Full Definition

The Texas Silver Alert is a public emergency notification program designed to help quickly locate missing seniors who are cognitively impaired — typically those with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias — and face danger due to their condition. Similar in structure to the Amber Alert for missing children, Silver Alerts broadcast the missing person’s description and last known information via electronic highway signs, local media, and wireless emergency alerts.

A Silver Alert can be issued when a senior is reported missing, law enforcement determines the individual is cognitively impaired and the disappearance poses an immediate threat to their health or safety, and there is sufficient descriptive information to issue an alert.

For care facilities, a Silver Alert represents a failure of elopement prevention protocols. Texas HHSC and accreditation bodies require facilities to have active wandering and elopement prevention systems. For families of a loved one in a memory care community, asking about the facility’s elopement history and their current wandering management system (door alarms, wander guard technology, secured outdoor spaces) is a critical safety question.

For families caring for a loved one at home with dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association’s MedicAlert® + Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return® program provides ID bracelets and a 24-hour nationwide emergency response service that can be activated when a person with dementia is reported missing.