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)

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
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

U.S. Department of Education

Arne Duncan

Secretary
February 2010
This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be: U.S. Department of Education, 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, Washington, D.C. 2010.
This report includes the descriptive information verified by each state and territory. Additional information can be found at the URLs provided in a specific state profile, or by contacting the state directly. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, enterprise or policy mentioned in this report, on a state’s Web site or other URL included in this report is intended or should be inferred. All Web addresses consulted or listed within this report were operational as of December 2009, unless otherwise noted.

This report is available on the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site: www.ed.gov/policy/seclusion/seclusion-state-summary.html.

On request, this document can be made available in accessible formats, such as Braille, large print and computer diskette. For more information, please contact the U.S. Department of Education’s Alternative Format Center at 202-260-0852 or 202 260 0818, or send an e-mail to [e-mail].

Contents

Contents iii

Introduction 1

Summary Table 3

Summary of Seclusion and Restraint Statutes, Regulations, Policies and Guidance, by State and Territory 11

Alabama 13

Alaska 14

American Samoa 18

Arizona 19

Arkansas 20

California 24

Colorado 26

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 37

Connecticut 38

Delaware 43

District of Columbia 44

Florida 47

Georgia 50

Guam 51

Hawaii 52

Idaho 54

Illinois 55

Indiana 62

Iowa 67

Kansas 68

Kentucky 73

Louisiana 75

Maine 80

Republic of the Marshall Islands 85

Maryland 87

Massachusetts 109

Michigan 113

Federated States of Micronesia 117

Minnesota 119

Mississippi 120

Missouri 121

Montana 123

Nebraska 124

Nevada 125

New Hampshire 133

New Jersey 135

New Mexico 136

New York 143

North Carolina 152

North Dakota 159

Ohio 160

Oklahoma 162

Oregon 163

Republic of Palau 165

Pennsylvania 166

Puerto Rico 168

169

Rhode Island 170

South Carolina 176

South Dakota 178

Tennessee 179

Texas 183

Utah 190

Vermont 197

Virginia 199

U.S. Virgin Islands 205

Washington 215

West Virginia 216

Wisconsin 217

Wyoming 218

Introduction

In his July 31, 2009 letter, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan informed the Chief State School Officers that the Department’s regional Comprehensive Centers would be conducting research on each state’s laws, regulations, guidance and policies regarding the use of seclusion and restraints in schools. In December 2009, the states were asked to review and confirm the accuracy of the summary and the information for their specific state profile and to note any changes or corrections needed. The information in this report may be updated as states develop or revise policies and guidelines on the use of seclusion and restraints to ensure that all students are safe and protected.

Summary Table

State	Statutes and Regulations Addressing Seclusion and Restraint	Policies and Guidance Addressing Seclusion and Restraint	Currently Developing or Revising State Statutes, Regulations, Policies or Guidance
Alabama	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	State is revising all policies; expects draft of new policy (for all students) to be adopted by end of July 2010.
Alaska	Please see attached.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	State intends to provide guidance; currently collected data on training and resources at the local level.
American Samoa	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Arizona	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Task force developed to make recommendation of best practice for discipline of students with disabilities.
Arkansas	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Committee convened to review state statute juvenile justice code regarding restraints to consider applicability to education code. Also plan to review, update and expand seclusion regulation to apply to all students.
California	Please see attached.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Colorado	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Amendments to current rules, which apply to all students, have been adopted on November 12, 2009.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Connecticut	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Preparing state form for districts to submit data on use of seclusion.
Delaware	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
District of Columbia	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Florida	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	State statute and regulations are in development for students with disabilities.
Georgia	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	State Board of Education to adopt a final rule in April 2010.
Guam	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Hawaii	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Idaho	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Task force will begin in September 2009 and submit proposed rule (including all students) to State Board in June 2010.
Illinois	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Indiana	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Iowa	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Kansas	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Developing a collection tool for schools to report quarterly seclusion data.
Kentucky	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Restraint and Seclusion Advisory Committee met September 2009 to examine current guidance and practice and make recommendations.
Louisiana	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Considering developing legislation or policy, or both.
Maine	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	State is reviewing current rule on restraint.
Republic of the Marshall Islands	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Maryland	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Amendments to the September 2003 regulations were approved on August 25, 2009, and became effective October 5, 2009.
Massachusetts	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Michigan	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Federated States of Micronesia	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Minnesota	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Recently revised statutes will be effective in 2011. Additional legislative revisions are possible.
Mississippi	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Plans to develop, review or revise statute, policies or guidelines.
Missouri	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	School districts are required to have policies on restraints by July 2011.
Montana	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	The state is reviewing code and procedures.
Nebraska	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	The state is reviewing the inclusion in its regulations of a policy/procedure in the area of seclusion and restraint. Beginning in 2009/2010, districts are to assure that staff training is in place prior to using seclusion and restraints for students with disabilities.
Nevada	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Revised statute on July 1, 2009 through Assembly Bill 56.
New Hampshire	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
New Jersey	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	State is developing policy.
New Mexico	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
New York	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	State conducted a comprehensive review of all special education policies in September 2009.
North Carolina	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Incident data being collected during 2009 school year.
North Dakota	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Ohio	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	State is forming committee to develop provisions on seclusion and restraints.
Oklahoma	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Draft guidance was developed for special education students in 2007 to assist districts in developing suitable restraints and seclusion policies at the local level. Draft policy on seclusion and restraint is out for public comment.
Oregon	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Pennsylvania	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	State is planning to develop regulations on the use of seclusion.
Puerto Rico	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Republic of Palau	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Rhode Island	Please see attached.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
South Carolina	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Draft guidelines, which apply to all students, have been developed and are in the review process. Data from a survey that was sent to districts to see how many have policies in place are currently being reviewed. Results are expected to be released in mid December 2009.
South Dakota	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Not indicated.
Tennessee	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Texas	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	State is currently collecting data on use of restraints for students with disabilities from all the districts. State has developed procedures for students with disabilities.
Utah	Please see attached.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	State Board of Education Rules require the state to develop, review regularly, and provide to local school boards and charter school governing boards model policies to address disruptive student behavior.
Vermont	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Since March 2009, several meetings and focus groups have been held to address the issue and move in the direction of legislation.
Virginia	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Superintendent’s memo was issued October 2009 to all local education agencies (LEA) directing the review of state guidelines.
U.S. Virgin Islands	No statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	Draft policy being reviewed by the Policy Review Committee. Adoption of policy is expected in February 2010.
Washington	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
West Virginia	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Wisconsin	Please see attached.	Please see attached.	Not indicated.
Wyoming	No state statute or regulations addressing seclusion and restraint.	No policies or guidance addressing seclusion and restraint.	In September 2009, state Special Education Director will propose developing state definitions for seclusion and restraints and state guidance as well as a process for public comment.