‘We cross the finish line victorious’: Md. father celebrates passing of state’s Purple Alert program – WTOP News
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Now that Maryland has passed legislation creating a “Purple Alert” for when adults with intellectual disabilities go missing, Jimmy Hall says families like his “will have a voice.”
Maryland passed legislation creating a “Purple Alert” that would create the same kind of large-scale alerts when adults with intellectual disabilities go missing. Jimmy Hall, the father of a man with intellectual disabilities that recently went missing, says that now families like his “will have a voice.”
Hall’s 31-year-old son Rashawn Williams, who has Down syndrome, was missing for six days before he was found in a locked room at the Glenmont Metro station in October of last year.
When Williams went missing, his family hoped that an Amber or Silver Alert could be issued — any way to notify people all across the region to be on the lookout for their son, who is nonverbal.
Instead, they found he didn’t qualify.
Amber Alerts are issued by Maryland State Police in cases where the missing person is under the age of 18, has been abducted and could be in “danger of serious bodily harm or death,” according to criteria listed on the MSP website.
Silver Alerts are issued for people with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer’s and dementia. And the criteria at the time Rashawn went missing also involved an age limit — for people over the age of 60. In February, during the state’s General Assembly session, that criteria was amended to remove the age restriction.
The language in the Purple Alert legislation makes clear that it’s intended for people who don’t fit the criteria for the Silver Alert.
It is targeted at missing people who have cognitive impairments that are not Alzheimer’s or dementia.
For example, a Purple Alert would be issued in cases involving people with a mental disorder, intellectual or developmental disability, brain injury or an emotional disability related to substance abuse. It would also include people who are deaf, hard of hearing or may also have visual impairments along with hearing deficits.
When he got the news that the Purple Alert bill passed in Annapolis, Hall told WTOP “We cross the finish line victorious.” He also testified during a Senate committee in February that the state urgently needed to create the Purple Alert.
“My son didn’t have a voice and he had to go missing for six days” before he was found, Hall said.
Hall’s son attended the hearings on the bill during the legislative session, and was described by his father as “a people person, he really enjoys family and friends, he loves being out, he loves music.”
Hall said he takes joy in knowing future families will be able to get the word out about their missing loved ones more quickly in the future.
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