Greetings from Washington, DC!  I’m here to attend a conference and to visit some legislators. 

 It just so happens that today, the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing to examine abusive and deadly uses of seclusion and restraint in U.S. schools. Seclusion and restraint are physical interventions used by teachers and other school staff to prevent students from hurting themselves or others.  Here is some background.

 The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently testified before the Committee about allegations of death and abuse at residential programs for troubled teens.  About that same time, Oregon state officials initiated an investigation of such a program: Mount Bachelor Academy.  The results of that investigation are pending.

 DRO’s national organization, the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) released a major report in January that exposed deaths and serious injuries resulting from the use of seclusion and restrain in schools.  It documented cases where students were pinned to the floor for hours at a time, handcuffed, locked in closets, and subjected to other acts of violence. In some of these cases, this type of abuse resulted in death.

 In response, the Committee asked GAO to (1) provide an overview of seclusions and restraint laws applicable to children in public and private schools, (2) verify whether allegations of student death and abuse from the use of these methods are widespread, and (3) examine the facts and circumstances surrounding cases where a student died or suffered abuse as a result of being secluded or restrained.

 In its testimony today, GAO found no federal laws restricting the use of seclusion and restraints in public and private schools and widely divergent laws at the state level. It found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the use of these methods on school children during the past two decades. Examples of these cases include a 7 year old dying after being held face down for hours by school staff, 5 year olds being tied to chairs with bungee cords and duct tape by their teacher and suffering broken arms and bloody noses, and a 13 year old hanging himself in a seclusion room after prolonged confinement.

 Although GAO continues to receive new allegations from parents and advocacy groups, it could not find a single Web site, federal agency, or other entity that collects information on the use of these methods or the extent of their abuse.

 GAO also examined the details of 10 restraint and seclusion cases in which there was a criminal conviction, a finding of civil or administrative liability, or a large financial settlement. The cases share the following common themes: they involved children with disabilities who were restrained and secluded, often in cases where they were not physically aggressive and their parents did not give consent; restraints that block air to the lungs can be deadly; teachers and staff in the cases were often not trained on the use of seclusions and restraints; and teachers and staff from at least 5 of the 10 cases continue to be employed as educators.

 The Committee heard from five witnesses who told tragic stories of death or injury related to restraint in school.  Committee Chair George Miller responded, noting that “approaches such as School Wide Positive Behavior Support can help establish a social culture and positive environment that uses data-driven decision-making to foster appropriate behavior and improve academic achievement.”

He concluded: "Congress must step in and fill the void that has resulted in scars that may never heal for these children and their families who have been victims of this abuse. I hope the next step will be to enact a federal policy to ensure the tragic stories we will hear today will never occur again."

 For more:  http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2009/05/examining-the-abusive-and-dead.shtml