By Caitlin Haynes
Currently there is not a set standard across the nation on how to protect children with behavioral needs in schools from being unnecessarily restrained or wrongly secluded. Some states have no laws or policies while others merely have suggested guidelines or inadequate laws in place. According to the Disability Rights Network’s latest publication of School is Not Supposed to Hurt in 2012, children are still suffering unnecessarily in many states, including Massachusetts. A disproportionate number of these children that are suffering both physically and emotionally from physical restraints and seclusionary interventions are children with disabilities. Children of all abilities should be protected from being “isolated, battered and bound, often without their parents’ permission and without notice”. Protecting these children from being harmed at school should seem obvious, however, a Senate Bill restricting the use of physical restraints and seclusions in school settings that was introduced in 2011, died in a session of Congress in 2013.
A new bill, S.2036, The Keeping All Students Safe Act, which is sponsored by Thomas Harkin, a Junior Senator from Iowa, was re- referenced to Committee in February 2014 and has been given a prognosis of a 2% chance of being enacted. This bill offers specific requirements and conditions that would limit the use of restraints and seclusions and make unavoidable restraints as safe as possible; by specifically stating the extent of training that staff and personnel should have, as well as when the restraint or seclusion should be ended. A most noteworthy part of the Keeping All Students Safe Act is that it prohibits a restraint or seclusion from being a planned intervention. While this may be controversial, legally restricting restraints and seclusions to be used after less restrictive options have been attempted in an emergency situation only, helps to promote the use of more positive behavioral supports. If physical restraints and seclusions continue to be written into education and behavior plans it is less likely that schools will consider other less physically restrictive options, such as positive behavioral supports, when a student’s behavior begins to escalate. If schools across the nation are standardized to focus on positive supports in order to limit the need of a restraint or seclusion and are mandated to keep restraints out of behavioral or Individualized Education Plans, as well as required to develop procedures to follow after a restraint or seclusion was done, children with and without disabilities would be protected from these potentially harmful interventions.
Currently, I work at a residential school for children and young adults with disabilities in Massachusetts. All employees are required to complete an 18 hour Crisis Prevention and Physical Intervention training course upon being hired, and must take a 8 hour re-clearance course annually. This training course focuses on positive behavioral supports and gives employees techniques to protect themselves and their students, such as considering proper attire when working with behavioral students, mood induction, redirection, and how to clear a room when a students’ behavior escalates. Employees learn in detail the conditions which must be met in order to discern if an escort, restraint or seclusionary time out is necessary (never an isolated seclusion). Employees are trained on how to properly perform a restraint with the least amount of force, only when nothing else works, and how to monitor the student, and when to release a restraint. This school already has in place an incident report procedure that is to be followed anytime a restraint or seclusion takes place; parents and the appropriate staff are notified and the behavioral team debriefs with the student present on what could have been done differently and how a restraint or seclusion could be avoided in the future. This school has drastically decreased the need for restraints and seclusions over the past decade. The use of positive behavioral support systems in schools would not only decrease the need to use physical restraints and seclusions, but it would also shift the social culture of the school and allow students to make gains academically and socially by diminishing problem behaviors efficiently and effectively. More positive behavioral supports and less physically intrusive interventions have proven in multiple studies to be effective and longer lasting in minimizing and ending challenging behaviors.
Senate Bill S.2036 could be the start of ending the often needless use of restraints and seclusions, and protecting children from harm at school and promote a more successful means to helping children overcome difficult behaviors. You can help these children and young adults by contacting your federally elected officials. Follow this link http://keepallstudentssafe.weebly.com/act-now.html and tell your representative that all children deserve the right to feel safe at school and have the chance to positively and effectively work on aggressive or “disruptive” behaviors. Parents and advocates have created a website where they post relevant information and media, review the legislation, provide resources, and create public awareness to help protect these children. You can follow this group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/keepstudentssafe) or you can help their cause by donating money to help support their creation of a comprehensive community engagement campaign by clicking here http://keepallstudentssafe.weebly.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html.
- National Disability Rights Network. School is not supposed to hurt: Update on progress in 2009 to prevent and reduce restraint and seclusion in schools. January 2010.
- National Disability Rights Network. School is not supposed to hurt: The U.S. Department of Education must do more to protect school children from restraint and seclusion. March 2012. Accessed October 20, 2013 at http://www.ndrn.org/images/Documents/Resources/Publications/Reports/School_is_Not_Supposed_to_Hurt_3_v7.pdf
- Kutz, Gregory, Testimony of. Seclusions and restraints: Selected cases of death and abuse at public and private schools and treatment centers. May 19, 2009.
- S. 2036: Keeping All Students Safe Act. Retrieved on May 18, 2014 from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s2036
- Text of S. 2036 (113th). Keeping all students safe act Retrieved on May 18, 2014 at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s2036/text
- Key Interview with Ken Durand. Head of the Restraint Incident Review Team and CPPI trainer at Perkins School for the Blind.
- Brosnan J, Healy O. A review of behavioral interventions for the treatment of aggression in individuals with developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities. 2011;32:437-446
Health Advocacy at NEU 