The family of a boy who was shot to death at a Madison County middle school in 2010 is suing Madison school officials and others. They say the school officials failed to protect him from a problem student.

The News Courier reports (http://bit.ly/z6WjDi ) the lawsuit was filed Thursday in Madison County.

The suit states that school officials — including the school board, Superintendent Dee Fowler and Principal Robbie Smith — failed to protect Todd Brown from another student who had a history of behavioral issues.

Brown’s family maintains that the other student should not have been transferred to Discovery Middle School because of a history of bad behavior, and that school officials were aware of that history.

Question:

We have a student that is head butting his desk while seated. What is the best approach to restrain the student in this situation?

He will also head butt the staff when they attempt to restrain him.

Answer:

You do not mention the age of the level of functioning of this student.  For this answer we assume you have already tried less intrusive strategies to interrupt the behavior.

These are some of your options:

1. For an older child or adolescent, you can use a standard PRT initiated from behind and over the seat back.  You may also want to add another adult to help keep his body from pressing forward toward the table top with an arm; keeping his back pressed backward and into the seat back.  If you cannot prevent his body from pressing forward and his head is coming in contact with the table top, allow him to lean forward (while remaining in a PRT) and use the cushion and some manual stabilization to protect his head and the head of the PRT person from impact forces.  This is the identical strategy that you should use if the student was being held in the “Neutral Position” on the floor.  As an additional precaution, you may want to get a cushion to place between the front of his head and the desk and a second cushion, if necessary to place between the back of his head and the person performing the hold. You can get a “stadium cushion” from one of the sporting good stores. They are made out of vinyl and are perfect for this purpose.
2. For a younger child, you can use a “Modified PRT for Smaller Children” initiated from behind and over the seat back.  The arm in front will be able to keep him pressed backward and into the seat back.   If you cannot prevent his body from pressing forward and his head is coming in contact with the table top, allow him to lean forward (while remaining in a Modified PRT) and use the cushion and some manual stabilization at the student’s temples to protect his head and the head of the PRT person from any impact forces.

The Georgia State Board of Education passed Rule 160-5-1-.35 Seclusion and Restraint for All Students, which governs the use of seclusion, mechanical restraint, physical restraint, and chemical restraint. 

The rule requires that:

• All schools or programs that utilize physical restraint must be trained in physical restraint
• All schools or programs that utilize physical restraint develop a written policy to govern its use

In addition to Georgia’s restraint rules, we are providing a link to an administrative decision issued by the Georgia Board of Education.  Should a teacher, staff or student be placed in imminent danger and need to resort to an intervention not in the Georgia rule and then have his/her job threatened, there is a Georgia Board of Education administrative decision that supports their actions and prohibits administrative ramifications.  See Dixon v. Fulton County Board of Education, Case No. 2008-15 (holding: teachers are allowed to use reasonable force to protect themselves from bodily harm even if the intervention is not included in the school’s policy ).

Handle With Care provides training that meets Georgia’s requirements on restraint and seclusion.

HWC provides training to schools across the country and Georgia in behavior management, behavioral supports and least restrictive intervention training through our basic and “train-the-trainer” Instructor Certification Program. 

HWC’s program includes training in standing, seated and face-up restraint.  We also have an early childhood and elementary school program and an outstanding verbal program for de-escalation, behavioral supports and behavior management.

See HWC’s schedule for training in Georgia. We also provide on-site training.

For additional information about HWC training contact us at info@handlewithcare.com or Joy at 845-255-4031.

On March 17, 2011, Vermont Board of Education passed Rule 4500: The Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Schools.

The new rule went into effect on August 15, 2011.  Part of the requirements of the rule is that schools must obtain training to meet the requirements and purposes of the new rule. 

The purpose of Rule 4500 is to:

• Create and maintain a positive and safe learning environment in schools
• Promote positive behavioral interventions and supports in schools
• Ensure that students are not subjected to inappropriate use of restraint or seclusion

To assist the schools in obtaining the requisite training, the Vermont Board of Education evaluated training programs including Handle With Care’s.  Handle With Care is approved by the Vermont Board of Education to provide requisite Rule 4500 training to schools.

 As an approved training provider, Handle With Care provides training to schools across Vermont in behavior management, behavioral supports and least restrictive intervention training  through our basic and  “train-the-trainer” Instructor Certification Program. We also have an early childhood and elementary school program.

Contact Joy at 845-255-4031 or info@handlewithcare.com for more information.

Question:

We are a hands off facility but we have teenage boys in our group homes that are at times very aggressive/violent.  Our staff is working on deescalating the boys as soon as possible and developing relationships with them but what can we do when they start fighting with each other?  

 How can we break up the fight, keep everyone safe, and be hands off at the same time? 

Answer:

The short answer is, you can’t; not if your client-combatants ignore your verbal instructions to stop. 

The long answer is, while it may be nice to say you are a “hands off” facility, the fact is, your agency has a  responsibility to protect those in its care. 

If you are going to take a population where it is foreseeable that there might be a physical altercation, you have to train staff to deal with that situation in a manner that is effective. It is not enough that you have “a” policy in place, the policy and training has to be effective to deal with the situation.  The other option is to call law enforcement, but if law enforcement does not get there quickly enough, your agency may still have to answer why it did not intervene. 

There is a duty to train staff to deal with foreseeable circumstances.  There is also a duty to set up a safe environment capable of dealing with the population you serve. Again, “a” policy will not insulate you if the policy is not suitable for the needs of your facility.

If your agency is taking kids and there are fights and you know there are fights and the kids are not listening to verbal commands, and you can and should check with your agency attorney, but I don’t see how you can escape your duty to protect a client in your care who is a victim(s) of a battery by saying we didn’t intervene because we’re hands off.  The only possible way to minimize the duty to train staff to deal with violence is to only accept those clients who present zero risk of assaultive behavior into your program.  I am not sure that is possible.

Failing to take action can be just as abusive to a client as taking inappropriate action, under the right circumstances. 

If the State is preventing you from restraining and forcing you to retreat and maintain a hands off policy, we would suggest that you bring the issue up with your State licensor and change the semantics of the discussion.  Frame the issue with respect to your state self defense and defense of others laws and the constitutional right to protect oneself (or another) from bodily harm.  Then address the issue of  your facility’s duty of care.  Frame the use of restraint as a least restrictive method of self-defense when retreat and verbal commands proved or were determined to be ineffective.

We do not want to place your agency at odds with your state licensing agency, but if you haven’t addressed the issue with them maybe you should ask for an advisory opinion or guidance.  A hands off policy where someone is in danger of being physically hurt is (in our opinion) illegal and ultimately unenforceable.  We have a position paper on this issue that we have provided links to. 

Feel free to call us if you have any additional questions 845-255-4031.

http://www.scribd.com/HWCLegalAlert

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/32963089/HWCs-White-Paper-Re-Task-Force-Restraint-Report-v2007-1