PAI issues first investigation of restraint and seclusion
of children with disabilities in California
schools
Oakland,
June 11 – A 10-year old boy with significant disabilities was bound to his
wheelchair and left in the school van on two separate days. One school built a
locked seclusion room where an 8-year old boy with psychiatric and
developmental disabilities was routinely locked away. Other children were
dragged by their teachers into seclusion areas and then barricaded from
leaving.
These are some of the more serious complaints that in
2006 led PAI to open a full-scale investigation into the extent of dangerous
and prohibited restraint and seclusion practices currently in effect in the
California
school system. “This investigation starkly revealed both the failure of school
personnel to comply with existing regulations and the failure of current law to
sufficiently regulate these dangerous practices,” stated Leslie Morrison,
author of the report.
Attorney Morrison, head of PAI’s Investigations Unit,
further explained that over the years, with insufficient training and
oversight, the use of restraint and seclusion in primary and secondary
California
schools has become routine and is no longer reserved for situations posing
imminent risk of harm.
The 61 page investigation report, entitled “Restraint
& Seclusion in California Schools: A Failing Grade,” included extensive
review of records; on-site inspections in a rural school district in the
northeast part of the state, a Bay Area school district and a non-public school
in the Los Angeles area; victim and witness interviews; and consultations with
experts in restraint and seclusion.
Morrison and her investigations team made numerous
recommendations for improvements that will bring the practices of schools-based
behavioral restraint and seclusion in line with those applied in other
settings. This includes prohibiting the use of seclusion; limiting the use of
restraint to the most dire circumstances; ensuring compliance with state laws
and regulations limiting the use of emergency interventions; and ensuring that
school personnel proactively address serious student behavior problems through
individual assessments.
The report can be downloaded from the organization’s
website:
http://www.pai-ca.org/pubs/702301.htm or
http://www.pai-ca.org/pubs/702301.pdf.
For print copies, contact PAI’s Oakland
office at (510) 267-1200.
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