Calgary advocate pushes national standard for missing vulnerable people
Jenn Thompson's framework aims to fix gaps exposed when 11-year-old Parker Wells went missing in July.
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A Calgary advocate is pushing for a national framework to ensure vulnerable missing people get consistent responses across all levels of government — a gap exposed this summer when 11-year-old autistic boy Parker Wells went missing.
Jenn Thompson, founder of the Parent Partnership Project, began drafting the "One Call to Find Them All" campaign while Wells was still missing. The framework calls for a national standard that would assign specified responsibilities to municipal, provincial and federal governments and train first responders on how different vulnerabilities affect behavior.
The missing person alert category has existed since 2010 as part of Canada's Common Alerting Protocol, separate from AMBER alerts and Silver alerts. But Thompson discovered there's no operational standard ensuring it's used properly or a coordinated response framework for national use. "That alert should have gone out right away, under the missing person category," Thompson said. "And because it wasn't governed and wasn't being used, through my advocacy that's what I discovered, (that) there's no operational standard. So I wrote one."
Thompson's proposal determines vulnerability by functional capacity — whether someone can recognize danger, communicate location, or return to safety independently — rather than by diagnosis or age. "Our proposal basically includes everybody who's vulnerable. It's not just about autistic or not speaking. It's for anyone who's vulnerable, and then that way alerts can go out without breaching people's medical privacy," she said.
The framework includes enhanced search response and a separate assessment of whether a public alert is warranted; a missing vulnerable person would not automatically trigger one. It also mandates first-responder training. "You can't actually learn in a time of crisis," Thompson said. "First responders, when they are in a crisis, they are not ready for education. We learned that this year."
A Calgary 911 review found procedures were not properly followed when day home staff called about Wells, with a delayed response of nearly 20 minutes. Thompson said the review offered "a quick answer" and "has sort of offered a bit of a scapegoat, to a multifaceted failure." Police Chief Katie McLellan described the situation as "heartbreaking" and "an opportunity to learn and do better." "We obviously support them and together we'll move forward," McLellan said. "They do amazing work for us on a regular basis, and sometimes there's going to be things that fail and we need to address, and that's what we're currently looking at doing."
Which federal, provincial or municipal bodies have received Thompson's framework, and what is their timeline for response?
Will the missing person alert protocol be amended to include the training and assessment components Thompson proposes?
What specific changes to Calgary 911 procedures have been made since the review of Wells' case?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
The facts
Who is pushing for a national framework for missing vulnerable people?
Jenn Thompson, founder of the Parent Partnership Project, is advocating for a national framework called 'One Call to Find Them All' to ensure vulnerable missing people receive consistent responses across all levels of government.
What was exposed when Parker Wells went missing?
When 11-year-old autistic boy Parker Wells went missing in July, gaps were exposed in how missing person alerts are governed and used across Canada, revealing there was no operational standard ensuring proper use or a coordinated national response framework.
How does Thompson's framework define vulnerability?
Thompson's framework determines vulnerability by functional capacity — whether someone can recognize danger, communicate location, or return to safety independently — rather than by diagnosis or age, which allows alerts to go out without breaching medical privacy.
What did a Calgary 911 review find about the response to Parker Wells going missing?
The Calgary 911 review found that procedures were not properly followed when day home staff called about Wells, resulting in a delayed response of nearly 20 minutes.
