New statistics show that in 2011-12, at least 70,000 students were subjected to physical restraint, and 37,000, to isolated seclusion.
The statistics were released this Spring as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, a biennial data collection from public schools.
The data showed that students with disabilities were disproportionately restrained and secluded.
It’s Time to Put a Stop to These Abuses
On April 8, 2014, a coalition of 220 national and state organizations, including Wrightslaw, asked the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to act now and pass restraint and seclusion legislation in light of the alarming data. In 2014, Senators Tom Harkin and Chris Murphy introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act, S.2036. (Representatives George Miller and Greg Harper had previously introduced a similar companion bill, H.R. 1893 in May 2013.)
Please read more about the statistics and reports, the national bill, and how you can contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to cosponsor the Keeping All Students Safe Act.
The Civil Rights Data Collection showed that while students with disabilities comprise only 12% of the student population, they were 75% of those restrained and 58% of those secluded.
Minority students were also disproportionately subjected to these practices. For example, nearly 4,000 students with disabilities were mechanically restrained. Approximately 36% were African-American, although African-American children comprise only 19% of students with disabilities. Mechanical restraints include using ties, straps, locking chairs and locking devices, and even duct tape to restrain students.
In 2009, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that children were injured, traumatized, and even killed through restraint and seclusion in schools. The GAO documented 20 students who had died in restraint. Other children have been killed or injured in seclusion rooms, including a student who hung himself in Atlanta while school staff were outside the locked room.
A February 2014 Senate HELP Committee investigation found that families have little recourse under current law, even when their child has died or been harmed. Not only do restraints and seclusion harm students, but students are not in the classroom learning, and many regress.
Protection Against Restraint and Seclusion
Many states provide little protection from restraint and seclusion for all students. Only 14 states restrict restraint to dangers threatening safety emergencies for all children; only 18, for children with disabilities. Only one state bans seclusion of all children; four ban seclusion of children with disabilities, and another 10 limit seclusion to physical safety emergencies.
Only 20 states require parents of all children be informed of restraint and seclusion use today.
Both Congressional bills will forbid the use of restraint except in emergencies threatening physical danger.
Both seek to prevent non-emergency restraint: the House bill, by limiting it to threats of physical harm; the Senate, by banning it. Parents would be notified of restraint and seclusion use on the same day. The bills will ban restraints that impede breathing, and dangerous mechanical and chemical restraints. They will ensure that staff are trained in evidence-based methods to minimize the use of restraint and seclusion and the use of positive supports. They will ensure that teachers have the tools and resources they need to prevent challenging behaviors. The bills will enhance public oversight by requiring data reporting and collection.
Positive Supports and Interventions
The bills will help schools prevent problematic behavior by shifting to comprehensive positive supports. Through positive supports and interventions, de-escalation, conflict management, and other positive strategies, can “virtually eliminate” the use of restraint and seclusion, testified Daniel Crimmins, Director, Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University.
Challenging behaviors and can be avoided when staff performs functional behavioral assessments and understands what triggers them.
The Centennial School in Pennsylvania, which serves children from 35 school districts, has slashed its use of restraint from over 1,000 occurrences per year to fewer than 10 through the use of positive interventions. Its seclusion rooms had been in constant use. They were turned into a school store and supply closet, according to Director Michael George.
It’s Time to Put a Stop to These Abuses
As he introduced the bill, Senator Harkin told the story of Jonathan King, who was “secluded in an 8-by-8-foot concrete room in his Georgia school from the time he was a kindergartener. His parents did not know this was happening to him.” Jonathan, 13 years old, was killed in seclusion. “It is time to put a stop to these abuses.”
Contact Your Congressman
Please call or write to your Senators and Representatives and ask them to cosponsor the Keeping All Students Safe Act, S.2036 and H.R. 1893.
Calls are more effective, but email will also help. Contact your Senators through http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and your Representative through http://www.house.gov/ (put your zip code in the box in the upper corner).
You can also call the Congress, 202-224-3121 or TTY 202-225-1904.
–Jessica Butler, Congressional Affairs Coordinator, Autism National Committee, www.autcom.org (email: jessica@jnba.net)
More Resources
To find data on your own school district’s or state’s use of restraint and seclusion, go to http://ocrdata.ed.gov/ You can also compare schools and districts or get information for all school districts in your state. Select 2011-12 for the most recent data.
To read more about restraint and seclusion, visit Wrightslaw at https://www.wrightslaw.com/info/abuse.index.htm
Sheryl, I suggest you contact your state Disability Rights project. Every state has one. Their attorneys may agree to take on your grandson’s case. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center
Also some states have an Appleseed project that deals with criminal justice cases, and reforms. https://www.appleseednetwork.org/sponsorjustice.html I agree with Wrightslaw. Develop a basic summary of the situation, & then provide details as the person or agency asks questions. He has disabilities, school could or would not deal with his behaviors; he is moving deeper into the criminal justice system; and he has been labeled “defiant, & spoiled”.
I need advice. My grandson, 14, is on the Autisum Spectrum, has O.D,D., anxiety issues, ADHD, and learning/ behavioral disorders. Due to his outbursts in class and at times refusal to complete class assignments has been placed in Alternative School, then on to A Day Program and is now in a residential boot camp program. He also has had self harming ideas but no follow thru. He has an IEP and 504 in his public school. Due to his Aspergers he gets frustrated easily, acts out when stressed or publicly admonished in class. He does show attempts on conforming to school rules but at times has difficulty in behaving. He is over weight and has been the subject of harassment from classmates. It appears that he has been treated as a problem and shuffled off to different placements, His P.O. said that while at Camp Lewis in Al. they are not required to follow his existing IEP and has labeled him as defiant stemming from no parental home control. He does not deserve this label or the continuously increased placement. We were told by his probation officer that he is NOT autistic, he’s manipulative and defiant. He has had his stay time removed and has to restart his 120 days. At home prior to all this mess he acted totally different than at school. Again his p.o. stated it was only that way because he was catered to at home with no discipline. He lives with me and those allegations are false. There has been a minimal amount of help with his disabilities. At first the boot camp dpsaid they were not informed of his diagnosis and now they are aware of it and his treatment has been stricter and less accommodating. He is currently in a Adolescent Treatment hospital due to his feeling unsafe since he was told by another student there that he planned on killing my grandson as well as all of us. This is the second time he as been in the hospital for his fear and anxiety. We asked his p.o. to release him to our care since he is only getting worse there. His p.o. told us there was no chance of her releasing him or talking to the judge because he is only defiant and spoiled. What kinda crap is that? He would be homeschooled as his sister is and would continue to receive his out patient therapy and medication. What can I do to help him before more harm is done? I know this sounds choppy and disjointed but I am stressed and asking for help.
Sheryl, I’d like to offer advice about your question/ story. Keep it simple and make it easy to read.
You posted a huge unbroken block of text with no carrier returns. Think about the people who read and answer questions on the blog. About 90% are reading on their phones! I tried to read it on my laptop but got lost.
Keep your question simple. If you tell a long story with many details and complaints, you are unlikely to get an answer.