PADDED CELL?

PADDED CELL?
National Disability Rights Network Report- School Is Not Supposed to Hurt

SECLUSION ROOM OR QUIET ROOM?

SECLUSION ROOM OR QUIET ROOM?
EAST GOSHEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA

TO BE PRONE OR NOT TO BE PRONE? THAT IS THE QUESTION.

TO BE PRONE OR NOT TO BE PRONE? THAT IS THE QUESTION.
Abbie was Restrained 14 times in one day for noncompliance issues

POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION COST TOO MUCH! RESTRAIN HIM IN THE RIFTON CHAIR INSTEAD.

POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION COST TOO MUCH! RESTRAIN HIM IN THE RIFTON CHAIR INSTEAD.
CCIU/EAST BRADFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WEST CHESTER, PA.

QUIET ROOM OR CELL?

QUIET ROOM OR CELL?
NAA: The Restraint and Prevention Symposium

ABUSE IS ABUSE, REGARDLESS OF WHO IT IS

ABUSE IS ABUSE, REGARDLESS OF WHO IT IS
Man Arrested For Abusing His Autistic Son

WELCOME TO RHODE ISLAND FAMILIES AGAINST RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION

The abuse of children at the hands of school personnel has risen over the last two decades and the nation is outraged. The children most likely to be abused are children with disabilities. Children who are poor and homeless are not excluded from the abuse.

The abuse presents itself in various forms -restraints, seclusion, suffocation, and sometimes even death. Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation found hundreds of allegations that children have been abused and some have died as a result of the misuses of restraints and seclusion in public and private schools, often by untrained staff. United States representatives George Miller and Cathy McMorris Rodgers introduced the "Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in School Act" (HR 4247) and senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut introduced it's sister bill, (S. 2860). This legislation is the first national effort to address the problem and ensure the safety of students and school staff.

The abuse of a child in school can easily escalate into retaliation against the parent(s), caretaker(s), or advocate. Retaliation can include the denial educational services, the denial of a child to attend school, an illegal eviction from your residence, neglect and abuse charges filed against you by the school, a loss of employment, removal of the child from the caretaker by child protective services, false charges against the parent, caregiver, or advocate that can lead to an arrest, etc.

We must stop asking, "What are they (everyone else) going to do about the abuse of our nation's children?" While the rest of America sits blind, not necessarily their fault, they are under the assumption that their tax dollars are paying for an education without abuse, restraints, seclusion, or retaliation. American citizens believe that when they send their children to school, they will be safe, not abused or killed by school personnel.

It is our belief that all children are entitled to a free, appropriate, and SAFE education in the public and private school system, as specified under IDEA. We need your support in effecting change within the system.

Thank you!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

COPAA CONCERNS ABOUT SENATE BILL S. 3895

Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.

LANGUAGE LIMITS PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN

For more than a decade, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) has protected the rights of students with disabilities and demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that children with disabilities receive the same high-quality education as all children. COPAA has voiced concern over the improper use of restraints, seclusion and aversive interventions in our nation’s schools. We have reported extensively on the abuse of such interventions and been alarmed by the tragic results, including death, that have resulted from these acts. We have advocated for federal legislation to establish minimum standards for the use of physical intervention as a necessary step to ensure the safety of children in our schools.

On September 29, 2010 Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced S.3895 to address abuse through the use of restraints, seclusion and aversive interventions in schools. While COPAA sincerely appreciates the efforts of Senators Dodd and Burr, S. 3895, as currently worded, does not adequately safeguard children from abuse. In fact, and contrary to the stated objectives of the legislation, the language of S. 3895 may actually increase the misuse of restraint and unacceptable interventions in our nation’s schools and decrease parent and student rights.

COPAA cannot support the current legislation because S.3895 permits restraint and locked seclusion as planned interventions in students’ education plans, including behavior plans and Individualized Education Programs (IEP). By allowing restraint and locked seclusion as planned interventions, S.3895 weakens protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and legitimizes practices that the bill seeks to prevent. Once restraint or seclusion is included in an IEP, the practices are given the imprimatur of legitimacy simply because they were part of the IEP. Parents who wish to challenge restraint and/or seclusion in an IEP face tremendous hurdles in exercising their due process rights. There have been several recent cases, including Couture v. Board of Education of Albuquerque Public Schools, 535 F.3d 1243 (10th. Cir. 2008) a and C.N. v. Willmar Public Schools, Independent Sch. Dist. No. 347, 591 F.3d 624 (8th Cir. 2010), that vividly illustrate the legal danger inherent in explicitly failing to prohibit restraint and seclusion as a planned intervention in IEPs or in permitting them as a planned intervention.

COPAA supported H.R. 4247 and this bill’s predecessor S.2860 because they explicitly prohibited restraint and seclusion as planned interventions. We strongly encourage the Senate to reconsider the language of S.3895 to ensure that the protections sought for our school children are not compromised. A more detailed description of the concerns raised by inclusion of restraint or seclusion as planned interventions in students’ education plans, and COPAA suggestions for the pending bill, can be viewed on our website at

Denise Marshall
Executive Director
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA)
PO Box 6767
Towson, MD 21285
(P) 410-372-0208
(F) 410-372-0209
www.copaa.org
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