[NYAPRS Enews] Bazelon Center Commends U.S. House for Voting to Keep Students Safe

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Bazelon Center Commends U.S. House for Voting to Keep Students Safe 



Washington, DC - March 3, 2010 - The Bazelon
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ayoyX6Nevp8tqsPf
nsbQcDMRxuqTNRJs>  Center for Mental Health Law applauds today's passage
by the U.S. House of Representatives of the Keeping All Students Safe
Act (H.R. 4247, formerly the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion
in Schools Act). The legislation effectively declares the use of
restraints and seclusion in schools to be an emergency safety measure,
not standard practice for dealing with problem behavior. The bill passed
in a 262 to 153 vote.

"We commend Congress, especially Education and Labor Committee Chairman
George Miller and Rep. McMorris Rodgers, co-authors of the bill, for
demanding an end to the significant risk of serious injury or death due
to use of restraint and seclusion in schools," said Laurel Stine,
director of federal relations for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health
Law.

"Proactive alternatives exist for handling problem behavior, without the
detrimental effects associated with the use of restraint and seclusion.
All students -- with or without disabilities-- deserve an investment in
effective prevention efforts," said Stine.

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), released in
2009, spurred legislative action. The GAO investigators found widespread
incidence of significant injury and even death as a result of harmful
restraint and seclusion in schools. A recent report
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=R5LTj61H%2BU3LFV
zvo%2B0PvP6OO30vFsa2>  by the Department of Education on inconsistent
state and local policies regarding restraint and seclusion further
demonstrates the importance of today's vote. 

Children are already protected from inappropriate physical restraint and
seclusion in other settings, such as hospitals, health facilities and
non-medical community-based facilities.  H.R. 4247 ensures that minimum
standards now exist to safeguard children in one of the most important
settings- schools.

 


 

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