Rejected petition: Extend Child Rescue Alert to cover children at risk of wandering or elopement

Rejected on 6 October 2026

We call on the Government to extend the Child Rescue Alert system to also cover children at high risk of wandering or elopement, including autistic and non-verbal children.

Child Rescue Alert currently exists mainly for suspected abduction. Autistic and non-verbal children face a much higher risk of wandering, and recent tragedies show how quickly this can turn fatal. We believe the same rapid, coordinated response should also apply when a high-risk child goes missing due to wandering or elopement, not abduction alone.

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Establish a national alert system for missing autistic & vulnerable people
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/778218

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.