‘Joshua Alert’ Law Now In Effect In Ohio

(ONN) – A new alert system devoted to finding children with autism and other developmental disabilities is now law in Ohio.

The “Joshua Alert” is a new statewide emergency alert system designed specifically to help law enforcement and communities rapidly locate missing children with autism or other developmental disabilities.

The alert aims to bypass standard waiting periods and speed up the search for vulnerable children.

The law is named after 6-year-old Joshua al-Lateef Junior, a boy with autism who wandered away from his southwest Ohio home and drowned in a nearby pond in 2024.