L.A. County gets a new tool to find and save vulnerable people with cognitive disabilities

The county program L.A. Found offers free tracking devices to residents with cognitive disabilities who are at risk of wandering away from home.
Since launching seven years ago, more than 1,800 people have received devices through the program, with 29 successfully located after going missing.

Janet Rivera cares for both her 79-year-old mother, who has dementia, and her 25-year-old son, who has a genetic condition called Fragile X syndrome. Despite their differing diagnoses, both of her loved ones share a common symptom: They are prone to wander away from home, and have cognitive impairments that make it hard to find their way back.

When she came across L.A. Found, a county program that distributes free technology to help locate vulnerable people with cognitive disabilities, it felt like a lifeline.