Earlier in February, Senator Harkin released an investigative report about the dangers of restraint and seclusion,
Dangerous Use of Seclusion and Restraints in Schools Remains Widespread and Difficult to Remedy: A Review of Ten Cases,
http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Seclusion%20and%20Restraints%20Final%20Report.pdf
It demonstrated that parents cannot redress and prevent the use of seclusion and restraint under current law -- even when their children have been killed, injured, and traumatized. It demonstrates that too frequently, parents are not told of these practices, often with dangerous consequences.
This report was released immediately prior to the reintroduction in the Senate of the Keeping all Students Safe Act (S.2036).
State Resources
The updated version of
How Safe Is The Schoolhouse? An Analysis of State Seclusion and Restraint Laws and Policies, written by Jessica Butler and published by the Autism National Committee, is available online. The January 20, 2014 report contains updated information on state restraint and seclusion statutes, regulations, and policies. It is available at
http://www.autcom.org/pdf/HowSafeSchoolhouse.pdf This report is a comprehensive document that should be useful to parents who want to become knowledgeable about the restraint and seclusion practices in their states.
How Safe is the Schoolhouse is updated twice a year. The next update will be in Summer, 2014, when several state legislative sessions end. The purpose of
How Safe is the Schoolhouse is to analyze and compare state restraint and seclusion laws and guidance and provide information on trends and adoption of particular features in states. For people who simply want to quickly see brief highlights of their own state law or policy, there is a sister report,
My State's Seclusion & Restraint Laws (http://www.autcom.org/pdf/MyStateRestraintSeclusionLaws.pdf).