The national autism association, INC. (NAA) will utilize this funding to continue its core safety program, the big red safety box, which provides educational and prevention tools to families…

The National Autism Association, Inc. (NAA) was awarded a $146,679 Project Grant by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Assistance Program (CFDA 16.015). The funding will enable the NAA to continue providing its "Big Red Safety Box" program, which distributes educational resources and prevention tools to U.S. families to help protect individuals with autism, Alzheimer's, and other cognitive conditions who are prone to wandering. Specifically, the grant will allow the NAA to ship an additional 5,000 free safety boxes, including 1,000 Spanish-translated versions, to families nationwide. Each box contains items such as door/window alarms, visual prompts, ID bracelets, and educational materials to help prevent wandering incidents and facilitate rescues. This federal grant award, with a performance period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027, aims to reduce deaths and injuries of vulnerable individuals who may wander from safe environments due to their cognitive conditions.

The national autism association, INC. (NAA) will utilize this funding to continue its core safety program, the big red safety box, which provides educational and prevention tools to families throughout the U.S., as well as widen its reach among black, hispanic, and female populations, who are at highest risk of death. The NAA created the big red safety box program in 2011 as a free prevention resource. Since that time, nearly 75,000 big red safety boxes have been shipped to U.S. Families. The box provides tangible tools, education, and resources that help prevent wandering incidents, injuries or death, or the need for police involvement. IT also helps prevent the need for more restrictive measures, assists in teaching early safety skills to those with autism, and works to prevent the trauma/trigger cycle that can lead to exit-seeking behaviors. Each big red safety box includes an educational booklet, caregiver checklist, family wandering emergency plan, first-responder profile form, wandering quick tips flyer, emotion identification cards, two GE wireless door/window alarms with batteries, one voucher for an ID bracelet or shoe ID tag, four stop sign visual prompts for doors and windows, one safety alert window cling for car or home windows, and a child ID kit from the national center for missing and exploited children. With federal assistance, 5,000 additional families will be able to receive a free box, including 1000 safety boxes translated into spanish.