Running head: SECLUSION AND RESTRAINTS 1

Seclusion and Restraints in the Classroom

CMU Global Campus

EDL 775 Policy Analysis
Cara Burlingame
Dr. Regina Upstead
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Introduction

Policies for seclusion and restraints in the classroom are in place to ensure all students are

safe and protected. The guidelines for these policies should be clear and precise for all

educational agencies to be able to follow. Not only for general education students, but for

special education students as well. Even with some of the policies in place there has been injury

to staff and students and in rare, unfortunate cases death. There is no evidence that using

restraint or seclusion is effective in reducing the occurrence of the problem behaviors that

frequently precipitate the use of such techniques. (U.S. Department of Education, 2012.) Also,

when looking at using seclusion and restraints in the classroom there was information from the

Departments Civil Rights Data Collection CRDS, during the 2013-2014 school year. This

showed student with disabilities were subjected to seclusion and restraints at a rates that was

much higher than those of other students. (U.S. Dept. of Ed. Civil Rights, 2016.)

Seclusion and Restraints

What is Seclusion?

Seclusion is the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area from which

the student is physically prevented from leaving. This includes situations where a door is locked

as well as where the door is blocked by other objects or held by staff. Any time a student is

involuntarily alone in a room and prevented from leaving should be considered seclusion

regardless of the intended purpose or the name applied to this procedure or the name of the place

where the student is secluded. (CCBD, Seclusion, July 2009.)

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What is Restraint?

Physical restraint entails one or more persons using their bodies to restrict the movement

of another person. (casecec.org, 2009.)

The use of seclusion and restraints should be used only when the student is displaying

behaviors that suggest harm could come to others or themselves. All other resources should be

exhausted first such as; de-escalation tactics and/or trying to clear the room of other students,

before the student is restrained or secluded. There has been little research done to prove that

using these practices reduces or changes the students behaviors.

Seclusion and restraints have been used in many different settings, to detain and restrain a

person that may be trying to flee, or cause harm to themselves or others. The educational setting

where seclusion and restraint have been used will be the focus in this paper. Dating back to the

1950s is when the documentation of the use of seclusion and restraints started, it has not been

consistent and in many cases maybe not accurate as well. The growing concern for childrens

safety and accurate documentation was the major component in the reasons why policies for

seclusion and restraints came about within school districts. The number of children were

becoming harmed was growing when using theses unregulated practices, and in some cases

death. School districts were not being held accountable for the actions and maybe the staff was

hiding how often the use was happening, even easier to do if the child involved had a severe

disability and or was non-verbal.

A Government Accountability Report (GAR), indicated that many educational staff have

used seclusion and restraints as a form of discipline, rather than as an emergency safety measure,

these practices have been disproportionately used on children with disabilities. (Freeman, Sugia,

2013.) In 2009, there were 19 States that did not have any policies or regulations on the use of

seclusion and restraints in the schools. This has since changed and with the new policies going
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into place by the Federal Government, all public and non-public school districts will have to

have regulations and policies in place to ensure the safety of staff and students.
Many different school locations were classrooms that had many students with several

physical aggressions and were not able to advocate for themselves. In these situations they were

placed in seclusion for many hours a day to keep the staff and others safe. This practice was

often thought of as a good use, instead of trying other tactics.

Different Approaches to Seclusion and Restraints

No Use

The idea of no use of seclusion and restraints are geared towards the use of no physical

restraints or seclusion in the classroom. A Special Education Director that I interviewed said; I

have seen when a complete, thorough FBA is conducted with data analysis that Positive

Behavior Intervention Plans are successful with students in preventing the need for seclusion and

restraint. The 5 point scaled developed through START, where it details using a level system of

what the student's behavior looks like at a level 1 and what the adult response will be, is an

evidence based practice that our district has utilized with our most significant behavioral issues

that has consistently decrease/or eliminated the use of seclusion and restraint.
When the no use practice is used there tends to be less traumatic and lasting effects on the

student, and as well as the adults using the procedures. Even more so if the proper techniques

are not used and the guidelines after are not followed, there may be lasting mental effects on the

students involved. With the policy no use, there would not be the paperwork and follow up

procedures needed. There might be harm to other students or staff and that would require some

paper work and phone calls. With this policy there is much stricter guidelines to the size of a

seclusion room, and how often it may be used. A seclusion room, must also be used as a

multipurpose area when not being used for seclusion.

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Limited Use
The policies for seclusion and restraints state; Physical restraint or seclusion should not

be used except in situations where the childs behavior poses imminent danger of serious

physical harm to self or others and restraint and seclusion should be avoided to the greatest

extent possible without endangering the safety of students and staff. (U.S. Department of

Education, 2012.) Limited use would only be used in extreme cases of emergency, and that

would be outlined in the policy to what constitutes an emergency. The term limited use is to

describe the use of seclusion and restraints in the classroom, it means should be used with the

policy it was written for, and can be used in case of an emergency. This is a term I coined along

with No Use and No Limits.

The new policy revisions to the Seclusion and Restraints manual included stricter

guidelines to when to use these practices, only trained professionals may perform holds and

increased documentation that must be submitted to the State Department. These new policies

will add additional costs to districts to provide the training and manuals for the staff. The idea

behind this is to minimize legal costs and maintain safe and accurate practices across the State.

When I spoke to a teacher of students with Emotional Impairments about the new policies, her

theory was that these guidelines need to be in place to keep students safe, and hold staff

accountable to do the right things. Not all employees need these guidelines, but sadly there are

a few that do not do what is right for our students.

No Limits

At one time, in the school districts did not have any limits on seclusion and restraints.

Due to the increased numbers of report abuse and or in extreme cases death, there was a need for

a policy to be put in place. Without policies and limiting the amount of practices a teacher can
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perform seclusion and restraints, children have been known to be left alone for excessive periods

of time in seclusion or in a restraint hold. These practices could lead to traumatic and harmful

mental lasting effects on the child. With a no limits policy in place, this practice could incur a

costly legal budget for districts.

Policy Report and Recommendations

Michigan Policies on Seclusion and Restraints

On December 29, 2016, Lt. Governor Brian Calley signed Public Act 394-402 of 2016,

mandating requirements for the emergency use us seclusion and restraint. As part of the

requirement, the Michigan Department of Education is to develop a state policy regarding the

emergency use of seclusion and restraint in the public schools. The attached Policy for the

Emergency Use of Seclusion and Restraint replaces the previous policy approved by the State

Board of Education on December 12, 2006.

Memorandum, March 3, 2016 Brian J. Whison, Chairman; State Board of Education.

Key Players in this Policy

The major influence on the seclusion and restraint policy came from the Office of Civil

Rights. May of the students being secluded or retrained have disabilities and this number was

increasing each year. Rodd Monts, field director for the American Civil Liberties Union of

Michigan wanted more data and proof of these practices when they are being used in schools. A
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Special Education Reform Task Force, headed by Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, looked at district data

and found little or no data had been reported on seclusion and restraints each year. Parents of

children that had witnessed a restraint or were verbally told by their children of these practices

that were going on in the classroom, yet never received a written or verbal report of it from the

school staff. This new policy passed the House on 12/7/2016, with 83 Yeas and 24 Nays. (State

of Michigan Journals, 2016.)

This policy would be defined as a Redistributive policy; giving the government the power

of the policies over much the school districts. (Fowler, 2016.) This power grants more rights and

safety to the students in their schools districts and holds the districts more accountable to

reporting incidents of seclusion and restraints. This new seclusion and restraint policy mandates

all districts to report any and all incidents of use. Also, the new policy mandates, and

implements a timeframe that administration must be notified as well as parents, and how they

will be notified. This is now the time to implement this policy to ensure the safety of the

students and staff in all public and non-public schools. The Federal Government has taken over

this policy to ensure it is being monitored and followed through correctly in each State.

This new policy will begin for the school year 2017/2018 and will be used in public and

non-public schools. The new policy is under the term that referred this paper refers to as -

Limited Use policy. The districts may use seclusion and restraints but only in an emergency

situations. The emergency situation must be handled by trained staff, and they will decide if

there is eminent harm to the students and or staff and then perform the practices of seclusion and

restrains in a trained manner. Once the incident is over, there is a protocol they must follow and

document. The incident must be relayed to the school administration verbally and in a timely

manner, as well as parents called and notified of the incident within no more than seven days.
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Once all the documentation is filled out the reports must be submitted to the Michigan

Department of Education for tracking purposes.

There may be a fiscal impact on school districts and non-public agencies with this policy.

The Michigan Department of Education recognizes this fact and suggests; redirection of staff

time rather than hiring additional staff. (House Fiscal Agency, 2016.) Without an increase in

financial resources for districts to implement this policy, they will need to readjust the

professional development times to include these topics, as well as ensure more staff is trained in

proper techniques if restraint is needed in an emergency instance. Keeping the staff and students

informed and aware of the policies is an ongoing process. When new staff come into the district

they will need to be trained in the process and this will take time out of the classroom and add to

the fiscal costs of the district. Working with a staff that is trained all at once each year could help

reduce annual costs and keep staff updated and refreshed on the procedures.

This new policy is being put in place to ensure the safety of the students and staff in all

school districts and within non-public schools. This policy is within the limited use of seclusion

and restraints with strict guidelines and heavier accountability paper work than the previous

policies in place. This policy is to ensure the fair treatment of all students, that meaning disabled

and non-disabled children. The Special Education Director in one local community is confident

with the right training and paperwork, her staff will be in full compliance. If there is a need to

use seclusion and restraints, they will do it with fidelity and follow all the correct procedures and

report within the timeframe. (Michigan Department of Education, 2017.)

Key players in this policy will be the Superintendents, followed by the Principals down to

the teaching staff. Good quality professional development is going to be needed for all the

members in the district that will be involved with students. A meeting with the staff to allow
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questions and answers would be good practice for all. The staff is going to need to understand

why the district is implementing this policy, this will help with staff buy in to the policy. A Crisis

Intervention Team could be trained and set up to help to respond in emergency situations and

follow through with the correct paperwork on and contact all parties that are required to be

notified if a situation occurs. There will need to be a key staff member that tracks the data

collected and turns the documents into the Michigan Department of Education. This data will be

a good tool to show if these practices are lessoning the students behavior, having no effect on

the behaviors, and or increasing the behaviors. It will be important to look at the data in a timely

manner many times a year and determine what best practice is for each individual student

involved in the incidents.

Under the new policy for seclusion and restraints, the use of these practices would

mandate the incident be documented in writing in a report and an oral contact will be made with

the school building administration and immediate contact with the students guardian or parent.

The family must also receive a written report within one to no later than seven school days.

Once the incident has been concluded, a debriefing session will be conducted, at this time in no

way will the student receive punishment for their actions during the debriefing session. Staff

will then start to document if this is a pattern of behavior for this child.

The staff, and school districts will document the data and report it to the Michigan

Department of Education. The report will be separated by race, age, grade, gender disability

status, medical condition, names of the school personnel involved, and the name of the school or

program in which it was used, at a minimum. (House Fiscal Agency, 9-14-16.) Districts will

track and maintain up to date records on this. Each district will maintain and track their data.
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They will also be responsible for sending all the data to the Michigan Department of Education

under the allocated time frame.

This policy will help ensure that all public and non-public districts are doing their best to

keep students safe and if an emergency restraint or seclusion is needed it will be properly

documented and reports. Keeping good data will help the schools track what is needed more for

the students and if the least restrictive approaches are working to maintain a calmer school

environment for all involved. When interviewing a classroom teacher, her approach was it is a

good policy and will hold everyone involved accountable, and to be able to look back on the data

and decided if other approaches need to be used when dealing with particular students. The data

will help other teachers to recognize behaviors before they escalade and emergency practices are

needed.

Once the policy has been adopted and implemented, it can take from one to three years

for it to be done with complete fidelity on the staffs part. This policy needs to be monitored and

revisited each year to ensure everyone is doing the right steps in completing the paper work and

tracking the data of incidents of seclusion and restraints. This policy has been issued by the

Federal Court of Michigan and will need to be done correctly and continually until there is a law

saying otherwise. This being said, once a district has implanted the policy and maintained it for

several years, it will need to be revisited within the district and work together as staff if there are

things they can do to better the policy within the district.

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References
Fowler, F.C. (2013). POLICY STUDIES FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERS, An

Introduction. Miami University, Oxford: Pearson.

Freeman, F. and Sugai, G. (2013). Recent Changes in State Policies and Legislation

Regarding Restraint and Seclusion, Council for Exceptional Children, 79(4), 427-438.
Jones, N.L. and Feder, J. (2009). THE USE OF SECLUSION AND RESTRAINT IN

PUBLIC SCHOOLS: The Legal Issues. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved

from:
http://www.spannj.org/information/CRS_Report_on_Legal_Issues_in_Seclusion_&_Rest

raints.pdf
Legislative Analysis. (9/14/2006). Retrieved from:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdhhs/Legislative_Analysis_House_Bills_5409_to

_5418_538763_7.pdf
Michigan Department of Education. (2017). POLICY FOR THE EMERGENCY USE OF

SECLUSION AND RESTRAINT: March 2017. Retrieved from:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Item_R_Seclusion_Retraint_Policy_revision_3

-1-17_Combined_553857_7.pdf

Michigan Department of Education. (2006). Standards for the Emergency Use of

Seclusion and Restraint Supporting Student Behavior: December 2006. Retrieved from:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/StandardsforSeclusion-

Restraint_247533_7.pdf
Peterson, R.L. (2009). RESTRAIN AND SECLUSION IN SCHOOLS; 21 Questions and

Answers. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Council of Administrators of Special

Education (CASE).
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State of Michigan Journal of the House of Representatives, 98th Legislature, Regular

Session of 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/

(S(hbuwkd5etwusyhqmek5bgamh))/documents/2015-2016/Journal/House/htm/2016-HJ-

12-07-076.htm

The Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders. (2009). Retrieved from:
http://casecec.org/pdf/seclusion/Accepted,%20CCBD%20on%20Use%20of

%20Seclusion,%207-8-09.pdf
Whiston, B.J. (2016). State of Michigan, Department of Education; Memorandum.

Retrieved from:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Item_R_Seclusion_Retraint_Policy_revision_3

-1-17_Combined_553857_7.pdf

Interview:
Emotionally Impaired Teacher / Behavioral Specialist
Special Education Director