Summary of Seclusion and Restraint Statutes, Regulations, Policies and Guidance, by State and Territory: Information as Reported to the Regional Comprehensive Centers and Gathered from Other Sources (ms word)

Missouri

Missouri has adopted a widely known and well-established philosophy and tradition of local control in education. Schools, districts and communities take pride in their ability to develop and implement local policies that guide and protect interests of their own students and address the unique and distinct educational needs of their individual communities. State policies related to appropriate seclusion and restraint practices have thus far not been viewed differently from other guidelines or policies necessary to ensure safe, quality education for Missouri students. There is no statewide policy at the present time.

Recent legislation (H.C.S. #2, S.S. S.B. 291) approved by the governor of Missouri on July 31, 2009, requires, “By July 1, 2011, the local board of education of each school district shall adopt a written policy that comprehensively addresses the use of restrictive behavioral interventions as a form of discipline or behavior management technique ….“

Plans for further development

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Career Education Assistant Commissioner Tom Quinn and DESE Special Education Legal Counsel Cynthia Quetsch have been named to co-chair a stakeholder committee to begin development of guidance that will assist districts in their development and adoption of suitable restraint and seclusion policies at the local level as required under the new statute.

Reporting requirements

There has apparently been no state law or policy which is directly on point, but the law signed into effect on July 31, 2009, requires local districts to have a policy on seclusion and restraint by July 1, 2011, and requires DESE to provide guidance (see the text of the law, below). However, the state does currently collect some related data. For example, discipline incidents are reported annually. Statewide data of 2004-09 incidents are available at

http://dese.mo.gov/planning/profile/DI000000.html.

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

There are currently 472 buildings in Missouri officially implementing schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS). PBIS schools in the southwest region of the state have been categorized into implementation levels, including

1. 
   preparation,
   
2. 
   emerging,
   
3. 
   bronze,
   
4. 
   silver, and
   
5. 
   gold.
   

Level criteria and other Missouri PBIS details can be found at www.pbismissouri.org.

Schools implementing at the bronze, silver, and gold levels receive annual recognition from DESE, including items such as a plaque and banner.

Documentation

The following is an excerpt from the final version of the legislation approved by the governor of Missouri on July 31, 2009, [Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed] House Committee Substitute No. 2 for Senate Substitute for Senate Bill No. 291. Note particularly lines 22–25.

160.263. 1. The school discipline policy under section 160.261

2 shall prohibit confining a student in an unattended, locked space

3 except for an emergency situation while awaiting the arrival of law

4 enforcement personnel.

5 2. By July 1, 2011, the local board of education of each school

6 district shall adopt a written policy that comprehensively addresses the

7 use of restrictive behavioral interventions as a form of discipline or

8 behavior management technique. The policy shall be consistent with

9 professionally accepted practices and standards of student discipline,

10 behavior management, health and safety, including the Safe Schools

11 Act. The policy shall include but not be limited to:

12 (1) Definitions of “restraint,” “seclusion,” and “time-out” and any

13 other terminology necessary to describe the continuum of restrictive

14 behavioral interventions available for use or prohibited in the district;

15 (2) Description of circumstances under which a restrictive

16 behavioral intervention is allowed and prohibited and any unique

17 application requirements for specific groups of students such as

18 differences based on age, disability, or environment in which the

19 educational services are provided;

20 (3) Specific implementation requirements associated with a

21 restrictive behavioral intervention such as time limits, facility

22 specifications, training requirements or supervision requirements; and

23 (4) Documentation, notice and permission requirements

24 associated with use of a restrictive behavioral intervention.

25 3. The department of elementary and secondary education shall,

26 in cooperation with appropriate associations, organizations, agencies

27 and individuals with specialized expertise in behavior management,

28 develop a model policy that satisfies the requirements of subsection 2

29 of this section by July 1, 2010.

Montana

Montana code has been in place since 1971 and been amended several times.

The administrative rule and technical assistance guide on the use of seclusion and restraint with special education students was most recently revised in 2001.

Montana code prohibits corporal punishment, but allows school personnel to use physical restraint that is reasonable and necessary, even if it causes physical pain. The use of restraint or seclusion is not solely restricted to “ensure the immediate physical safety” of the student, but may be used to “quell a disturbance, provide self-protection, protect persons from physical injury, obtain possession of a weapon or dangerous object from the pupil, maintain the orderly conduct of a pupil, or protect property from serious harm.” Other relevant terms defined in the law are as follows: (1) corporal punishment means knowingly and purposely inflicting physical pain on a pupil as a disciplinary measure, and (2) physical restraint is defined as the placing of hands on a pupil in a manner that is reasonable and necessary.

There is no requirement for school staff training or automatic notice after restraint or seclusion, except in the case of special education students who have a functional behavioral disability and have “aversive procedures” included as part of the individual education plan. In such cases, parental notification and staff trained in aversive procedures are also required.

Montana has three full-time staff members who are certified trainers through "The Mandt System" (http://www.mandtsystem.com/), a commercial company that offers specialized training for school personnel. It teaches a gradual and graded system of alternatives for interacting with students. Montana's three trainers provide approximately 15 days of training during the course of a typical year in response to requests from individual schools. Sometimes schools purchase training directly from the company. There is currently no way to determine how many schools have certified trainers on staff.

Montana also supports a PBIS-based program called the Montana Behavior Initiative (MBI) which began in 1995. The Montana Office of Public Instruction (MOPI) supports the MBI through a summer training institute, online resources, and an MOPI staff member assigned as MBI coordinator. Recruitment/invitation letters are sent to all schools annually. To date, 367 schools (out of 829) have participated in the training. Participating schools enter a three-year program during which they are supported by an MOPI sponsored MBI coach. After three years, the schools are responsible for maintaining the program. There is currently no way to monitor the maintenance of effort or fidelity to the program after training is completed.

Each participating school gathers data and reports it on the MBI Blueprint; a quarterly progress report on the initiative. However, the data are used only by the local program and are not collected or aggregated for analysis by the SEA.

Montana has been reviewing the status of state codes and procedures with an eye toward amending or adding regulations and developing better guidance. The state would welcome further technical assistance in this area.

The MOPI Web site has links to three relevant documents:

Mont. Code Ann. § 20-4-302 (Education; Teacher, Superintendents, and Principals; Teachers’ Powers, Duties, and Privileges) http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/mca/20/4/20-4-302.htm

Mont. Admin. R. 10.16.3346 (Department of Education; Special Education; Services) http://www.mtrules.org/gateway/RuleNo.asp?RN=10.16.3346

Mont. Guide on the Use of Aversive Treatment Procedures

http://opi.mt.gov/pdf/SpecED/guides/AdvTreatGuide.pdf