A representative from Los Angeles Fourth District County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office told the Signal Tribune Wednesday that her office and the City of Los Angeles are funding 200 more LA Found bracelets, part of a new program for locating mentally-ill individuals, for county residents.
This week, Hahn’s office reported that the LA Found initiative has already assisted in locating two individuals who have gone missing.
On Wednesday, Sept. 5, Hahn, Los Angeles Sheriff Jim McDonnell and Cynthia Banks with the LA County Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services Department (WDACS) introduced LA Found, a countywide initiative that aims to locate missing individuals with autism, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease through the use of identification bracelets.
The program features a system of traceable bracelets that can be located using receivers carried in LA Sheriff’s Department helicopters and designated ground units.
“So far, we have been able to give all of these people the bracelets free of charge,” said Liz Odendahl, communications director with Hahn’s office, Wednesday. “We are hopeful that we can secure funding to provide additional free bracelets.”
Of the 56 people who have bracelets in the county, two of them are Long Beach residents. This week, officials with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and WDACS are visiting 74 homes to verify and give additional bracelets to residents who previously contacted the departments about the program.
To accommodate all 155 people who are also wait-listed for the technology, the City and Hahn’s office are both ordering 100 bracelets each for county residents. After distributing those 155 bracelets, there will be a total of 45 that will be unclaimed.
Depending on future demands, Hahn’s office and the City will determine how many more bracelets can be distributed and funded for locals. Odendahl noted that Hahn “wants to make sure no one doesn’t get a bracelet simply because of the cost.”
This week, Hahn’s office wrote that on Thursday, Sept. 13, at 5:45am, a 65-year-old man suffering from Alzheimer’s went missing from his Altadena home. A hiker found the man in an Altadena ranch property, and the Los Angeles Police Department, upon responding to the scene, utilized the bracelet’s serial number to confirm his identity and safely reunite him with his family.
The other incident occurred Friday, Sept. 14, at 10am, when a 76-year-old woman also suffering from Alzheimer’s went missing in Huntington Park. The police department deployed four units to locate the missing woman’s bracelet receiver. However, the lady was located at the Los Angeles Police Department Newton Station moments after units were dispatched. The woman was returned to her family after confirming her identity with her bracelet serial number.
As previously reported by the Signal Tribune, the bracelets are provided by nonprofit organization Project Lifesaver. The bracelet is not under constant monitoring, but when an individual wearing said bracelet goes missing, caregivers can call 9-1-1, and the police agency or sheriff’s station will inform the Sheriff’s Department Mental Evaluation Team to deploy receivers to help locate the missing person. The Project Lifesaver bracelet uses radio-frequency technology to transmit an electronic “chirping” signal to help rescuers locate the wearer.
Electronic handheld receivers are used to locate missing persons with the bracelets and are being used by law-enforcement agencies across the country, according to Hahn’s office. Weather permitting, airborne searching improves the distance a signal can be detected using sheriff’s service helicopters that are technologically equipped to locate the bracelets.
In order to qualify for the program, caregivers must first schedule a phone interview with either the LASD or WDACS through lafound.com.
Odendahl said the interview is designed to verify that the bracelet will be legitimately used on a “vulnerable person” who requires assistance. Once an at-risk individual qualifies, the caregiver will be allowed to purchase and register the bracelet with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
The bracelets cost $325, plus shipping and handling. Leasing opportunities are available through Project Lifesaver.
More information is available at lafound.com.
