Los Angeles County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Janice Hahn recently proposed a motion with recommendations to an existing missing persons task force.

On February 28, 2017 the board of supervisors directed the Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services to launch the Bring Our Loved Ones Home Task Force.

“We all hope that we can make a significant impact on the life management issues associated with these vulnerable populations, while providing much needed support for loved ones who must deal with wandering behaviors,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

The purpose of the task force was to keep track of adults and children and expedite the recovery time of those individuals who wander away from their families and caregivers, according to county officials.

“Far too many people go missing every year. We believe that, with a proactive, forward thinking strategy and sustained effort by our County family, these tragedies can be avoided,” according to county officials.

County records show that nearly 28,000 people went missing in Los Angeles County in 2016. Many of these individuals have conditions such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurobehavioral conditions that affect memory, judgment and the ability to communicate with others.

Supervisor Hahn championed this initiative after helping with the search for Nancy Paulikas, a Manhattan Beach resident who suffers from early-onset Alzheimer’s and has been missing since she wandered away from her family while visiting LACMA in October 2016.

“Unfortunately, people like Nancy, with dementia and people with autism are at great risk of becoming lost or wandering from their caregivers,” said Nancy Paulikas’ husband Kirk Moody.

“These vulnerable citizens – an increasing segment of our population – can be swallowed up by the sheer size of the city and overwhelming number of people. I believe that implementing the Task Force’s recommendations will provide a quantum leap improvement in preventing the future losses of vulnerable people; first by reducing the instances of at-risk people wandering, and second, when they do wander, greatly improving the response to help locate them faster.”

The task force finds themselves with a growing concern, 17 recommendations and an estimated budget of $765,000 for an effective program to monitor people prone to wandering, according to the task force. Some of the recommendations include technology solutions, prevention, education and training.

The task force also mentions that they will provide updates to the board every 180 days on the efforts.

In one year, and annually thereafter they will provide a report that includes the outcomes to measure the success of the program.

Outcomes that will be measured include number of individuals recovered, number of alerts and registered users of tracking bracelets, trainings conducted and influence of community awareness campaigns, according to the task force.

“Hopefully what we are doing here today going forward will prevent the kind of heartbreak and suffering that Nancy’s family continues to go through every day,” said Supervisor Hahn.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and sign up for KHTS email and text alerts today!