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Committee advances Joshua Alert discussion after testimony from parents and advocates
Summary
House Bill 359, the ‘Joshua Alert’, received a second hearing with emotional testimony from families and child-advocacy groups; sponsors offered two committee amendments—one expanding the definition of credible threat and another adjusting the timing requirement for alert activation—which were adopted without objection.
House Bill 359, known in testimony as the “Joshua Alert,” received a second hearing before the Children and Human Services Committee, where family members, child advocates and nonprofit witnesses urged immediate enactment and the committee accepted two sponsor amendments without objection.
The measure would allow law enforcement to rapidly notify the public when a child with autism or other developmental disabilities is reported missing, with the stated goal of tailoring searches to children who are more likely to wander and not respond to conventional search tactics.
Jonisa Cook, who identified herself throughout testimony as the mother of Joshua Alatif Jr., described her son as a “radiant, loving, joyful 6 year old” and said he went…
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