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You can begin registration here! What:Participate in this webinar to hear Reece Peterson, Joe Ryan, and Michael Rozalski discuss the latest information on the legislative, policy, and practice issues concerning restraint and seclusion. Federal legislation is pending that, if passed, will regulate the use of physical restraint and seclusion in school settings. The webinar will also provide an overview of the content that will be covered in more detail in the strand on restraint and seclusion at the CEC Convention & Expo in Denver in April.Federal legislation is pending that, if passed, would regulate the use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures for students in school settings. This webinar will discuss the legislative, policy, and practice issues that have arisen because of the deaths and injuries of students due to these procedures. The webinar will provide an overview of the content that will be covered in more detail during the strand on restraint and seclusion at the CEC Convention & Expo in April 2012. Participants will be able to: Identify current laws, policies, and guidelines governing the use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures in school settings. Understand the lack of knowledge in many schools of the underlying ethical and moral problems and the role the media may play in covering abusive incidents. Identify recommendations for “best practice” in using these procedures, including training needs and the use of prevention and de-escalation strategies. When:March 8, 20122:00 pm - 3:00 pm MTContact:CECPhone: 888-232-7733   TTY: 866-915-5000

The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) was introduced by Congressman George Miller (D-CA), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference and Co-Chair of the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus. At the same time, Senator Chris Dodd has introduced a companion bill, S.2860, declaring, “The tragedies associated with the inappropriate use of seclusion and restraint are not only unacceptable, they are unconscionable.” The two bills are almost the same, with only two differences, noted below. The bipartisan House bill will be considered by the full Committee early next year (called “marking up.”)  If the Committee votes in favor of the bill, it will go to the full House for a vote.

WASHINGTON – In a new report released today, the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) called on the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to do more to reduce and prevent the use of restraint and seclusion on school children. “ED has not provided any meaningful leadership to reduce the use of restraint and seclusion − despite the fact that students are continuing to be confined, tied up, pinned down, battered and nearly killed on a regular basis,” said NDRN executive director Curt Decker.

Today, the Department posted a summary of state laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines regarding the use of restraint and seclusion techniques in schools: http://www.ed.gov/policy/seclusion/seclusion-state-summary.html. The summary is a result of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s letter issued to Chief State School Officers on July 31, 2009, urging a review of current state policies and guidelines regarding the use of restraint and seclusion in schools. Since August, the Department’s regional Comprehensive Centers have researched and compiled information on state-by-state restraint and seclusion techniques.

For parents concerned that their child is experiencing restraint or seclusion at school, information can be hard to come by. Now a new guide is offering practical advice for dealing with the issue. A 23-page document being put out by the disability advocacy group TASH is designed to give parents a straightforward look at the steps they can take to prevent the use of restraint and seclusion, identify if it’s occurring and react.

Today, the U.S. Department of Education issued a publication that outlines principles for educators, parents and other stakeholders to consider when developing or refining policies and procedures to support positive behavioral interventions and avoid the use of restraint and seclusion.

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA), an independent, nonprofit, §501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization of attorneys, advocates, parents and related professionals, in its March 22nd letter to Congress, rejects the conclusions of the American Association of School Administrators’ (AASA)document “Keeping Schools Safe: How Seclusion and Restraint Protects Students and School Personnel” released on March 8, 2012.   COPAA’s letter addresses each of the misleading and inaccurate arguments made in AASA’s statement, a document based only on a handful of anecdotes and unsupported conclusory arguments.

Two years after Iowa implemented rules restricting the use of restraint and seclusion tactics in schools, compliance remains elusive.

A bill imposing first-ever federal oversight on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools cleared the House of Representatives Wednesday, paving the way for Senate consideration. The bill now called the Keeping All Students Safe Act passed by a vote of 262 to 153, despite objections from numerous Republicans who said the measure was premature and would infringe on states’ rights to oversee education. The vote came down largely along party lines even though the measure was sponsored by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The House Education and Labor Committee voted Thursday to pass the bill known as the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act by a vote of 34 to 10. Now, the measure must be considered by the full House and it must be taken up in the Senate before it can become law.

A scathing report released one year ago brought unprecedented attention to the use of restraint and seclusion tactics in schools, documenting rampant examples of abusive and even deadly practices primarily involving special education students.

Now Congress is set to consider legislation this year to institute the first-ever federal oversight regulating these tactics. Meanwhile, a handful of states have made changes in an effort to promote student safety.

New federal data about how often public school students are restrained or secluded at school show that, in the majority of cases, these approaches are used to contain kids with disabilities, who make up just a sixth of all students. Data from the Civil Rights Data Collection, gathered from the 2009-10 school year from about 85 percent of the nation's school districts, for the first time includes information about mechanical or physical restraints and seclusion. Although even the Government Accountability Office has investigated concerns about the use of these methods, there's never been data collected on this scale about the practices. (Read some of Education Week's coverage of other data collected by the U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights here.)