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Missouri's "Purple Alert" bill recently passed the House. At 2 p.m. Monday, there will be a Senate committee hearing on the bill.
I spoke with Danielle Rocha, a parent of two young boys who are nonverbal and autistic.
She first proposed the bill and brought it to the attention of Rep. Sherri Gallick, the bill's sponsor.
"There's a gap in the safety net," Rocha said. "We should not be losing loved ones. The fact that families should not be relying solely on social media to get shares of their missing child out there to alert the community."
Rocha and several other parents, community leaders, a fire official and organizations have come together, testifying and sharing why they believe this bill will be life-changing.
"The beauty of this little community, we didn't know each other before these efforts. We came together, unified, to help improve community standards for all of our loved ones, and I feel like that's the huge impact that we have here," Rocha said. "We are coming together to help build a better community [for] our loved ones and everyone else's."
The bill, HB 1840, was recently amended to RJ's Law, in honor of a little boy who had autism and went missing last year. His body was later found in a nearby pond in Cass County.
Rocha, who's been in close contact with RJ's parents, plans to testify Monday afternoon. Rocha says naming the bill after RJ brings a sense of peace and purpose.
"It's providing healing in one of the most traumatic experiences anybody can go through. It is leaving RJ with a legacy," Rocha said. "He is going to continue in this world by protecting all of our children and adults with autism or any other disability. "
Gallick told me this bill is important for the region.
"We have an obligation to take care of children and the most vulnerable, and people that have cognitive disabilities or developmental disability are absolutely the most vulnerable," Gallick said. "As the captain said during his testimony at the hearing, this is a missing piece of the puzzle where it can give the public some information. And if they hear about this as soon as it happens, they can go out to their backyard or look at their pool, or pond or in their neighborhood and see if they can help."
Gallick added an emergency clause in the bill, meaning if the bill passes both the House and Senate, the governor would sign it immediately.
However, it still needs to pass out of committee and clear the Senate floor.
We'll keep you updated on the bill's progress through the Missouri Legislature.
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