Status of Regulating Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
CHADD has been actively supporting COPAA, NDRN, TASH, autism consumer
and family groups, and others on the position that restraint and
seclusion should not be a planned intervention in an IEP. Restraint and
seclusion are emergency responses to crisis behavioral situations, while
an IEP is a planned sequence of educational and related accommodations
to assist students to learn. IEPs can be supplemented with behavioral
intervention plans that rely on trained staff to de-escalate crisis
situations without relying on restraint and seclusion.
Read the statement below from Tricia and Calvin Luker (www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com)
on the status of this legislation.
Posted August 6, 2010
EYE ON THE PRIZE: KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE
Parents, parent advocates and self-advocates, attorneys, educators and
medical/mental health professionals throughout the United States have
been working for years to create federal legislation that would prohibit
the use of seclusion and restraints throughout America’s
schools. We have expended this effort because we have seen the
effects of thousands of instances where children who expect us to
protect them have been hurt or killed by being secluded or
restrained. We are acting to protect the children.
On December 9, 2009 we achieved our first hint of success when the
Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act was introduced
in the US House of Representatives by Congressman George Miller of
California and in the US Senate by Senator Christopher Dodd of
Connecticut. The House bill, now renamed, “The Keeping All
Students Safe Act” has passed the House and been sent to the
Senate. The Senate bill remains pending before the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions [HELP].
Why do we need this bill? The primary reason we need a federal law
prohibiting the use of seclusion and restraint is because many states
currently have no prohibition against the use of seclusion and
restraints, while other states have individual legislation regulating
the use of seclusion and restraint without uniform enforcement
provisions or federal reporting requirements. Without federal
legislation ALL American children are at risk of injury and death from
the use of restraint/seclusion. Here are the provisions as
passed by the House in The Keeping All Students Safe
Act:
Mechanical Restraints:
Prohibits
Chemical Restraints: Prohibits
Restraints that Interfere with Breathing:
Prohibits
Restraint/Seclusion in IEP: Prohibits as a
“planned intervention.”
Allow seclusion/restraint use only if there is an emergency AND
if less restrictive measures would not work (a 2-part
requirement): Sets this two-step standard. First, there
must be an emergency presenting imminent danger of physical injury to
self or others. Second, if less restrictive measures would resolve
the problem, R/S cannot be used.
Monitoring children in seclusion/restraints: Requires
face-to-face monitoring unless unsafe for staff and then direct,
continuous visual monitoring required.
Terminating the use of seclusion/restraint: The
restraining or seclusion must end when the emergency ends.
Use of aversives: Prohibits aversives that
compromise health or safety.
Parental notification if child is restrained/secluded:
Requires same day verbal/electronic notification of parents and written
notification within 24 hours of each incident.
The bills as passed by the House and as introduced in the Senate permit
the Secretary of the Department of Education to withhold funding for
those districts that violate the provisions of the bills. They
also extend the power of the state Protection and Advocacy systems to
investigate instances of unlawful use of seclusion or
restraint.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE SENATE BILL?
The Senate HELP Committee has not held any formal hearings on its
bill. There has been significant informal discussion with Senate
staffers concerning whether to include the provision prohibiting
restraint/seclusion in IEPs, as well as other proposed
modifications. These informal discussions are continuing.
There may be a push to have the bill considered before the late summer
Senate recess.
It is vital that you know that these discussions are going on within the
Senate and that there is a possibility that the Senate might pass a bill
that would not prohibit the use of restraint/seclusion as a planned
intervention in a student’s IEP. Now is the time to educate
ourselves about this issue so that we all can be ready to advocate for
our children’s safety at the national level once the Senate bill
has taken its final form and is presented for debate.
Here are the links to the bills as passed in the House of
Representatives and as introduced in the Senate:
H.R.4247.RFS – Keeping All Students Safe Act – as passed the
House
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4247/show
S.2860 – Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act
– as introduced in Senate:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s2860/text?version=is&nid=t0:is:127
Here is the link to the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates’
position statement:
http://www.copaa.org/news/position%20on%20HR4247%20and%20S2860.html
Here is the link to the Government Accountability Office report on
restraint and seclusion:
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/testimony/20090519GregKutzTestimony.pdf
Here is the link to the National Disability Rights Network report on
restraint and seclusion:
http://www.napas.org/sr/SR-Report.pdf
Here is the link to the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates report
on restraint and seclusion:
http://www.copaa.org/pdf/UnsafeCOPAAMay_27_2009.pdf
Finally, here is the link to the Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive
Interventions, and Seclusion paper, “Myth of Fact: Restraints and
Seclusion More Torture than Learning Experience”
http://aprais.tash.org/toolkit.htm
These links will help you see the scope of the problem of restraint and
seclusion for yourself and to evaluate the bills so that you can express
your opinion effectively. We invite you to join us in our
concerted effort to tell our federal legislators – particularly
our Senators -- why the bills are so important to all of our
children.
We cannot understate the importance of the fact that federal legislation
has been introduced to prohibit restraint and seclusion. We have
been working for this for many years. Now that the bills are in
Congress, let us unite to improve them and to pass them as quickly as
possible. They must pass this session of Congress [which ends in
December, 2010] or we go right back to square one in 2011. We can
and must do this to protect our children from seclusion and restraint
once and for all. We cannot do it without your help.
Tricia and Calvin Luker
www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com
Copyright © 2010 by Tricia and Calvin
Luker. Permission to forward, copy and post this article is granted
so long as it is attributed to the authors and www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com.
Posted August 6, 2010
Lawmakers introduce legislation to prevent the use of restraint
and seclusion
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact for Related Inquiries Only:
Cindy Smith, Public Policy Specialist, 301-306-7070,
ext. 138
LANDOVER, MD—On December 9, 2009, legislation to protect
all students from the unnecessary use of restraints and seclusion in
public and private schools was introduced in both the House of
Representatives and the Senate. CHADD extends heartfelt gratitude
for the leadership shown by Chairman George Miller
(D-CA), Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA),
and Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) to address this
issue. The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
Act will help establish a federal floor of protection to ensure
that all students, including students with AD/HD and related disorders,
feel safe when they enter their school. “We cannot expect
children to learn if they do not feel that school is a physically and
emotionally safe place to be,” said Cindy Smith, CHADD's public
policy specialist.
The introduction of this bill is a critical step toward ensuring the
safety of all students. CHADD has been working primarily
with the Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions
and Seclusion (APRAIS). CHADD joined the APRAIS
coalition last year after the National Disability Rights
Network released its report, School is Not Supposed to Hurt.
More information on CHADD's work to address the use of restraint and
seclusion in schools is available in an October 2009 Attention
magazine article and
on CHADD's dedicated public policy
webpage.
Read the text of the press
release on the website of the House of
Representatives. The press conference can be viewed on
the website of the House Committee on Education and Labor.
House Holds Hearing and GAO Issues Report
On May 19, 2009, the House of Representatives Education and Labor
Committee held a hearing, Examining the Abusive and Deadly Use of Seclusion and Restraint
in Schools. The hearing complemented a General
Accountability Office (GAO) report, Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private
Schools and Treatment Centers,
also issued on May 19.
The GAO report
validates the facts and circumstances surrounding ten selected cases of
restraint and seclusion in U.S. schools. At the hearing, Gregory D.
Kutz highlighted three of the cases, including the case of Christopher.
A nine-year old male diagnosed with AD/HD, Christopher was reportedly
secluded in a time-out room more than 75 times during a six-month period
for such behaviors as making noises, chewing on his shirt, and fidgeting
in class. Although the room was not locked, staff repeatedly held its
door shut.
Currently, there is no federal law that governs the
use of restraint and seclusion in schools. Chairman George Miller (D-CA)
stated affirmatively that keeping children safe “is not a partisan
issue, but a moral issue.” To work to address these issues in
collaboration with sister national organizations, CHADD recently joined
the Alliance
to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion.
Posted May 22, 2009
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