departments adopted Project LifeSaver, as have the Sheriff's Departments of Amador, Calaveras and El Dorado Counties,  the Sacramento County Sheriff has not. That means the Project LifeSaver Bands that the Sacramento Main Office of Alta California Regional Center has given to disabled clients located in all areas of Sacramento County are essentially useless in unincorporated areas.

Currently the Sacramento County Sheriff does not have any type of coordinated response program to address elopement similar to those in the other communities and counties. When we asked the Scramento County Sheriff's missing persons unit why, they could not provide a reason - though they readily acknowledged that several incorporated communities in the area had adopted Project LifeSaver in order to provide continuity of service throughout the region.

What the Sacramento County Sheriff does currently have is the so-called “Take Me Home Safely" program. It is  a registration module embedded in their online police report submission page. Despite having its own landing page with a detailed explanation of the program, the Take Me Home Safely portal did not actually work when we tested it and followed up with the Sheriff’s Department for technical support that allowed completion of the registration process. Even if the portal functioned as intended, it does not appear to collect any information that would be
especially helpful in the future for locating someone who has eloped - whether that person is an elderly individual with dementia, a developmentally disabled adult, or a non-verbal child with autism. As far as we could tell, it is a program that exists only on paper, sort of like calling the Sheriff's non-emergency number after crimes have been committed.

The bottom line is that parents and caregivers can be diligent and take every precaution, because it only takes a momentary distraction or small oversight for elopement to occur, despite the best efforts to prevent it. Caregivers often suffer from burnout and live in a state of constant exhaustion, which makes it even more important to have a well-trained and equipped law enforcement agency that can act as a safety net if a loved one elopes. There are many things about Arden Arcade that make it a great area for special needs parents, but experience has shown that our community's unincorporated status means it is doubtful the Sheriff's approach to elopment SAR will change. Our local special needs families will likely be held at bay if they dare to ask the Sheriff to adopt measures known to make children on the autism spectrum, developmentally disabled adults and disoriented seniors safer. Our only recourse, then, is to try to decipher the garbled helicopter loudspeaker.