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The Ashanti Alert Act of 2018 (Pub L. 115-401) was signed into law on December 31, 2018, and authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to establish a national communications network to enable and help facilitate regional and local search efforts for missing individuals who fall outside the scope of America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alerts and Silver Alerts.
The legislation aims to encourage, enhance, and integrate the development of Ashanti Alert Plans and enhance communications among participating states, territories, and tribes in locating missing adults. The Ashanti Alert Act criteria focus on three key areas:
- Individuals over the age of 17
- Missing adults with special needs or circumstances
- Missing adults who are endangered or have been involuntarily abducted or kidnapped
Participation in this effort is voluntary. The Act aims to ensure that states, territories, and tribes that are voluntarily implementing an Ashanti Alert Plan have access to guidance and resources.
To read the Act, visit https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ401/PLAW-115publ401.pdf.
The law establishes a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) National Ashanti Alert Coordinator to work with participating locations, encourage the development of Ashanti Alert Plans, and provide relevant guidelines, model policies and procedures, and technical assistance as it relates to states, territories, or tribes that voluntarily develop and implement an Ashanti Alert Plan. The coordinator is also responsible for ensuring coordination among stakeholders, establishing minimum standards, and reporting efforts to the U.S. Congress.
The U.S. Attorney General tasked the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), to lead the development and implementation of the National Ashanti Alert Network on behalf of DOJ and to work with participating entities interested in establishing or enhancing a missing adult program. BJA has developed several resources to support sites in establishing or advancing an Ashanti Alert Plan. See the section below titled What Resources Are Available for Establishing an Ashanti Alert Plan?
Ashanti Alerts are intended to cover the gap for missing adults who fall outside of these known alert programs. America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alerts for abducted children, Silver Alerts for missing seniors, and Blue Alerts for suspects related to a law enforcement death/serious assault are generally well-known alert types. However, many states have already established missing adult alert programs. Some of these programs include:
- Critically Missing Adult Alert.
- CLEAR Alert (the “A” in CLEAR Alert represents Ashanti Billie).
- Endangered Missing Person Advisory.
- Endangered Missing Person Alert.
- Developmental Disabilities Alert.
- Missing Endangered Person Alert.
- Missing Vulnerable Adult Alert.
- Mattie’s Call.
- Brittany Alert.
- Missing Indigenous Persons Alert.
- Purple Alert.
There are various types of alert programs across the United States. Some states have a single alert program that covers multiple alerts, while others have many alerts to cover specific situations. In addition, in some states, Silver Alerts that are generally reserved for seniors do include individuals over 18. Also, some states only provide alerts for individuals with diminished capacity (mental or physical). As each state operates differently, refer to individual state public safety websites for more information. These alert programs are intended to send notifications to a larger geographical area under unique circumstances for public consumption and awareness. These programs should not be confused with local police agency capabilities regarding public notification via news releases, websites, subscription services, reverse 9-1-1, or other local alerting capabilities.
First, a law enforcement investigation must be initiated. It is up to the investigating agency to make a request to the state/tribal alerting authority to request an alert to be issued. However, as each state has differing alert programs and minimum threshold requirements, it is up to the alerting agency to determine if the request fits the established criteria before an alert can be issued.
These alert programs (AMBER, Silver, Blue, Ashanti, or Ashanti-Like) are intended to send notifications to a larger geographical area under unique circumstances for public consumption and awareness to assist in the safe return of the missing person. These programs should not be confused with local police agency capabilities regarding public notification via news releases, websites, subscription services, highway signs, reverse 9-1-1, or other local alerting capabilities. However, these locally operated public notification systems are often used in conjunction with the state/tribal/territory programs such as AMBER, Silver, and Ashanti.
Some states have a single alert program that covers a variety of circumstances; other states have multiple types of alerts depending on the nature of the situation (e.g., abduction, diminished capacity, senior, veteran, college student, other criminal activity).
As each state operates differently, please visit your state’s respective public safety entity website for more information.
This site also includes information on each state’s missing adult alert programs.
The common factor among alert programs is that they are all operated at the state/tribal level. Local law enforcement agencies may have alerting capabilities for their jurisdictions, but AMBER, Silver, Blue, and Ashanti (or Ashanti-Like) Alerts are designed to cover a larger geographic region.
Each missing adult alert program has very specific activation criteria. Once an investigation has been conducted by the appropriate law enforcement agency, the agency is required to contact the alert program administrator. The program administrator will review the submission to determine whether the established criteria have been met and, if so, will issue an alert.
Each state/tribe/territory alerting authorities consider the geographic area where a missing adult is most likely to be (based on investigative data/logistics) in conjunction with the concept that providing specific information to the public will aid in returning the missing person to safety. However, state/tribal/territorial alert programs all have limits on their areas of responsibility and generally cannot issue alerts beyond their jurisdictional boundaries. If investigative details indicate that the missing person may have gone beyond jurisdictional boundaries, the alert program administrator may reach out to their companion program administrators in the appropriate jurisdiction(s) to make a request for additional alerting consideration. The Network will help enable multijurisdictional sharing of alerts and streamline the communications process and expand reach.
No. Alert programs are generally restricted to very specific criteria based on immediacy, level of danger, sufficient information to issue an alert, and other factors. Each state/tribal program is somewhat different based on legislation, policy, and procedures in place for that program. One critical factor includes desensitization. If an alert were issued in every case, the public could become overwhelmed with the number of alerts they receive and would quickly begin to ignore them or turn off alert notifications.
No, it is not a physical network, but it is a place for local entities to further share their locally-issued alerts with a broader audience. There is no physical federally operated Ashanti communications network to issue alerts. The Act focuses on local elements. Like AMBER, Silver, and Blue Alerts, all alerts are operated at the state/tribal/territory level. Several states already have alerting capabilities for missing adults and have Ashanti Alerts or Ashanti-Like alerts using different naming conventions. Some meet or exceed all of the Ashanti Alert Act criteria, and some only issue alerts for diminished capacity cases (mental/physical capabilities) but not abductions/kidnappings. Some states do not operate any type of alert program.
One goal of the Act is to provide support and guidance to state/tribal/territorial program administrators regarding the Act's requirements, including providing technical assistance such as creating resources, collecting data, facilitating collaboration, and developing information sharing capabilities.
No. Creation of an Ashanti Alert or Ashanti-Like Alert Program is voluntary.
The National Ashanti Alert Network is a voluntary effort supported by the BJA, DOJ. In addition to the current AMBER, Silver, and Blue alert programs, many states have or are working to implement solutions that focus on missing adults over the age of 17. These programs have elements similar to the Ashanti Alert Act but may be named differently. This program is foundational and will be based on the work, suggestions, and expertise of the field.
BJA has published a guidance document for entities to use as needed to help develop an Ashanti Alert Plan. The guidance document addresses the following areas:
- Establishing an Ashanti Alert Planning Committee
- Legislative considerations
- Defining roles for law enforcement agencies
- Identifying criteria for activating an Ashanti Alert
- Preparing for media and public reaction
- Information sharing
- Activating and managing an Ashanti Alert
- Statistical reporting and submission of data
- Leveraging available resources
- Other considerations
Through BJA, technical assistance services are available for participating states, tribes, and territories. The Institute for Intergovernmental Research (www.iir.com) is a training and technical assistance provider working with BJA to help advance the Ashanti Alert Program.
Recognizing that some states and tribes already have similar alert programs in place, many of the protocols, processes, and resources currently utilized can help support the implementation of an Ashanti Alert Plan.
For states and tribes new to this type of program, several essential resources are available to support the development and implementation of an Ashanti Alert Plan. Examples of available resources include the following:
- Guidance for Developing an Ashanti Alert Plan
- Ashanti Alert Programs Summary (Map/Matrix)
- Ashanti Alert Network State and Territory Points of Contact and Reference Links
- Becoming a Pilot State, Territory, or Tribe
- Voluntary Annual Report Form
- Program Overview Flyer
The Ashanti Alert Stakeholders Working Group (SWG) consists of state and tribal representatives who operate alert programs (program administrators). These individuals serve as subject matter experts and provide regular input and guidance on issues, concerns, and needs related to the project’s implementation. The SWG members also review program documentation, materials, and technology-related recommendations to ensure accuracy and relevance. Some members have served as panel members at various speaking engagements to educate others on the Ashanti Alert Act and related efforts. This group is instrumental in ensuring local elements and processes drive communications, coordination, and project implementation.
All requests for information can be sent to our contact us page.