[Senate Report 115-200]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


115th Congress }                                           { Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session    }                                           { 115-200

======================================================================
 
                     KEVIN AND AVONTE'S LAW OF 2017

                                _______
                                

                January 18, 2018.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Grassley, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2070]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 2070) to amend the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994, to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's 
Disease Patient Alert Program, and to promote initiatives that 
will reduce the risk of injury and death relating to the 
wandering characteristics of some children with autism, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon, with an 
amendment, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Background and Purpose of Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2017.........1
 II. History of the Bill and Committee Consideration..................3
III. Section-by-Section Summary of the Bill...........................3
 IV. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................5
  V. Regulatory Impact Evaluation.....................................7
 VI. Conclusion.......................................................7
VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............7

      I. Background and Purpose of Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2017

    Autism, dementia, and other developmental conditions affect 
too many families in the U.S. Some of these families have 
experienced a loved one wandering away from a supervised 
setting due to their developmental condition. Kevin and 
Avonte's Law of 2017 will strengthen and enhance support for 
the many American families who have loved ones that go missing 
due to autism, Alzheimer's disease, or related conditions. The 
bill extends existing programs designed to assist in locating 
Alzheimer's disease and dementia patients. It also adds new 
support for people with autism.
    Families with developmentally disabled children and aging 
parents must cope on a daily basis with challenges that others 
do not face. Children with autism or seniors with Alzheimer's 
disease may wander away from their caregiver's supervision, 
sometimes with tragic results.\1\ The Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC) identified one in sixty-eight 
children as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD),\2\ and up to 
a third of these children may wander away from a supervised 
setting.\3\ The Alzheimer's Association estimates that as many 
as one in three seniors will die with some form of dementia, 
and 60 percent of those with Alzheimer's or another form of 
dementia will wander.\4\
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    \1\See, e.g., Joseph Guan and Guohua Li, Characteristics of 
unintentional drowning deaths in children with autism spectrum 
disorder, Injury Epidemiology (2017) (citing reports of 23 fatal 
drowning incidents involving 18 boys and 5 girls with ASD in U.S. 
newspapers from January 2000 through May 2017), available at https://
www.researchgate.net/publication/321436452.
    \2\Semi-annual newsletter of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention-funded Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) (Winter 
2015), available at https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/documents/ga-
seed-newsletter-13-508.pdf.
    \3\Catherine E. Rice et al., Reported Wandering Behavior among 
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Intellectual Disability, 
174, J. Pediatrics 232, 232-239 (2016). See also Catherine Rice, 
``Wandering Among Children with Special Health Care Needs from the 
Pathways Survey,'' NCHS Conference (Aug. 7, 2012), available at  
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ppt/nchs2012/SS-10_RICE.pdf.
    \4\Press Release, Alzheimer's Association, New Alzheimer's 
Association Report Reveals 1 in 3 Seniors Dies With Alzheimer's or 
Another Dementia (March 19, 2013),  https://www.alz.org/national/
documents/facts