Abuse, Use of Restraints & Seclusion in School

Abuse & Restraints in School
Use of Restraints as Discipline l Physical & Sexual Abuse l Time Out/Seclusion
Positive Behavior Support (PBS) l Protection & Advocacy
Resources l Publications l Cases

Print this page

Update 03/03/10: Houses Approves Keeping All Students Safe Act (HR 4247).

By a vote of 262-153, the House passed the bill to protect schoolchildren from harmful restraint and seclusion. This bipartisan bill establishes, for the first time, federal minimum safety standards in schools, preventing harmful restraint and seclusion. The Keeping All Students Safe Act is the first national effort to address this problem.

Proposed Legislation: Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R.4247), contains a comprehensive overview of the proposed legislation (December 2009) in a new article by Jessica Butler, Esquire

Update: 02/04/10. This morning, the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) passed out of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor by a vote of 34-10. H.R. 4247 would establish the first federal standards to protect students from misuse of restraint and seclusion, and ensure the safety of everyone in the classroom. The bill will now head to the House floor for a full vote.

Update: 02/02/10. The House Committee on Education and Labor will mark up the Congressional restraint/seclusion bill this Thursday, February 4. During mark-up, the Congressional Committee will consider the bill and any proposed changes, and vote on a bill to send to the House Floor. Read more.

Should IEPs Include Restraint and Seclusion? 10 Minute Activist: Tell Congress!

Track the bill - select "Bill Number" and enter H.R.4247

Abusive Interventions: Timeline and Actions

Alert! New Law to Prevent Abuse in Schools. On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247). This legislation is intended to protect children from the harmful use of restraint and seclusion at school.
Link to this Alert: http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/09/al.abuse.hr4247.htm

New Report! - Seclusions and Restraints (pdf) from the US Goverment Accountability Office (GAO-09-719T). Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers. Testimony Before the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. 05/19/09 (Accessible text format)

New Complaint! - Complaint filed in Disability Rights of NC v. Wake Co Bd of Ed and Robert Sturey in abuse & restraints case (pdf) 09/16/08

Children with disabilities are sometimes left open to potential abuse when those who are charged with their care do not understand the difference between "bad behavior" and "behavior as communication". The term "behavior as communication" refers to a child's effort to communicate dislikes, needs, desires, etc. but cannot do so because of a communication deficit (ie. no speech, limited speech). Sometimes happiness can look the same as sadness, anger the same as excitement...emotions can be very hard to distinguish.

When a child's "behavior" is seen merely as bad behavior and not as an effort to communicate, the child can become even more frustrated thus causing escalation. Adults who are not properly trained to distinguish these "behaviors" or to decipher the "communication" attempts can sometimes escalate the child to a critical point when the use of physical and/or mechanical restraint comes into play.

Imagine that you cannot express your thoughts in a way that others can easily understand. Now, imagine that you are a child who cannot communicate your fears, likes, dislikes, or pain. Imagine being misunderstood constantly. Imagine having others schedule every moment of your life without knowing what you would like to do. This is reality for some children. Is it any wonder that these children get frustrated?

It is essential that parents and school personnel realize that IDEA provides safeguards for these children. If a child's "behavior" gets in the way of his or her education (or that of others), certain steps must be taken in order to ensure FAPE.

"Something is Very Wrong When are Children are Unsafe at School," said
George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. On December 9, 2009, Congressman Miller and Cagresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act.

Use of Restraint as Discipline in Schools

Physical restraints are becoming more prevalent in public schools. Deciding whether or not to physically restrain a student requires an understanding of legal requirements, professional standards, and health and safety issues.

Practicing Restraint - Restraint and seclusion were once considered acceptable, even valuable tools in maintaining control of unruly children in residential group homes. But the call for alternatives is growing louder.

Sample Letter: Letter Requesting "No Restraint"

Learning From Each Other: Success Stories and Ideas for Reducing Restraint/Seclusion in Behavioral Health" (PDF) - Resource Guide Provides Practical Help in Creating a Culture of Safety, Respect, and Dignity. The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health are coordinating a three-year project designed to reduce the use of restraint and seclusion procedures with children.

Handcuffs? Bruises? Disability Rights Files Suit Against Wake County Schools.The complaint alleged that children with autism were improperly restrained in class, including a child in handcuffs and a child returning home from school with bruises.

Federal Standards

New! Summary of Seclusion and Restraint Statutes, Regulations, Policies and Guidance, by State and Territory. U.S. DOE posts restraint and seclusion policies in a Summary Report (February 2010).

Federal Standards For Use of Restraint And Seclusion by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health

Fact Sheets

Effective Responses: Physical Restraint (PDF) - Fact Sheet from Safe and Responsive Schools

Fact sheet on Physical Restraint

Position Papers on Restraints

Unsafe in the Schoolhouse: Abuse of Children with Disabilities by Jessica Butler. In March-May 2009, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) conducted a survey that identified 185 cases in which children were subjected to aversive interventions. Reports were received of children subject to prone restraints; injured by larger adults who restrained them; tied, taped and trapped in chairs and equipment; forced into locked seclusion rooms; made to endure pain, humiliation and deprived of basic necessities, and subjected to a variety of other abusive techniques.

School is Not Supposed to Hurt: Update on Progress in 2009 to Prevent and Reduce Restraint and Seclusion in Schools. This report is a follow-up released by The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) to its January 2009 report School is not Supposed to Hurt. The report, a shocking investigation chronicling the abusive use of seclusion and restraint on schoolchildren and a lack of state and federal regulation is updated with progress made in 2009.(February 2010)..

School is Not Supposed to Hurt. Investigative Report on Abusive Restraint and Seclusion in Schools from the National Disability Rights Network. This report of their study on restraint and seclusion of school children, many with disabilities, chronicles a number of instances where children were injured or even killed by these techniques. (January 2009)

Out of Darkness...Into the Light: Seclusion and Restraint of Wisconsin Children. The report from Disability Rights Wisconsin exposes the tragedy of secluding and restraining Wisconsin children in schools and treatment settings throughout the state. It describes the ways in which Wisconsin children have been both emotionally and physically injured by such practices, including one child who died in restraints. It further describes actions taken by many other states to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint of children, and calls for legislative and administrative agency action to protect Wisconsin children from these dangerous practices. (April 2009) Executive Summary l Full Report

Improving the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Making Schools Work for All of America's Children (National Council on Disabilities, 1995) - The current system has the potential to allow parents to request and receive program methods that are unproven, experimental in nature, or dangerous or harmful to the physical or psychological health of their child. While it is possible to understand the desperation of these parents, to share their exasperation with ineffective programs and treatments, and to sympathize with them in their frustration to locate appropriate programs, there are limits to what society can permit in the name of treatment.

Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behavior in Psychiatric Institutions with Reference to Seclusion and Restraints published by the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - "Seclusion and restraint are medical interventions, which are utilized during the psychiatric treatment of children and adolescents in hospital-based settings or other specialized clinical treatment programs."

Autism National Committee Position on Restraints - "Condemns the widespread and excessive use of mechanical and physical restraints in restricting the civil and human rights of people with disabilities ... the use of restraints is a failure in treatment."

National Mental Health Association Position Statement - "...as a matter of fundamental policy, Mental Health America urges abolition of the use of seclusion and restraints to control symptoms of mental illnesses, and prohibition of the use of sedatives and other medications as chemical restraints."

Position Paper on Seclusion and Restraints from National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - "The use of involuntary mechanical or human restraints or involuntary seclusion is only justified as an emergency safety measure in response to imminent danger to a patient or others ... Restraint and seclusion have no therapeutic value and should be used only for emergency safety by order of a physician with competency in psychiatry or a licensed independent mental health professional (LIP)."

Research

Physical Restraints in School (Powerpoint presentation)

To Top

Physical & Sexual Abuse

Physical Abuse in Schools

Call to Action: New York Regs Allow Schools to Use "Aversive Interventions" on Children, Including Electric Shock - In June, 2006, New York approved "emergency regulations" that permit public schools to use aversive behavioral interventions and time-out rooms on children with disabilities. These regulations were approved without public meetings, testimony of comment. Call to Action includes a detailed plan of action to defeat these regulations.

Abu Ghraib on the Hudson by Dee Alpert, Esq., Special Education Muckraker
(in pdf)
http://www.specialeducationmuckraker.com/ABU_GHRAIB_ON_THE_HUDSON.pdf

Action Alert: Abu Ghraib on the Hudson (html)

Sexual Abuse in Schools

Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature prepared for the U. S. Department of Education Carol Schakeshaft (2004) estimages that nearly 1 in 10 students (9.8%) experienced unacceptable sexual behavior by a school employee during their school years. The report describes existing research and literature, prevalence, offender characteristics, targets, patterns, effects, consequences, and prevention of educator sexual misconduct.(156 pages, pdf)

Kalie McArthur v. Academy School District 20 - Parents sue district after daughter sexually assaulted by "peer tutor" - district expert claims assault was "pleasurable."

To Top

Time Out and Seclusion

Using Federal Stimulus $$$ to Construct Seclusion Areas. A Wisconsin school district has decided to use federal stimulus dollars to construct “seclusion areas” in its schools. The decision is opposed by those working to end such practices for students with disabilities.

Teacher Fired, Isolation Room Closed, Lawsuit Pending.The following video (taken from a school surveillance tape) is a shocking report of videotaped abuse of a 14 year old boy who has autism (2009).

New York Schools Regs Allow Schools to Use "Aversive Interventions" on Children - Including Electric Shock - In June, the New York Board of Regents approved "emergency regulations" that permit public schools to use aversive behavioral interventions and time-out rooms as consequences for behavior of children with disabilities. These regulations went into effect on June 23, 2006. Among these "emergency regulations" is "the placement of a child unsupervised or unobserved in a room from which the student cannot exit without assistance."

Reducing the Use of Restraint and Seclusion: Promising Practices and Successful Strategies from the Child Welfare League - "Restraint and seclusion are dehumanizing, humiliating, and dangerous." This issue brief is a collection of promising practices and successful strategies for limiting the use of physical restraint and seclusion." ($6.95)

How Do YOU Define Restraint and Seclusion? In this interview from EdNews.org, Reece Peterson responds to questions about the use of "restraint" and provides resource materials for more information and clarification.

To Top

Positive Behavior Support (PBS)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that a child's Individualized Education Planning (IEP) Team consider to the child's behavior if it interferes with his or her education or the education of others. IDEA is explicit in what it requires the IEP team to do when a child with a disability has behavior problems:

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Positive Behavior Support (RRTC-PBS)

Association for Positive Behavior Support (APBS)

Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion (APRAIS) The key to reducing the use of aversives, restraints, and seclusion is to ensure that individuals who exhibit challenging behaviors have access to comprehensive and individualized positive behavior support.

Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Advocating for the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports in place of aversive measures such as restraint, seclusion and other abusive practices. Includes links to state specific information.

To Top

Caselaw: Abuse, Neglect, Restraints, Seclusion in Public Schools

Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities v. Hartford Bd of Educ, Hartford Public Schools and Robert Henry, Sup. of Schools (2nd Cir 2006)

After media reports of children being neglected and abused at the Hartford Transitional Academy, a "therapeutic educational program" for emotionally disturbed children, the Connecticut Office of Protection & Advocacy launched an investigation into these allegations. Administrators at Hartford Public Schools stonewalled, refused to provide the agency with any information about the children or contact information for their parents. School officials refused to allow the P & A staff to interview students at the "Academy."

Why? Hartford Public Schools claimed the Individuals with Disabiliities Act and FERPA barred them from releasing infomation about the students who may have been neglected and/or abused by them. When this argument failed in court, school officials claimed the P & A was only authorized to investigate abuse at residential programs. The U. S. Court of Appeals requested that the U. S. Dept of Education and Health and Human Services file amicus briefs with their interpretations. The joint amicus brief filed with the Court "rejects defendents arguments." The Court ruled that the P & A have a statutory responsibility to investigate suspected cases of abuse and neglect of individuals with disabilities or mental illness. The Court found probable cause that "multiple individuals have been subjected to abuse or neglect" at Hartford Transitional Academy. (September 15, 2006)

Note: GreatSchools provided statistics for the Hartford Transition Academy and Hartford Public Schools. Of the 269 students enrolled at Hartford Transition Academy, 0 percent were proficient in reading, writing and math on the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. (It appears that Hartford Public Schools did not provide any test data for this school).

Questions: According to the Connecticut Dept of Education, "The goal is for all students to score at or above the state standard." The test data for Hartford Public Schools shows that the district is far from reaching this goal. What steps has the Connecticut Department of Education taken to bring this school into compliance?

How is your child's school and school district performing? Visit GreatSchools or School Matters for detailed information about schools and school districts.

Disability Rights Wisconsin, Inc., v. v. Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction & Elizabeth Burmaster, Superintendent of Public Instruction (7th Cir. 2006)

This case involved several children who were dragged into seclusion / time out rooms at Lincoln Elementary School. The media learned about these incidents and did a news story about the abused children. When Disability Rights of Wisconsin tried to investigate, the Department of Public Instruction refused to provide any information about the identity of the children involved or their parents, claiming that this "confidential information," pursuant to the Family Educational Privacy Act.

The court provided a detailed description of one seclusion room that was "approximately 5 feet by 9 feet in size. Dark grey carpeting covered the floor and the walls. Fluorescent ceiling lighting illuminated the room. The door to the room had a lock and no interior door knob, which violated the fire code (and has since been remedied)."The Court analyzed the laws that govern Protection and Advocacy agencies and ruled in favor of Disability Rights of Wisconsin. The decision includes a detailed description of the responsibilities of P & As to protect individuals with disabilities, limitations on confidentiality under the Family Educational Rights to Privacy Act, and other issues.

Covington v. Knox Co (TN) - U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Decision in "time-out room" child abuse case; creates exceptions to exhaustion requirement in damages cases. In html

$250,000 Settlement in McCarter Case - In a case about sexual abuse of a child with cerebral palsy and school's failure to provide an appropriate education, the state, school district and parents entered into a settlement agreement of $250,000 for damages, attorneys’ fees and expenses, vocational and rehabilitation services, and state-wide policy changes.

Shawn Witte v. Clark County (NV) School Board, et. al. - U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. School brutality case; damages sought under Section 504 and the ADA on behalf of child with disability. Court issued pro-child decision; discussed exhaustion of remedies under the IDEA and appropriate damages for physical abuse and injury. Decision in pdf

W.B. v. Matula, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In case where child was bullied by teacher and other students, court held that damages are available under Section 504, IDEA, and Section 1983 since the district refused to evaluate, classify and provide appropriate services to the disabled child; includes discussion of exhaustion, qualified immunity, and due process.

To Top

Protection & Advocacy Services

National Protection & Advocacy Agencies

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) - nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities. Collectively, the P&A/CAP network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States.

National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy - NARPA is dedicated to promoting those policies and pursuing those strategies that represent the preferred options of people who have been labeled mentally disabled. NARPA is committed to advocating the abolishing of all forced treatment laws. NARPA believes the recipients of mental health services are capable of and entitled to make their own choices, and they are, above all, equal citizens under the law. NARPA's fundamental mission is to help empower people who have been labeled mentally disabled so that they may learn to independently exercise their rights.

To Top

Positive Behavior Support: Evolution of an Applied Science
Carr, E. G., Dunlap, G., Horner, R. H., Koegel, R. L., Turnbull, A., Sailor, W., Anderson, J., Albin, R., Koegel, L. K., & Fox, L. (2002). Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4(1), 4-16. Copyright (2002) by PRO-ED, Inc. Adapted with permission. You may download this article to make single a copy for your own use.

Best Practice Guidelines for Behavior Support and Intervention Training available from the Child Welfare League. "The use of restraint and seclusion creates serious risks for children, including traumatization, emotional harm, serious injury, and even death. CWLA's Best Practice Guidelines for Behavior Support and Intervention Training will help facilities select qualified training vendors that will help reduce the use of restraint and seclusion." ($14.95)

Preventing Physical Restraints in Schools: A Guide for Parents, Educators & Professionals - Attorney Scott Johnson describes the legal requirements for using positive behavioral interventions and supports to prevent the need for restraints. Mr. Johnson describes the health and safety risks of using restraints and training requirements for school staff. He provides sample school policies and sample forms, and offers suggestions to parents who need to decide if restraints are appropriate for their child. ($29.95; includes the print publication and CD version of the book).

Facilitator's Guide, Positive Behavioral Support
This guide is made available through the Bureau of Instructional Support and Community Service, Florida Department of Education, and was developed by the staff of the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Project at the University of South Florida. This guide is designed to build capacity of school districts in positive assessment based approaches to support students with significant behavioral challenges.

Free e-Book Download: Achieving Better Outcomes for Children and Families
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), in collaboration with the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health (FFCMH), serves as the Coordinating Center for the three-year Best Practices in Behavior Support and Intervention Project. The project is designed to reduce the use of restraint and seclusion in seven demonstration sites across the country by improving the training and supervision of staff who work directly with children and youth.