Florida: Bill introduced that calls for school protocols when autistic students wander away
- The end of childhood
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Nov 17, 2025, Orlando Weekly: Florida lawmakers offer safety plan for students with autism
The bills requires schools to create plans and assign personnel to address situations
Democratic lawmakers in each chamber of the Florida Legisature have re-introduced a bill that would establish a protocol allowing schools to search for students with autism who wander off.
The bills requires public schools to create plans and a cohort of personnel to address situations in which students with autism “elope,” or wander away from safe areas.
“This long-overdue measure would finally bring Florida in line with states that have already taken action on this issue,” Sen. Kristen Arrington, a Democrat from Kissimmee, said in a news release.
“By establishing clear, statewide guidelines, we can equip school districts with the tools and support they need to protect our most vulnerable children. It also gives parents confidence that, in an emergency, their child’s school will be prepared to respond quickly and effectively.”
The bill calls for creating school elopement plans involving immediately contacting the parent of the student, conducting “an immediate, coordinated on-campus search and contacting emergency services only when the student is reasonably believed, based on verified information or direct observation, to have left school grounds and to be at risk of harm.”
The School Staff Assistance for Emergencies teams would annually update the school elopement plan, respond to all elopements, and train school personnel on response. The bill would require a student-specific “quick reference guide” for students prone to eloping. . . .
The identical bills, HB 423 and SB 494, were filed by Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, and Arrington.
Nearly half of children with autism attempt to elope from safe environments, according to the National Autism Association. Some of those children have accidentally drowned.
“With nearly half of children with autism attempting to elope from safe environments, these safeguards are urgently needed,” Eskamani said in a news release. “Every student deserves to be safe at school, and every parent deserves peace of mind.”
Arrington filed the bill in the 2024 and 2025 sessions. Neither received a committee hearing.
Eskamani filed the bill in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The 2023 and 2025 bills made it through one subcommittee but died, while her 2024 bill did not receive a hearing.
Lawmakers last session took a particular interest in addressing problems faced by Floridians with autism and their families.
During the 2025 session, the first bill to pass the Senate increases early detection opportunities and educational interventions for children with autism, a top priority for Senate President Ben Albritton, a Republican from Wauchula. That bill, SB 112, is now law.
That bill was among others last session that created a workforce credential for students with autism, and another relating to employers covering benefits for children with autism.
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