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.

Florida legislature recently enacted a law that increases the documentation and reporting requirements for restraint and seclusion in schools.  The incident report must include: identification of the student, description of the restraint used, witnesses, a description of the incident, the precursor events leading up to the use of restraint or seclusion, th ebehavioral strategies used to deescalate the behavior and notification of parent/guardian documentation.

The Florida Department of Education is now also required to keep statistics on the use of  restraint and seclusion and categorize said data by county, school, student exceptionality and type and method of restraint or seclusion used.

Schools are now also required to establish standards for documenenting, reporting and monitoring the use of restrain or seclusion.

The Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council, LaTEACH, and thousands of parents across Louisiana are very appreciative of Senator Jack Donahue’s efforts in championing Senate Bill 59 (Act 328 of 2011).

In July, 2011, Governor Jindal signed Act 328 to regulate the use of restraint and seclusion for students with disabilities in schools. Parents said their highest priority was for schools to notify them whenever their child is restrained or secluded. Many parents testified that they discovered their child was being restrained by someone speaking off the record out in the community or by walking into their child’s classroom or bus and realizing the common practice of strapping their child into a chair. Act 328 requires school systems to notify parents whenever their child is restrained or placed in seclusion.

In passing Act 328, Louisiana joins 28 other states with policies governing the use of restraint or seclusion in schools and provides Louisiana students with some of the same protections already afforded people in hospitals, nursing homes, community and group homes, mental health facilities, even prisons.

Next steps will involve the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) creating rules to align with provisions in Act 328.  The bill requires the governing authority of each public elementary and secondary school to adopt written guidelines and procedures regarding the appropriate use of restrains and seclusion.  These guidelines shall include:

• Reporting requirements
• Notification requirements
• Physical restraint training

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

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

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

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

Congressman Miller is proposing that for States to receive Federal Education money, they would be required to adhere to the Federal restraints in school bill H.R. 1381 which does not allow the use of restraint or seclusion to be included in a student’s IEP. This was a major point of contention and the reason why the bill did not pass the Senate the last time it was introduced. Read H.R. 1381

HWC’s Comments: H.R. 1381 only addresses the negative consequences of physical intervention.  Nowhere in the bill does it mention that the use of physical intervention prevents injury to the student or others.  There is no dignity in allowing students to injure themselves or others by running into traffic, punching out windows, banging their heads on walls, scratching their faces on carpets and punching assorted individuals in the nose. 

According to the Department of Justice statistics regarding school violence are inadequate as they are based on voluntary reporting.  DOJ’s statistics shows the number of violent incidents at school to be about 1 million per year, but DOJ believes the real number is actually 4-5 times that number or 4-5 million violent incidents (if not more) per year. 

HWC has submitted comments to Congress.  In one of our attachments, we have asked Congress the following questions:

1. How can Congress exclude from consideration all of the hundreds of thousands of application of seclusion and restraint which have produced positive outcomes i.e. where students are successfully prevented from injuring themselves or another? 
2. Isn’t it completely disingenuous for the Federal Government to make policies and introduce legislation affecting the safety of its teachers, staff and students with respect to the use of restraint and seclusion when the Federal government has not ever and does not now collect that data?

It would require the same amount of paperwork for the government to monitor the positive outcomes for physical intervention i.e. the number of times physical intervention was used without injury or incident where a student was “saved” from their own or another’s behavior. 

Read HWC’s Comments to Congress 

Read HWC’s Legal Overview of Restraint In Schools

Congress is currently accepting comments on the proposed legislation. 

House Committee on Education and the Workforce (Link to Committee Members)

Committee Fax: 202-225-9571 (majority-R)/ Fax: 202-226-5398 (minority-D)

Congressman John Kline – Ranking Republican Fax: 202-225-2595

Congressman George Miller – Ranking Democrat Fax: 202-225-5609