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Enhanced Alerts for Missing Loved Ones with Disabilities Act of 2026
To amend Kristen's Act to provide for the inclusion of information related to developmental disabilities, alzheimer's disease, and dementia, in alerts issued through the Ashanti Alert communications network, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends Kristen's Act to expand the Ashanti Alert communications network to include information about developmental disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, and dementia in missing person alerts. It requires that alerts issued through this system indicate whether the missing person has one of these conditions, allowing law enforcement and the public to better identify and locate missing individuals. The bill expands the definition of disabilities that qualify for these alerts to include developmental disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, and dementia, in addition to existing mental and physical disabilities. It also mandates that states, territories, and tribal governments provide training and educational programs to help law enforcement respond effectively to reports of missing adults and children with developmental disabilities.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4] (R-MO)
2 cosponsors
- Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4] (R-WA)
- Rep. Smith, Jason [R-MO-8] (R-MO)
Actions (2)
- Jun 3, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jun 3, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 3, 2026
Mr. Alford (for himself and Mr. Smith of Missouri) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend Kristen’s Act to provide for the inclusion of information related to developmental disabilities, alzheimer’s disease, and dementia, in alerts issued through the Ashanti Alert communications network, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Enhanced Alerts for Missing Loved Ones with Disabilities Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. ALERTS FOR MISSING ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES, ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, AND DEMENTIA.
Section 204(b) of Kristen’s Act (34 U.S.C. 21904(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting after “(including health care needs” the following: “and whether the individual has a developmental disability (as such term is defined in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002), alzheimer’s disease, or dementia”; and
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking “suffers from a proven mental or physical disability” and inserting the following: “has been diagnosed with a mental disability, a physical disability, a developmental disability, alzheimer’s disease, or dementia”.
SEC. 3. TRAINING RELATED TO DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED MISSING PERSONS.
(a) Missing Adults.—Section 206 of Kristen’s Act (34 U.S.C. 21906) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “and” at the end;
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(3) training and educational programs related to responding effectively to a reported missing adult with a developmental disability.”.
(b) Missing Children.—Section 301(b) of the PROTECT Act (34 U.S.C. 20501(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking “and” at the end;
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(5) provide training and educational programs for use by States, territories of the United States, and tribal governments, related to responding effectively to a reported missing child with a developmental disability.”. <all>
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