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)

Washington

Washington has statewide regulations addressing both restraint and seclusion. Restraint is restricted to ensuring the immediate physical safety of the student or others. There is comparable language regarding isolation or seclusion. (See WAC 392-172A-03120 through 03135).

The Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) requires staff training for any person who will be permitted to use aversive interventions. It also requires that the aversive intervention plan specify who is allowed to use the interventions (WAC 392-172A-03135).

Washington also requires that any determination that a student may require the use of an aversive intervention be made by the IEP team, which must include a team member who understands the appropriate use of an aversive intervention. The determination that a student requires an aversive intervention plan can be used only as a last resort. The use of positive behavioral supports must be used prior to determining that a student would require an aversive intervention plan, and those supports must be described in the plan. The Washington regulations also require districts to document each use of an aversive intervention, the circumstances under which it was used and the length of time of use. Finally, districts must establish a means for evaluating the use of aversive interventions.

More information is available at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=392-172A-03120.

West Virginia

Current Statutes, Regulations, Policies and/or Guidance

To date, West Virginia has restraint and seclusion policies that relate only to West Virginia Pre-K settings. West Virginia has not developed policies or procedures that limit the use of restraints and seclusion for any other school-aged population served by West Virginia’s public schools.

West Virginia State Policy 2525, Universal Access to a Quality Early Education System, addresses restraint and seclusion for West Virginia Pre-K schools.

Specifically this Policy states:

8.14. Handling Behavior Problems. Staff members and other adults in West Virginia Pre-K Classrooms shall not handle behavior problems by:

8.14.3. Restraining a child by any means other than a firm grasp around a child’s arms or legs and then for only as long as is necessary for the child to regain control;

8.14.7. Isolating a child without supervision or placing the child in a dark area

Other state policies, including Policy 2510, mention safe learning environments that foster learning. When a student receives special education services and has an individualized education plan (IEP), all services and interventions should be included in and communicated to parents through that document. Policy 2419 includes considerations for services that are needed to meet a student’s needs.

Future Plans

West Virginia does not have any plans to further develop or revise laws, regulations, policies and guidance that affect the use of seclusion and restraint.

Additional Information

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) training, technical assistance, and evaluation of implementation to all participating districts and schools in the state. West Virginia works to promote PBIS as a framework for behavioral interventions that are part of the response to intervention process used with all students. The Office of Special Programs provides information and training related to these processes for districts and schools. At this time, implementation of PBIS is optional and a local decision. The WVDE Healthy Schools Division promotes “Respect & Protect,” another discipline program for documenting and reacting to problem behavior.

West Virginia has developed state policies or procedures that limit the use of restraints and seclusion for preschool-age children in public schools (see Current Statutes, Regulations, Policies, and/or Guidance section of report above).

Wisconsin

Statutes:

§ 118.31,(3) Wis. Statutes

School district employees may use reasonable and necessary force in certain situations.

Guidance:

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has issued a document titled “Directives for the Appropriate Use of Seclusion and Physical Restraint in Special Education Programs.” Attached in Appendix (No such document exists to provide specific guidance to teachers in regular education classrooms.)

Resources related to this particular topic are housed and accessed through the state’s Special Education Web site.

The link below leads to the portion of the Special ED Web site that provides resources on seclusion and restraint, including a full document and a summary document of the department’s “Directives.”

Also included on the Web site listed below is a PowerPoint titled, “The Appropriate Use of Seclusion and Restraint Practices in Special Education Programs.” Working with DPI, the Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Services (WCASS) developed the presentation based on the WDPI Directives. Also participating in this cooperative effort were SAA (the School Administrators Alliance), AWSA (the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators), WASDA (the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators), and WEAC (the Wisconsin Education Association Council). The presentation was developed as a training tool.

http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/sbseclusion.html

Also provided by DPI, see the following link: http://www.dpi.wi.gov/sped/sbseclusion.html (Joint Educational Organizations PowerPoint on Seclusion and Restraint). “The Appropriate Use of Seclusion and Restraint Practices in Special Education Programs” was developed by WCASS with the cooperation of SAA, AWSA, WEAC, and WDPI.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (WDPI) also provided a copy of the WDPI Directives for the Appropriate Use of Seclusion and Physical Restraint in Special Education Programs.

A task force was convened in summer 2004 to develop an initial draft of these directives. During fall 2004, the materials were reviewed by WDPI staff and additional input gathered. A working document was posted to the WDPI Web site in February 2005. At that time, feedback was invited. Comments were reviewed and revisions made and a document posted in September 2005. Department staff continually reviews the directives as issues are raised, and minor edits are made. This most recent document was updated in August 2009.

Currently, new legislation or policies are not being developed.

DPI would like technical assistance in the future.

Wyoming

Statewide Restrictions on Restraint or Seclusion	Restraint or Seclusion Restricted to Ensure Immediate Physical Safety of Student or Others	Prone Restraint Banned	Automatic Notice After Restraint or Seclusion	School Staff Training
None

At this time, Wyoming has no state statutes, regulations, policies, or guidance on this issue. During the September Superintendent Advisory Council (SAC), Peg Brown-Clark, state special education director, shared Secretary Duncan’s recent letter on seclusion and restraint. She proposed an approach for developing state definitions for seclusion and restraints and a proposal for moving forward to develop state guidance on seclusion and restraint. An action plan for this work will be developed including other State Agencies (e.g., Department of Family Services) and local stakeholders.

The state would welcome technical assistance from OSEP and the NWRCC on this work.

The Department of Education’s mission is to promote student achievement and
preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational
excellence and ensuring equal access.

www.ed.gov

1 See the State’s Technical Assistance Manual: Addressing Student Behavior—A Guide for Educators. This manual

is available on the Special Education/Publications link at the NMPED’s website at www.ped.state.nm.us

2 See footnote #1 at Appendix B.

3 See OSEP Memorandum 95-16, 22 IDLER 531 (OSEP 1995).

4 See the State’s Technical Assistance Manual: The Student Assistance Team and the Three Tier Model of Student Intervention available at Parents/Students link at www.ped.state.nm.us.

5 The symbol “§” means “section” and “§§” means “sections.”

6 Office of Special Education Program Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports - http://www.pbis.org/school/what_is_swpbs.aspx

7³ The use of mechanical restraints for emergency interventions is not allowed. (Note: This does not pertain to special transportation recommendations by a Committee on Special Education or Committee on Preschool Special Education).

8 Restraint and Seclusion techniques originated in hospital and mental health treatment centers. As a result, most entities who have sought to define restraint and seclusion have based their definitions on existing legislation in the mental health care arena. The definitions found in the Children’s Health Act of 2000 (42 USC §§ 284 et seq., as amended,) seem to be the most widely accepted and used definitions of restraint and seclusion. See Part H-Requirements Relating to the Rights of Residents of Certain Facilities, Section 591 (d) of H.R. 4365.

9 Primary definitions are based on The Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) Position Summary on The Use of Physical Restraint Procedures in School Settings (revised and approved by the Executive Committee on 7-08-09).

10 Definition is from CCBD’s Position Summary on The Use of Seclusion in School Settings (Revised and approved by the Executive Committee on 7-08-09).

11 Definitions of terms from Michigan Department of Education: Supporting Student Behavior: Standards for the Emergency Use of Seclusion and Restraint (Adopted by the Michigan Board of Education December 12, 2006).

Planned Ignoring: the systematic withdrawal of social attention for a predetermined time period upon the onset of mild levels of problem behavior.

Withdrawal of materials: removal of materials the student is using upon the occurrence of the inappropriate behavior.

Contingent observation: student remains in a position to observe the group without participating or receiving reinforcement for a specified period of time.

Exclusionary timeout: the student is removed from the immediate instructional setting in response to behavior that requires immediate and direct cessation. This form of timeout can take place within the same classroom or in a nearby location that can be supervised by an adult.