Could a faster alert have saved 6-year-old boy with autism? His family says it might have

The first community-wide notification dinged people’s cellphones more than five hours after the family of a 6-year-old with autism reported him missing.

An alert was sent to some landlines before that but with fewer people using landlines that alert may have only had a limited impact, police said.

After an intensive search overnight on Nov. 20 and into the next day, Joshua Al-Lateef Jr. was found dead in a pond near his West Chester Township home. His death has been preliminarily ruled an accidental drowning.

Joshua’s family has launched a petition to create the “Joshua Alert,” a system similar to an Amber Alert, to help when children on the autism spectrum go missing.

“It is our heartfelt belief that if an alert system similar to ‘Amber Alert’ but specified for missing children with spectrum disorders − the ‘Joshua Alert’ − were instituted, we might have had a fair chance of finding our son in time,” the Change.org petition states.

As of Tuesday, more than 4,000 people had signed the petition.

Children with autism are prone to wander and can be drawn to water. The risk of drowning for autistic children is more than 160 times greater than the general child population, according to the National Autism Association.

Since 2015, at least three children on the spectrum have died in drowning incidents in the Greater Cincinnati region.

Amber Bradford of College Hill is Joshua’s aunt. She said after seeing how the situation unfolded, she thought a new, more rapid alert system might have saved her nephew’s life.

She said hearing Joshua’s parents scream after they got the news he was gone is something she’ll never forget.

“It is the most devastating thing,” Bradford said. “I would never wish it upon anyone.”

She said the critical missing child alert system in Ohio is not sufficient, and had people in the community been alert soon after the 911 call was placed, maybe he could have been found.

“The community support was amazing,” she said. “People wanted to take part and help. Unfortunately, it was too late.”

How did the alerts happen when Joshua went missing

On top of social media posts from police and media coverage, citizens were alerted to Joshua’s disappearance three times in three different ways. One of the alerts was the first of its kind in Butler County.

Within a few hours, West Chester police issued a “reverse 911 call” that reached about 4,000 landline telephone numbers, according to Captain Seth Hagaman. However, he added that police knew this would have limited impact as few people use landlines.

Next, West Chester police worked with the Butler County Emergency Management Agency to issue an IPAWS alert. That stands for Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. That alert went out around 11 p.m., Hagaman said.

The night of Joshua’s disappearance was the first time the system had been used in a live emergency but agency director Jim Bolen said his agency had trained repeatedly to use it.

The IPAWS alert sends a message to every cell tower within a specified area designated by the agency and the towers send the alert to every cell phone in their range, Bolen explained. The alert is also given a time frame, so any new phone entering the designated area during that period also gets alerted.

At some point during the first night Joshua was missing, Hagaman spoke with Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation about issuing an endangered missing child alert. The state must issue these types of alerts. He said the investigators told him the reverse 911 calls and IPAWS alert had already accomplished everything the state alert would do.

Also, the state’s endangered missing child alert does not send alerts directly to people’s phones like an Amber Alert. The missing child alert is sent to law enforcement across the state and to media.

Despite these limitations, an endangered missing child alert was issued just before noon the day after Joshua went missing. Hagaman said it was issued out of an abundance of caution.

Hagaman said West Chester Police also requested an Amber Alert early in the search. Amber Alerts are specifically meant for children thought to have been abducted. “We always call and ask, but were declined for an Amber,” he said.

Hagaman said state officials are “rightfully” protective of Amber Alerts because they don’t want the public to get desensitized to receiving alerts.

What Joshua’s family wants

Joshua’s family says children on the autism spectrum need a rapid alert system designed for them.

“Children with autism are likely to wander off or bolt from safety − an event prompted by either a specific distraction, a desire to escape an overwhelming situation, or the simple curiosity to explore,” the family’s petition states.

“The reality of this vulnerability necessitates immediate responses when these children go missing. By implementing a ‘Joshua Alert,’ authorities will be signaled immediately when a 911 call is made, and the search for the missing child can commence without delay,” it states.

Other resources for children with autism

EmPath for Autism, a Monroe-based nonprofit, distributes “JagTag” tracking bracelets for children who are prone to wandering.

In the wake of Joshua’s death, the organization has paused its program because thousands of families filed applications. On Monday, the organization put out a call for volunteers to help process all the applications.

Hagaman said tracking tags like AirTags or Tiles can also help, and his officers have even purchased some for families in the area who have children that often wander.

The West Chester Police Department is also encouraging residents to use its “People with Disabilities Database.” People who have loved ones with autism spectrum disorder, dementia, Alzheimer’s or other disabilities can enter their information in the database so police know right away if an emergency occurs.

Hagaman said his department is also working through what lessons can be learned from Joshua’s disappearance and death.

“As a process of constant improvement, we go over every major event to see if there’s anything we could do differently or any new tools we can use,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Family of 6-year-old who died wants special alert for autistic kids

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