EYE ON THE PRIZE: KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE

[Guest guest]

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 of California

and in the US Senate by Senator 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

<http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s2860/text?version=is & nid=t0:is:127>

& 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/20090519GregKutzTestimo

ny.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 2004 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.