Recently, Cali Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Ebony Alert system into law— the first state to notify the public when Black children and women disappear.

Carlee Russell, the Black nursing student who went missing in July after falsely reporting her own kidnapping, was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks California state Sen. Steven Bradford about the state's new system designed to find missing Black people.

But we’d be remiss if we didn’t take this moment to truly reflect on the fact that not all missing-persons cases are the same – and, more notably, on the fact that not all missing-persons cases receive the same level of attention.

"It's something that's truly needed," California State Sen. Steven Bradford, who authored the new law, tells PEOPLE.

California became the first state in the country to enact the “Ebony Alert” law, which is intended to prioritize the search for missing Black youngsters.

Women’s Leadership Project Founder claims that the cases of missing black girls involve other crimes like sex trafficking.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the “Ebony Alert” bill to help locate missing Black youth and Black women in the state of California, according to a written statement from his office.

California's Amber Alert-like system will be used exclusively for missing Black children and young women.