ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A mother's advocacy in Annapolis is leading to legislative changes in Maryland to protect children with developmental disabilities who wander away from home.
Shari Bailey pushed a package of five bills in Annapolis to help create better outcomes when a child elopes. Two of the bills made it through the legislature. One sets up a resource guide for caregivers in the state, and the other trains police to respond when someone elopes.
"This is such a huge relief for family caregivers across the state of Maryland, caring for individuals with autism, IDD and any form of dementia, uh, it's particularly, particularly those individuals that are at risk of eloping," Bailey said.
Maryland mother successfully advocates for new state laws to protect children with autism who wander away
Eloping, or running away, is a common incident for people with autism or dementia. Bailey has twin girls, and her daughter Laila has autism and is non-verbal. For years, Laila wasn't supposed to walk, but then she ran.
"Your heart stops, you almost feel like the world has stopped moving. You don't know where to go. It's the sense of paralysis that is very difficult to put into words. I know when Laila eloped at 6 years old, I was actually working and I got the phone call and I honestly froze," Bailey said.
"So when a family is experiencing an emergency where they have a loved one that has wandered or eloped, a loved one that doesn't understand danger, a loved one that may not be able to communicate, that is extremely frightening," Bailey said.
The new legislation will help protect people who elope from becoming drowning victims. Drowning is the leading cause of death for people with autism.
"Understanding nearby bodies of water is really important. And this will be part of the training for first responders, the search and rescue considerations," Bailey said.
Bailey aims to get the remaining three pieces of legislation passed next year.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
