Restraint Report & Feedback

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24 June 2009 – Washington, DC, USA It has been a bit over a month now since the U.S. Government Accounting Office released its report Seclusions And Restraints: Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers (GAO-09-719T May 19, 2009. Although the report was not restricted to special education classrooms or to students with disabilities, the study found almost all the cases identified involved the restraint of students with disabilities. A PDF of the full report can be downloaded from the GAO. The Goals of the report were to:

(1) provide an overview of seclusions and restraint laws applicable to children in public and private schools,

(2) verify whether allegations of student death and abuse from the use of these methods are widespread, and

(3) examine the facts and circumstances surrounding cases where a student died or suffered abuse as a result of being secluded or restrained.

According to the 62-page report:

GAO found no federal laws restricting the use of seclusion and restraints in public and private schools and widely divergent laws at the state level. Although GAO could not determine whether allegations were widespread, GAO did find hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the use of these methods on school children during the past two decades. Examples of these cases include a 7 year old purportedly dying after being held face down for hours by school staff, 5 year olds allegedly being tied to chairs with bungee cords and duct tape by their teacher and suffering broken arms and bloody noses, and a 13 year old reportedly hanging himself in a seclusion room after prolonged confinement. Although GAO continues to receive new allegations from parents and advocacy groups, GAO could not find a single Web site, federal agency, or other entity that collects information on the use of these methods or the extent of their alleged abuse. GAO also examined the details of 10 restraint and seclusion cases in which there was a criminal conviction, a finding of civil or administrative liability, or a large financial settlement. The cases share the following common themes: they involved children with disabilities who were restrained and secluded, often in cases where they were not physically aggressive and their parents did not give consent; restraints that block air to the lungs can be deadly; teachers and staff in the cases were often not trained on the use of seclusions and restraints; and teachers and staff from at least 5 of the 10 cases continue to be employed as educators.

A month after the release of this shocking report, there has been little response from the mainstream media or the general public. Thankfully, at least some of groups have taken some action to follow-up. Although these are generally groups already concerned about the problem, their commitment to this issue is nonetheless appreciated.

Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion

Families Against Restraint and Seclusion

and

The National Autism Association

Where are the mainstream child welfare organizations and human rights organizations in all this? It seems like they have been mostly missing in action.