A program aimed at helping first responders communicate with people with disabilities is about to hit a growth spurt.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department launched the Take Me Home program about a year ago, the first in the state to do so. The program has been embraced by local school districts and advocacy organizations, said Cape Girardeau officer A.C. Walker. It also spread to the Perryville Police Department, which started its version around Christmas, said Cpl. Garrett Schott.

Walker recently held a training session in Columbia, Mo., with officers from across the state. She said she expects the program to grow rapidly throughout Missouri in the coming year.

Take Me Home is a database that includes descriptive information about people with disabilities, including how to communicate with them during an emergency.

"It's a little bit less of that conversation they have to explain," Walker said. The database was also set up to safeguard against misinterpreting the actions of people with disabilities.

Walker said people listed in the database range from insulin-dependent diabetics to people with autism. Ages range from 3 to 92. The program can be tailored to fit the needs of different communities, she said.

"We do adults and children because that's what we needed here," she said.

The Cape Girardeau program, which now includes more than 200 people, was off to a slow start because parents were reluctant to use the program.

"I think that I've got a lot of success after they understood it," she said.

The software was developed by the Pensacola Police Department, which started the program in 2003. Walker adopted it to fit Cape Girardeau and is working to bring it to other departments in the state.

The listed information is confidential, but dispatchers can pass it along to first responders if they get a call from a residence in the database.

"They see that flag, and they can relay that information," Walker said.

The Perryville and Cape Girardeau departments reported few incidents requiring use of the database, but the training has increased awareness within the departments. Walker said the program builds relationships with families and gives officers training on different disabilities.

"Officers are first responders but don't have medical knowledge," she said.

Claire Watson, president of the Heartland Down Syndrome Association, said her daughter is in the database and that many families in the group were receptive to the idea.

"It kind of allows the parent who isn't there to give some direction of what works with their child," she said.

"For this area or any area, I just think it's one more kind of layer of security, one more thing you hope, of course, you won't have to use," she said.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

120 N. Jackson St., Perryville, MO

40 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO