Legislation intended to help prevent a parent’s worst nightmare will be introduced in the Maryland General Assembly’s 2026 session.
The LEAD Act (Laila’s Elopement Awareness and Dissemination Act) would establish a model to protect and support people at risk of wandering or elopement.
The bill is a follow-up and expansion of two laws enacted in 2024 and 2025, respectively. House Bill 195 created the Purple Alert Program, implementing an emergency notification system for missing persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), like an Amber Alert or a Silver Alert. House Bill 1204 created notice and reporting requirements for public and nonpublic schools for student elopement and is known as “Ace’s Law”. Ace’s Law requires schools to notify families, document incidents, and create prevention plans for students at risk for wandering or elopement.
National statistics show nearly 50% of children with autism have eloped at least once, some as frequently as weekly or more. At least one-third of them are non-verbal and unable to share identifying information about themselves. Of those elopements, 17% are fatal, most of those from drowning. Other risks from elopement include traffic accidents, abduction, and hypothermia.
Shari Bailey is the originator of the LEAD Act, a crisis management framework with three stages — prevention, response, and recovery — designed to support people at risk for elopement. It stems from a nonprofit she founded, Laila’s Gift, inspired by her daughter Laila, who is one of a twin. Using CDC data, Bailey scaled down the national statistics for Maryland to determine approximately how many children are at risk for elopement. Approximately 11,000 school-aged children in Maryland are diagnosed with autism, which means roughly 5,500 are at risk.
“We’ve seen several great strides with the Purple Alert,” Bailey told Baltimore Fishbowl. “Now there’s a system mechanism to alert us of someone that has gone missing with an intellectual disability. …[A]ce’s Law is a great first step, because now the family is getting notified of this behavior. But what the LEAD Act now proposes is education, right? There’s a wealth of information and resources out there, and we don’t have to start from ground zero.”
While her daughter has the advantage of going to Harford Academy, a public day school specializing in students with special needs, Bailey knows in most public schools the entire staff might not be trained on the specifics of what elopement might look like, or what the crisis management plan for a specific special needs student might be. The LEAD Act helps address that knowledge gap.
“I envision annual training for the entire chain of custody in schools,” Bailey said. “And this doesn’t have to be week-long boot camp. It’s just general training annually, whether it’s onboarding training for new employees or for existing employees. It’s just part of their annual training that explains the behaviors of elopement, how to identify it, and what is the school policy around it.”
Part of the response pillar to the LEAD Act involves having a plan in place should elopement occur. Because so many fatalities from elopement are from drowning, part of the proactive actions by school systems might include mapping of nearby bodies of water and other environmental hazards to ensure staff and first responders understand how to prioritize their efforts.
The recovery piece of the LEAD Act refers to first responder training. Bailey worked with local first responders to develop the MATE Model: Mindset, Awareness, Tone, and Evaluation. The MATE Model was created to help first responders understand the difference between a flight response and someone who is wandering or eloping.
“The MATE Model is intended to not replace standard training for first responders,” Bailey explained. “First responders can be EMS, law enforcement or firefighters, etc. It’s intended to supplement. And it’s really focused on understanding elopement behavior and people with IDD in our community.”
The LEAD Act would provide the MATE Model or similar training to school staff and first responders, but also make it optional for parents and caregivers, because sometimes even families don’t recognize behavior as elopement or wandering.
Bailey understands pushback occurs in the legislative process but is optimistic for the LEAD Act because she said she and the creators of the bill have done their due diligence in understanding the viewpoints from all the stakeholders. Ace’s Law, in making parental notification a requirement, was half the battle.
“I personally think the LEAD Act is advantageous, because we’re going to now bring clarity through the advancement of Ace’s Law to say, ‘Okay, this is how we define elopement,’” Bailey said. “’This is when you notify parent.’ ‘This is what you can provide to parent.’ ‘Parent, this is what is available to you.’ ‘First responders, this is how you can continue to work with your community.’ Because at the end of the day, there’s a lot of first responders that wear guilt when things go bad on their watch.”
In bringing education and awareness to the entire community, the LEAD Act would help minimize work and increase safety by focusing and risk and having a proactive plan involving all the stakeholders. In the event of a crisis, every second counts.
Laila’s twin sister, Lana, goes to a different school than her sister. Bailey stated proudly that Lana is a huge advocate for Laila, whom she calls her gift. Lana told Bailey one day that at school, she’d mentioned to someone she had a twin.
“They said, ‘Well, where’s your sister?’” Bailey recalled. “[Lana] was like, ‘She goes to a special needs school.’ And they said, ‘Oh, she’s special needs…. I’m so sorry.’ She said, ‘Mommy, I asked them, “Why are you sorry? She’s awesome!”’”
