TRIAD Intake
– Faster than an Amber Alert
In late March, Sam, a profoundly mentally retarded 14-year-old boy, was
found by an employee in the showroom of an automobile dealership near
the Southwest Freeway. Houston
Police Department (HPD) was contacted and Sam was brought to TRIAD
Intake for assistance. Sam
was well dressed and very clean. He
had dried saliva around his mouth, a runny nose and was visibly scared
and agitated. Intake staff
spoke with Sam in a soft, clear manner to help him calm down.
Once calm, he was excited to talk about his hobbies, like video
games, dancing, riding his bike and especially skateboarding.
Sam was not able to provide his address or phone number.
However, he was able to provide his full name, his father’s
full name, and was in possession of his Fort Bend Independent School
District (ISD) identification badge.
With the assistance of police officers in
Houston
and
Fort
Bend
County
, Fort Bend ISD was contacted. Upon
establishing TRIAD’s professional role, Fort Bend ISD agreed to look
into their files for guardian information.
Simultaneously, DFPS records were being reviewed and the
father’s phone number was located by DFPS.
Sam’s father was immediately contacted and he expressed great
relief since he was already frantically looking for his son.
Sam’s father had placed his son in a group home one week prior
to the incident, and the facility had called earlier in the day to
notify him of Sam’s missing status.
Sam had gone missing following a ‘day camp’ away from the
group home. It was learned
that other HPD officers were working a missing persons report and were
preparing to issue an Amber alert.
Clearly, the Amber alert was no longer needed.
TRIAD Intake worked with Sam’s father, the group home and
several officers at HPD to cancel the Amber Alert.
Sam’s father came immediately to
Youth
Services
Center
to pick up his son. He was
very happy to see Sam, was very gentle with him, and immediately cleaned
up his face. Communication
with DFPS indicated there had been several previous investigations of
neglectful supervision, all of which were ruled out (unfounded).
These reports all focused on Sam’s history of wandering off as
a result of his disability. Sam’s
father had been working with TEXANA (a non profit agency that provides
developmental disabilities services) to establish a safe and secure
environment for Sam. TEXANA assisted Sam’s father in locating a
private group home for Sam. The group home indicated they would like to
continue with the placement and Sam’s father said he would as well.
TRIAD Intake staff assisted Sam’s father in coordinating
services with the group home and TEXANA to begin developing plans to
prevent any further incidents.
This incident stands out as an excellent example of how TRIAD
Intake works to coordinate services to address a client in crisis.