Midsummer Issue 2023

New Program Offers Peace of Mind for Families
Story by MICHAEL DAIGLE
Photos by Karen Fucito
The badge offers a simple plea: “If I appear
lost, please call.”
The badge lists a telephone number and an
identification number.
Simple.
But the simplicity more than likely masks
a complex circumstance that could involve
a child, an aging adult, or illness, disability or
both.
Quietly, the badge suggests concern and
calls for immediate action.
The badge is the brainchild of Paul Jetter of
Fredon, who founded a nonprofit organization
called Safely Back Home to create a way to
help seniors with dementia or children with
autism, for example, get back home if they
have wandered away accidently or on purpose.
Either case, Jetter said, could cause a
confusing situation for the wanderer and
potential helper, circumstances made worse,
for example, if the person wearing the badge
on their clothes is nonverbal, disoriented or
language-limited.
“One goal of the badge is to de-escalate the
situation,” he said.
Hopatcong Borough was the first Sussex
County municipality to join Jetter’s Safely Back
Home program in March. Hopatcong schools
joined in May. The program is being funded
through the borough, said Jetter, and will be
available to other municipalities in the near
future.
Jetter said the idea was formulated when his
father, then 85, showed signs of dementia.
“It was a family response with my brother
becoming primary caregiver. It was a full-time
responsibility,” Jetter said.
But his father wandered, as do six of 10
dementia patients, he said. The fear was that
his father would not recognize where he was
or be able to explain how to get back home.
In 2010, after his father died, Jetter
connected with Project Lifesaver, a national
organization with links to law enforcement
offices nationwide and other groups that aim
to protect people who wander from safe
environments, such as a home or health facility.
Project Lifesaver offers GPS monitors and
bracelets as a means of providing identification
and location. Jetter said he wanted to add
an ID method that could not be removed
by the wearer, was easy to apply and was
made of a material that would not irritate an
autistic person for whom changes in texture
can trigger negative responses. Jetter said he
experimented with fabrics and adhesives for
years.
During the process to develop his idea,
Jetter said he reached out to New Jersey State
Association of Chiefs of Police and developed
interest from 70 police chiefs. Six towns in
Bergen County joined the program in 2016, he
said. Not yet a nonprofit and with no outside
funding, Jetter said he incurred the cost of the
badges himself, something he knew would be
unsustainable. Within two years, these first
programs were dormant, he said.
But Jetter didn’t give up. In 2020, he secured
nonprofit status for Safely Back Home, which
led to a $3,000 grant from the Starbucks
Foundation, courtesy of the employees from
the Sparta Starbucks. The money helped
kickstart the program again, which offers
training for dispatchers and police officers who
either receive an emergency call from a person
who sees a badge or respond to a location
where a person who has wandered was found.
Hopatcong Borough Councilwoman
Christine Smith found out about the program
through a friend, said Jetter. She, Councilman
Brad Hoferkamp and Mayor Michael Francis
championed the program.
Smith said the program hits home because
her father had Alzheimer’s and wandered. The
condition was made worse when he moved
to New Jersey from New Hampshire and the
landscape changed.
She also has an adopted daughter who is
nonverbal, which makes this program a critical
addition to keeping her safe.
“This is a tool for communication in a critical
situation if needed,” Smith said.
She was eager to have Jetter speak with the
borough’s seniors, which he did at one of the
group’s weekly meetings. The
U.S. Census said that in 2022,
13.9 percent of Hopatcong’s
14,531 residents were 65 or older, or 1,941
persons.
Enrollment forms are also available at the
Hopatcong Wellness Center on Hopatchung
Road and on the Safely Back Home website.
Jetter said by June, a dozen Hopatcong families
has signed up for the program.
Tammy Miller, the director of student
special services for Hopatcong schools, said six
families enrolled in May.
The families each brought in about 20 pieces
of clothing so that the soft, cloth badges
could be added. Families will need to bring in
different clothing as the children age and grow,
she said.
Working out of his garage, Jetter uses a heat
press to secure the badges to clothing and hats
but said anyone can use a hot iron to get the
same results.
Miller said other programs use dog tags
or other styles of identification, which can
become lost, or among certain children,
become bothersome.
“The badge is a secure form of identification,”
she said. “This is appropriate if they flee or get
lost.”
With a reduced ability to speak or socialize,
Miller said, the student could become
disoriented or agitated if lost, unable to tell
a potential rescuer their name or other basic
information. Sometimes such students act out
or scream, she said.
She agreed with Jetter that the badges can
act as a tool to de-escalate what might be a
tense or confusing situation. They can offer
education to the general public.
In mid-June, Jetter delivered back to the
Hopatcong families their garments individually
imprinted with the Safely Back Home badges.
Joanna Tiritilli enrolled her 9-year-old
daughter Lena in the Safely Back Home
program as another level of protection. The
badge augments information on Lena’s medical
alert bracelet, she said.
Lena is nonverbal and has epilepsy. She also
loves swimming, her mother said.
“We have to be super careful,” Tiritilli said.
“It’s a challenge.
She does not have
a bit of fear.”
Taking her
out in public
can be stressful,
20
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Midsummer 2023
Left to right: Paul
Jetter presents his
Safely Back Home
program to seniors
in Hopatcong.
Xavier Subero with
his mom, Ashley
Labar.