Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program Reauthorization of 2009

Floor Speech

MISSING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATIENT ALERT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - February 10, 2009)

I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me and for his very warm compliments. Thank you.

Approximately 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, and the majority of them live at home under the care of family and friends. It is estimated that 60 percent of Alzheimer's patients are likely to wander away from their homes. Wanderers are vulnerable to dehydration, weather conditions, traffic hazards, and individuals who prey on those who are defenseless. Up to 50 percent of wandering Alzheimer's patients will become seriously injured or die if they are not found within 24 hours of their departure from home.

The Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program is a Department of Justice program that helps local communities and law enforcement officials quickly identify persons with Alzheimer's disease who wander or who are missing and reunite them with their families.

Since its inception more than 10 years ago, this program has funded a national registry of more than 172,000 individuals at risk of wandering and has reunited over 12,000 wanderers with their families. It is a highly successful program whereby 88 percent of registrants who wander are found within the first 4 hours of being reported missing. A total of 1,288 wandering incidents were reported to the program in 2007. The program has a 98 percent success rate in recovering enrollees who are reported missing.

There are also technology-based options to address wandering that should be considered for funding under the Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program. For example, personalized wristbands that emit a tracking signal can be used to locate wanderers. These wristbands, when combined with specially trained search-and-rescue teams, can reduce search times from hours and days to minutes.

Congress originally authorized $900,000 in appropriations for the Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program for 3 years, that is, 1996 through 1998, but never reauthorized or updated the program. Since then, the program has continued to receive funding on a year-to-year basis, but funding has remained virtually flat since its inception.

H.R. 908 reauthorizes, updates and expands the Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program.

The bill authorizes up to $5 million per year in appropriations for fiscal years 2010 through 2016, a modest increase over the $1 million appropriation in fiscal year 2008.

The bill expands the program so as to allow the Department of Justice to award multiple competitive grants to nonprofit organizations. Preference will be given to national nonprofit organizations that have a direct link to patients, and families of patients, with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

And finally, the bill specifies that the program will be operated under the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance. Currently, the program is operated under the Office of Juvenile Justice, which is obviously not the most appropriate agency for a program serving the mostly elderly.

H.R. 908 has 21 bipartisan cosponsors, including the co-chairs of the Congressional Alzheimer's Task Force, Congressman Edward Markey and Congressman Christopher Smith. The bill has been endorsed by more than 85 national, State, and local organizations, including the Alzheimer's Association and the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

The Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program is a critical resource for first responders. It saves local law enforcement officials valuable time and allows them to focus on other national and local security concerns. It is critical that we reauthorize and expand this small, but very effective, program.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 908.

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