Jan 17, 2020, Disability Scoop: Ed Department Urged To Ban Seclusion In Schools https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2020/01/17/ed-department-urged-to-ban-seclusion-in-schools/27670/ U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos should ban seclusion and prohibit certain restraint techniques in the nation’s schools, a dozen lawmakers say. In a letter to DeVos this week, two senators and 10 members of Congress are calling for the Department of Education to update its 2016 guidance on restraint and seclusion., which data indicate are most frequently used on students with disabilities. The existing guidance advised against using restraint or seclusion for disciplinary purposes and said that restraint should only be employed in circumstances where there is an imminent threat of physical harm. Now, the lawmakers are pressing DeVos to go farther. “We respectfully urge you to update the Department of Education’s 2016 guidance to ban seclusion, ban restraints that restrict breathing and are life-threatening, and promote evidence-based alternatives to reduce the use of physical restraint,” states the letter from Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and nine other Democrats, most representing Illinois. The lawmakers were spurred to action after a recent Chicago Tribune and ProPublica investigation found rampant misuse of both restraint and seclusion across Illinois…. The Education Department said that DeVos received the letter, but the agency did not address questions about whether it is considering updating its restraint and seclusion guidance. Instead, Angela Morabito, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, highlighted that the agency has “undertaken a robust initiative to address how schools are using restraint and seclusion” under DeVos’ leadership…. In 2010, the House of Representatives passed legislation to impose first-ever federal oversight on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools, but the measure died in the Senate. The issue has failed to gain traction in Congress since then leaving a patchwork of rules in place across the country.
Comments