HANOVER — A newly expanded program that allows residents to alert police about family members with special needs may make responding to scenes less stressful — and safer — for both emergency responders and the public in 20 more Upper Valley towns.

Hanover Police and the White River Junction-based Special Needs Support Center recently adopted the “special needs information program” to cover all towns within the Hanover dispatch territory, including Hanover, Canaan, Cornish, Enfield, Lyme, Orford, Plainfield, Piermont, Grafton, Springfield, Dorchester and Grantham in New Hampshire, and Norwich, Thetford, Fairlee, Bradford, Strafford, Vershire, West Fairlee and Corinth in Vermont.

It allows residents in any of those towns to voluntarily fill out a form alerting police, firefighters and paramedics about someone living in their home with special needs. Those can include PTSD, mental health issues, autism, Down syndrome and dementia. It also allows residents to alert officials to the various triggers that could heighten a person’s disability, such as loud noises, lights and loud voices.

If a call comes in at one of the listed residences, 911 operators are alerted to the form and can let emergency responders know ahead of time that someone with a special need lives there.

“This just helps you respond more appropriately and better to hopefully de-escalate” a situation, said Hanover Police Chief Charlie Dennis. He said that the commotion of a typical emergency response can be stress-inducing for people with certain disabilities or special needs. In order to reduce that stress, police may turn off their sirens and lights when they arrive at that residence, or avoid other behavior that could trigger anxiety for the person living there.

The program has been a boon in other areas, like Lebanon, which implemented the program two years ago and currently has 32 residents registered in the system. Hartford is uses the program as well.

“The feedback from families has been pretty positive,” said Lebanon Police Chief Phil Roberts. “It offers a safety net to families out there. But it’s also very valuable to us.”

He explained that the program is also a safety measure for police, allowing them to take precautionary measures before they arrive to a scene to make sure they don’t escalate a tense situation.

Disability and special needs advocates say the program is a way for local police departments to show a deeper understanding of some of the struggles people with mental disabilities or mental health issues endure.

“People living with disabilities may have challenges such as impaired communication, wandering, tendency to avoid eye contact, or other actions or verbalizations that can appear suspicious without prior knowledge,” Special Needs Support Center Executive Director Laura Perez wrote in an email last week. “Statistics show that these behaviors related to disabilities are often mistaken by law enforcement as acts of aggression or insubordination.”

She added that national estimates have shown that a majority of police encounters are with someone who has a disability, and up to 50% of people who are killed by police have a disability.

Zack’s Place Enrichment Center Executive Director Dail Frates, whose Woodstock organization works specifically with people who have autism, said she can see the benefit for people who may be triggered by things like loud sounds, lights or physical contact.

“One of the things with autism is overstimulation. … Overstimulation can cause excitability and they may not be able to be in control of themselves at that moment.” Frates said. “It’s about having an understanding for their needs and what they’re about as a person — why they may behave a little bit differently than someone else in the same situation.”

Anyone interested in adding their information or information about a family member can find the form on the Hanover website. Or they can call the Hanover Police Department at 603-643-2222 and ask that an officer be sent to their home to help complete the form. The Special Needs Support Center, which recently moved from Lebanon to 129 S. Main St. in White River Junction, is at 603-448-6311 and can also help with the form.

Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.