Take Me Home program helps Blue Springs police reunite nonverbal residents with their families

KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Grain Valley. Share your story idea with Claire.

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BLUE SPRINGS, MO — The Blue Springs Police Department is reminding residents about a program designed to help officers quickly reunite individuals who may be nonverbal with their families.

The Take Me Home program allows families to register individuals who are nonverbal, forgetful, at risk of wandering or get separated from family with no way to tell police who they are. The program is open to individuals of any age living with autism, dementia, a mental illness, or are deaf. People who live nearby or visit Blue Springs often can also use it, like Grain Valley or Independence.

Families sign up online, providing police with information including name, birthday, height, weight, hair color, eye color, contact information, and at least one photograph.

Officer Jason Floyd of the Blue Springs Police Community Services Bureau said the information helps officers quickly reconnect families versus having to post to social media.

CLAIRE BRADSHAW/KSHB

"We can narrow it down to hair color or eye color, anything like that, and then the officers have a much smaller applicant pool, so to speak. They can look at the photographs that have been submitted and identify that person by photograph, by appearance," Floyd said.

The department began participating in the program in 2019 after an officer found out about it. The program initially started in Pensacola, FL.

Take Me Home recently drew renewed attention this week after the department posted on social media asking for help locating the family of a nonverbal boy. The program was also used Thursday morning for a Silver Alert.

Officer Floyd said at least 20 people have signed up just this week. He reminds families who have already registered a loved one to make sure their information and photos are current, especially for children.

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