Supporting Wandering Persons Recovery Programs

The bill expands the grant program administered by the Colorado bureau of investigation (CBI) that assists counties in implementing lifesaver programs. A wanderer recovery program, currently known as a lifesaver program, is a program under which a participant has a device that may be used to assist in attempting to electronically locate the participant. The bill expands the lifesaver grant program to apply to wanderer recovery programs established or maintained by counties, municipalities (local governments), or local government designees. The bill also removes the limitations on both the amount local governments and their designees may be awarded in any single grant issued under the grant program and removes the limit on the amount of funds that the general assembly may annually appropriate to the wanderer recovery program cash fund that is used to fund the grant program. Further, the bill allows the executive director of the department of safety to award grants to assist in the maintenance of wanderer recovery programs in addition to the implementation of wanderer recovery programs.

The bill also requires the CBI to establish a website that lists those local governments and local government designees that have a wanderer recovery program, describes how to contact those local governments and local government designees, lists resources for caretakers of persons with medical conditions that cause wandering, provides procedures to follow when a wanderer recovery program participant is determined to be missing, describes how the wanderer recovery program technology used by the various local governments and local government designees works, and provides any other information the CBI may conclude is necessary to better explain and publicize wanderer recovery programs.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)