Congressional Update on Restraint and Seclusion

Patience appears to be the word of the day in regard to the status of CEC and CCBD’s efforts to see federal legislation enacted to provide guidance and regulations to the states in the use of restraint and seclusion in schools.

As you may recall, CCBD led efforts to craft white papers on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools (see papers posted in the Advocacy section of the CCBD website).  CCBD’s summary of concerns and recommendations for practice were accepted by CEC as the organization’s position on this issue.  CCBD was well represented in the public debate in Washington, DC by Dr. Reece Peterson before the House Committee on Education and Labor and by Dr. Joseph Ryan at White House meetings in 2009 during the previous Congress.  Legislation supported by CCBD and CEC was ultimately passed by the House but did not make it through the Senate before the end of the session.

As of this writing, the House bill has been re-introduced and is awaiting complementary efforts, led by Senator Harkin, for the Senate to bring this issue forward to committee.  Options include inclusion into the base of the ESEA draft (unlikely), mark up as an amendment to ESEA (possibly), or as a stand-alone bill (possibly).

In the meantime, several states have adopted guidelines on the use of restraint and seclusion that parallel CCBD’s recommendations.  Even with standing regulations in places, states have found difficulties in monitoring the implementation of those regulations and guidelines and are opting for more specific language and stricter monitoring and accountability measures.  Our position papers on restraint and seclusion are influencing these state efforts.

So, we will wait until the debt crisis clears and other issues, including education, can be brought to the front burners.  In the meantime, stay tuned.  A Call for Action will be issued when it is time for CCBD members to contact Members of Congress in support of this critical legislation. 

As always, we invite you to let us know what is important to you in training and supporting teachers who work with students with EBD.  Please send your comments and suggestions to me at sfalbrecht@bsu.eduwith our thanks in advance.