The following procedures will be followed as soon as a staff person becomes aware that a student is missing:
A. Perform a brief search of the immediate area, not to exceed one minute. Staff person should then inform another staff that the student is, indeed, missing.
B. If the student is not located in the preliminary search, the staff person must notify the supervisor, providing the following information:
1) Name of student
2) Location at last sighting
3) Description of clothing
4) Mood of student
5) Information that might indicate destination
6) Time of disappearance
C. The supervisor will organize a search of the grounds and immediate area around the campus. (Each campus-specific missing student procedure details area buildings, outside areas and nearby streets to be searched.)
D. If the student is not found in the immediate area around campus, the supervisor will assign specific routes to be covered (see campus-specific procedures). If the student is not found within five minutes, the search will be widened (see campus-specific procedures).
E. During the first fifteen minutes, the supervisor will obtain the following information from the nurse on duty:
1) Height 4) Age
2) Weight 5) Distinguishing marks
3) Medical problems 6) Recent photograph
F. At the end of fifteen minutes, the supervisor will notify the following, giving information from paragraphs 2 and 5:
1) Program Director or administrator on call
2) Local Police
3) Others as listed in campus-specific procedures.
G. All agencies and involved people will be notified when the student is found. Once the student has been returned to school, the following shall occur:
1) The search coordinator will call in all search teams.
2) The Program Director, Executive Director and/or Senior Vice President, CEO or designee, and appropriate agencies will be notified. Any Hillcrest campus that may have sent staff should also be called.
3) If the student was a runaway, they should be placed on close supervision until their Treatment Team meets.
4) Any equipment used (e.g., walkie-talkies, cell phones) must be signed in and placed in the administrator’s office. The walkie-talkies must be recharged.
H. The reasons why the student was missing will be reviewed by the administrator, and the staff responsible for the student will be counseled to prevent the recurrence of a similar situation.
The search procedure will also be reviewed and critiqued to be sure it was implemented properly.