Florida Congressman Wants Silver Alert Program
We've all heard of Amber Alert, the highly successful program designed to find missing children before it's too late. But have you heard of Silver Alert? Modeled after Amber Alert, Silver Alert notification systems help locate missing individuals who have Alzheimer's disease or related dementias.Five states currently operate Silver Alert programs: Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, and Texas. Florida Congressman Gus Bilirakus wants every state to have the resources to start Silver Alert programs.
Bilirakis recently introduced the Silver Alert Grant Program Act of 2008 (H.R. 5898). If passed, the program would provide state legislatures with seed money to implement their own Silver Alert systems. The congressman recently told the St. Petersburg Times that "states should make this a priority, and we don't want them to have any excuses."
I applaud Congressmen Bilirakus for introducing this bill, which was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. I'll be sure to keep you posted on its status.
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Comments
Carrie,
I am interested in following up with the progress of not only Congressman Bilirakis’ Grant Bill, but the progress at the Florida State legislative level to join other states in participation/development of similar programs. With Florida housing a large percentage of the elderly, the highest percentage of population with dementia and other disorienting illnesses, I would think the legislature would want to jump on this band wagon immediately.
Any ideas who to contact at the Florida State level?
Thanks for your article and any help you may provide. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Debbie Janeczko
Hi Debbie,
Thanks so much for your comment. I have two suggestions:
(1) Contact your state representative and/or congressperson and tell them that you want Florida to join the Silver Alert program. You can find contact information for your representatives at http://www.myflorida.com/taxonomy/government/legislative%20branch/
(2) Contact your nearest Alzheimer’s Association and ask if they have an advocacy campaign for this program. If so, they may have sample scripts to use when contacting the legislature and/or sample letters to the editor, etc. You can find your nearest chapter at http://www.alz.org
I hope this helps! Thanks so much for your interest and dedication.
Sincerely,
Carrie
I hadn’t heard of Silver Alert, and while driving tody on Inerstate 75, from Orlando to Sarasota, on my way home from a conference for paralegals, I and my passenger both noticed overhead signs describing a vehicle and the words, “Silver Alert”; I am happy to see it being enforced in our State.