CALL TO ACTION:
PLEASE EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM TO COSPONSOR THE KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE ACT (S.2020 in the Senate and H.R. 1381 in the House).  These bills will protect children nationwide from restraint and seclusion in schools.  A Government Accountability Office study found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death from restraint and seclusion in school.  They included a young teen who hanged himself in a seclusion room while a teacher sat outside and a 7 year old who was restrained face down and died because she could not breathe.  Most of the students in the GAO study had disabilities.

The Senate bill, S. 2020, was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (Chair, Health Education Labor and Pension Committee).  The House bill, H.R. 1381, was introduced by Congressman George Miller (Ranking Member, House Education and Workforce Committee).  The bills will ban physical restraint except in emergency situations when there is an immediate threat of physical harm.  Only 14 states limit the use of restraints to physical safety emergencies.  Both bills protect children from dangerous seclusion.  The bills also:
– ban restraints that interfere with breathing and mechanical and chemical restraints. 
-require schools to notify parents on the same day that restraint and seclusion is imposed. Too many parents never find out what happened to their child.

Please email your Senators and Congressional Representative and ask them to COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act. The bills need cosponsors to move forward.  Ask your friends, family members, fellow advocates, and colleagues to send emails.

HOW TO SEND AN EMAIL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
SENATE.  You can email your Senators through their Senate website forms.    Go to http://1.usa.gov/Senat .You can find your two Senators by choosing your state at the top.  PLEASE EMAIL BOTH OF YOUR SENATORS.  Letters mailed through regular mail to the U.S. Congress are delayed for anthrax screening.  So, please use EMAIL.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.  You can find your Representative and send an email through the House website, http://1.usa.gov/HouseWrit .  You will need your zip code.

SAMPLE EMAIL MESSAGE YOU CAN SEND. 
Here is a sample email you can copy and paste into the forms above.  Please change it or personalize the letter as you wish. If your child had restraint or seclusion imposed upon them tell your story if you are comfortable.

Dear Senator/Representative,

Please COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act, S. 2020 in the Senate and H.R. 1381 in the House of Representatives.  The bill will create minimum standards to protect all children nationwide from abusive restraint and seclusion.

The Keeping All Students Safe Act will ban physical restraint except in emergency situations when there is an immediate threat of physical danger to a person.  Only 14 states require this today.  Both bills protect children from dangerous seclusion, where they are locked in a room or forced into a room where the door is otherwise blocked.  Far too often, children have been restrained or secluded behaviors that are not dangerous or harmful; for not doing assignments, being noisy, behavioral control, discipline, or punishment.  A Government Accountability Office study found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death from restraint and seclusion in school.  They included a young teen who hanged himself in a seclusion room while a teacher sat outside and a 7 year old who was restrained face down and died because she could not breathe.  The GAO documented at least 20 stories of children who died from restraint.  Other children suffered injuries, including broken bones and bloody noses, or had post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The bills will require schools to notify parents on the same day if a child has been subjected to the techniques, and to follow up in writing within 24 hours. Too many parents never find out what happened; 27 states have no parental notification requirements at all, and others have no deadlines.  Parents need to know quickly, so they can watch for concussions, hidden internal injuries, and trauma.  The bills ban life-threatening restraints, such as those that interfere with breathing. They ban chemical and mechanical restraint, like locking children into devices and chairs, and tying and duct-taping them to furniture.  The bills require the collection of data to improve decision-making and provide the public with information.  Neither bill prevents schools from using time out, where staff can work with a child to calm him/her in a quieter space together.                                  

While some states have laws protecting children, many do not, and others are not very strong.  Please COSPONSOR THE KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE ACT, S.2020 and H.R. 1381, to ensure that all children nationwide are protected from these abuses.

Sincerely yours,
Your name here

========================
The Bills:
Senate Bill, Keeping All Students Safe Act S.2020: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112s2020
House Bill, Keeping All Students Safe Act H.R.1381 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112hr1381
S.2020 Bill Description: http://1.usa.gov/SenHarkRS1
H.R. 1381 Description: http://bit.ly/RepMillrRS

Thank you for taking the time to ask Congress to Cosponsor the Restraint/Seclusion bills, S.2020 and H.R. 1381. 

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) is a national organization of over 1250 attorneys, advocates and parents. Our primary mission is to secure high quality educational services for children with disabilities. COPAA is premised on the belief that the key to effective educational programs for children with disabilities is collaboration -as equals- by parents and educators. The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. is proud to announce that it will present  Dorene J. Philpot for the Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy. 

COPAA’s Diane Lipton Award honors the memory of COPAA founding board member Diane Lipton, who spent two decades fighting for the rights of children with disabilities at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). 

The award is given to an individual or group of individuals who have made a particularly exceptional and outstanding contribution to COPAA’s primary mission: obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities, and honors the memory of Diane Lipton, a tireless advocate for children with disabilities for over two decades.  She began as a parent-advocate on behalf of her own daughter, Chloe, who had been placed in a segregated school, separated from her peers without disabilities by a chain link fence.  Diane became an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), where she championed the civil rights of children with disabilities. 

The Diane Lipton Award is COPAA’s highest award, given to an individual who has made a particularly outstanding contribution to protecting the educational and civil rights of children with disabilities.  Each year we receive many nominations for this prestigious award.  This year the Board chose Dorene in recognition of her exceptional and outstanding contribution to obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities.

Over the years Dorene has demonstrated extraordinary dedication to helping children with disabilities obtain a free and appropriate education on many levels.  A nominating colleague wrote:
”This year Dorene batted .1000 for parents in a league where even the best of fields is like playing straight up the side of a mountain.”  

Dorene spends a great deal of time mentoring other attorneys and as a result has directly increased the quality and quantity of parent representation.  She is dedicated to continually working for systemic changes, one of which was the elimination of the 2 tier hearing system in Indiana.  These accomplishments and more truly embody the intent of the Diane Lipton Award.

Please join us in congratulating Dorene. The award will be presented at the COPAA conference luncheon on Saturday, March 10, 2012 in Miami, Florida.

COPAA as part of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Education Task Force issues Comments on Congressional Research Service Report The Education of Students with Disabilities: Alignment Between the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, dated October 31, 2011.

Although we generally find CRS reports on federal education laws to be accurate and helpful and we rely on them to be balanced and comprehensive, reflecting the purpose of the CRS stated mission to approach complex topics from a variety of perspectives and examine all sides of an issue, this report has raised serious concern among COPAA members and the members of the Consortium with Disabilities Education Task Force.

While we disagree with many of the recommendations put forward in the report, the primary purpose of the response was not to discuss disagreement. Rather, the response points out serious shortcomings with the contents of the report, in many cases a failure of the authors to provide critical information that impacts the discussion and recommendations put forward.

The full list of colleagues signing on: American Dance Therapy Association, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Easter Seals, Higher Education Consortium for Special Education, Learning Disabilities Association of America, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Center on Independent Living, National Disability Rights Network,  National Down Syndrome Congress, National Down Syndrome Society, School Social Work Association of America, Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, The Advocacy Institute, The Arc, The National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, National PTA, United Cerebral Palsy.

In the wake of “National School Choice Week,” COPAA is pleased to release the brief  Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities: Preliminary Analysis of the Legal Issues and Concerns written by the Center for Law and Education under contract with COPAA. The stated purpose of National School Choice Week is to “shine a spotlight on effective education options for every child.” Charter schools have long been touted as one of the most promising educational choice options, yet the research remains limited, inconsistent, and for the most part, inconclusive as to whether charter school students are actually more effectively learning and performing than students of similar backgrounds enrolled in traditional public schools. Disturbingly, data shows that students with disabilities (especially low incidence, more significant disabilities) are denied meaningful access to and a free appropriate public education within charter schools.

Having the ability to choose assumes parents of all children have available school options, yet research suggests that families’ access to the educational marketplace is unequally constrained. It is essential to the degree that such schools of choice continue to exist that they are held accountable for ensuring access to all students, for providing meaningful teaching and instruction designed to improve educational outcomes that are not limited to test scores but the kind of knowledge and skills all students need to be college and career ready.  Charter school administrators, LEA officials, and State education officials must be vigilant in the presence of competing incentives to ensure that each student with a disability has equal access and is provided with an education consistent with their rights under the law.

This paper examines the extent to which students with disabilities are being served by the approximately 5000 publicly funded charter schools, which are predominantly, but not exclusively, located in urban, under-performing school districts, and 20 percent of which are operated by charter-school management organizations (CMOs) controlling multiple entities. The paper:

1) provides a brief description of the rapid development of charter schools, including their purpose and intent as well as the characteristics that distinguish charter schools from traditional public schools;

2) describes the overriding legal principles and current federal statutes governing the operation of charter schools; and,

3) identifies an array of systemic issues and concerns that interfere with students with disabilities having meaningful access to charter schools that operate as part of an existing local education agency (LEA) and those that operate independently as their own LEA.  For example, attention is paid to the under-representation in charter schools of students who have more significant disabilities with more resource intensive educational needs and the exclusion of these students through selectivity, controlled outreach, counseling out, and other push out practices. In this context, the paper examines the legal rights of students with disabilities to be free from discrimination, to receive a free appropriate public education, to be educated with students without disabilities in the regular education classroom to the maximum extent appropriate, and to be provided an equal opportunity to access publicly funded charter schools.

Key Points

• The evidence suggests that the quality and performance of charter schools is very mixed and varies significantly from state to state. Despite what can only be described as underwhelming evidence of academic improvement (primarily based on test score data), charter school enrollment has dramatically increased to more than two million students.

• Research suggests that families’ access to the educational marketplace is unequally constrained by such factors as connection with social media or other influential networks through which knowledge about particular school choices and the process is shared; language barriers; socioeconomic status; and the ability of parents to arrange transportation for their school-age children.

• Charter schools as recipients of federal funds under Section 504 and as state or governmental entities under Title II of the ADA, cannot discriminate against individuals with disabilities, and have an affirmative obligation under both statutes to provide meaningful and accessible outreach to ensure the fair recruitment of school-age children with disabilities and an equal opportunity for admission.

• As compared to their traditional public school counterparts, there is evidence that charter schools in large urban districts and throughout the country tend to enroll disproportionately greater numbers of students with high incidence disabilities – such as specific learning disabilities – and lower numbers of students with low incidence, more significant disabilities (e.g., intellectual disabilities and autism) with more educationally intensive and costly needs.

• Eligible students with disabilities have a right to FAPE and cannot be excluded from “choice” programs as a result of their disability, nor can they be required to waive services as a condition of participation in any publicly funded choice program.

• Even among families who request that their child with a disability be admitted to a charter school as their “school of choice,” researchers have found that students are “counseled out” and encouraged to leave the school during and subsequent to the enrollment stage.

• Based on data reflecting the underrepresentation of students with disabilities enrolled in inclusive, diverse charter schools, it is evident that serious issues of unfairness and discrimination still need to be addressed in order to provide parents of children with disabilities an equal opportunity to exercise the same choice to enroll their children with disabilities in an inclusive and diverse charter school.

• With respect to students requiring extensive special education services, the imbalance is dismal. For example, during the 2005-2006 school year, there were only three children with intellectual disabilities in all San Diego non-conversion charter schools combined; traditional schools across the district, meanwhile, educated almost one thousand students with intellectual disabilities. New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC – three districts that rely heavily on charter schools – currently face claims of systemic discrimination based on administrative and judicial actions brought under the IDEA and Section 504.

• A survey evaluating special education programs and services of 23 charter schools in New Orleans that found “an astonishing number of 504 plans.” As alleged in the administrative complaint filed against the SEA and Louisiana Board of Education, several of the surveyed special education coordinators acknowledged that the Section 504 plans were developed to avoid referring students for special education evaluations.

• Decisions governing the legal status of charter schools – i.e., the extent to which they are considered part of an LEA or an independent LEA as well as their respective relationships with the larger LEA of which they are a part, and with the SEA – have significant implications for the delivery of special education services to eligible students with disabilities enrolled in or seeking to enroll in charter schools. Educational researchers have identified this relationship between the charter school and the LEA as the most important factor affecting a charter school’s compliance with IDEA and Section 504 in providing special education and related services.

• Students enrolled in any charter school should have a clear expectation that they will be taught a curriculum aligned with their State’s challenging academic content and academic achievement standards by highly qualified teachers, will participate in the State’s assessments that are used to measure the progress of the schools and school districts and that their performance outcomes will be reported in the aggregate and disaggregated by the required subpopulation groups.

• Charter schools must be held accountable for ensuring access to all students, for providing meaningful teaching and instruction designed to improve educational outcomes that are not limited to test scores but the kind of knowledge and skills all students need to be college and career ready.

• As the charter school movement continues to expand nationwide, disability advocates are likely to find themselves positioned on both sides of the debate surrounding the efficacy of educating students with disabilities in charter schools. Regardless of the policy opinions driving the debate, the law is clear. Students with disabilities who are educated in public schools, either traditional or charter, must be provided FAPE in the LRE. Although charter schools may be freed from some of the restraints placed on traditional educational institutions, they are not free from the requirements of IDEA or Section 504.

• It is not legally or morally acceptable that these so-called “schools of choice” that are concentrated in urban communities and supported with public funds, should be permitted to operate as segregated learning environments where students are more isolated by race, socioeconomic class, disability, and language than the public school district from which they were drawn.

COPAA is one of 38 organizations – representing a broad cross-section of civil rights, business, disability, and education organizations – that publicly released a letter sent yesterday to House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline “firmly opposing” a proposal to rewrite Title I and other parts of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  COPAA joined with many of these organizations in November 2011 in declining to support the Harkin-Enzi bill in the Senate.

COPAA opposes the draft Student Success Act because “it abandons accountability for the achievement and learning gains of subgroups of disadvantaged students who for generations have been harmed by low academic expectations. The draft also eliminates performance targets, removes parameters regarding the use of federal funds to help improve struggling schools, does not address key disparities in opportunity such as access to high-quality college preparatory curricula, restricts the federal government from protecting underprivileged students, and fails to advance the current movement toward college- and career-ready standards.”

The full letter and list of signers is found at http://www.civilrights.org/press/2012/house-esea-proposal.html

IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT:

PLEASE EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND ASK THEM TO COSPONSOR THE KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE ACT (S.2020). This bill will protect children nationwide from restraint and seclusion in schools.

The need for this legislation is exemplified yet again in a horrific a situation regarding the use of school seclusion rooms, this time in Middletown, CT – See one of many stories on this situation here http://www.wfsb.com/story/16490795/middletown

The situation described by parents and students in this report is horrific and abusive. Aptly termed “scream rooms” in this media report, such seclusion rooms are exactly what the Federal bill, S. 2020, pending in the Senate seeks to eliminate. The use of a seclusion room for any student is contrary to accepted educational and behavioral standards and has no place in the education setting. Any student who has such a technique imposed upon them and all students and staff who are a witness to such abuse are at substantial risk of harm. Every time a child is forced into an isolated room the risk of injury, death or trauma is exceedingly high, much higher in fact than the alleged danger of their actions. This story also is illustrative of the critical need for the bill’s provision that prohibits writing restraint and seclusion into an IEP.

For more than a decade, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) has protected the rights of students with disabilities and demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that children with disabilities receive the same high-quality education as all children. COPAA has voiced concern over the improper use of restraints, seclusion and aversive interventions in our nation’s schools. We have reported extensively on the abuse of such interventions and been alarmed by the tragic results, including death, that have resulted from these acts. The use of restraint and seclusion continues to disproportionately affect students with disabilities. Last week a group of individual COPAA members filed an OCR complaint with the US Department of Education regarding the Middletown CT situation. Tragically, the use of such rooms in schools is happening nationwide. We are advocating for this federal legislation to prohibit the use of seclusion in schools and establish minimum standards for the use of physical intervention as a necessary step to ensure the safety of children.

Senator Tom Harkin (Chair, Health Education Labor and Pension Committee) introduced S. 2020 in December. The bill would ban physical restraint except in emergency situations when there is an immediate threat of serious bodily injury. The bill bans seclusion (confinement) of children in locked rooms or rooms from which they cannot exit. It bans life-threatening restraint that interferes with breathing or the ability to communicate, and mechanical and chemical restraints. It requires schools to notify parents within 24 hours of restraint.

Please email your Senators and ask them to COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act. Ask your friends, family members, and colleagues to send emails. The Senate needs to get emails from many, many parents, self-advocates, advocates, family, friends, and the wider community. Every person is a voter. Be sure you ask them to “cosponsor” the bill.

SEND AN EMAIL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. You can email your Senators through their Senate website forms. Go to http://1.usa.gov/Senat or http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

You can find your State’s Senators by choosing your state at the top. Every State has two Senator’s PLEASE EMAIL BOTH OF YOUR SENATORS. Please do not call or fax unless you absolutely need to. Letters mailed through regular mail to the U.S. Congress are delayed for anthrax screening. So, please use EMAIL.

SAMPLE EMAIL.

Here is a sample email you can send your Senators. Feel free to change it as you like. IF YOUR CHILD OR A FAMILY MEMBER/ FRIEND/ FELLOW STUDENT was restrained or secluded, please include that in your email, and tell their story briefly. But please email even if you have not been personally affected. The Senate must hear from many, many people. You might write “We are parents/family members/friends of a child with autism, and we are concerned that any child in school could be subjected to these techniques.” Or you might briefly describe your clients or advocacy work. Write what you feel comfortable writing.

Dear Senator,

Please COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act, S. 2020. It will create minimum standards to protect all children nationwide from restraint and seclusion.

PERSONALIZE YOUR STORY HERE – Explain why this bill is needed or how it will help your family or students in your district, etc.

S.2020 will ban physical restraint except in emergencies when there is an immediate threat of serious bodily injury. The bill bans seclusion of children. This means that schools cannot lock children in rooms or closets or put them in other rooms or spaces they cannot leave (such as blocking the door with furniture). Far too often, children have been restrained or secluded for not doing assignments, being noisy, behavioral control, discipline, or punishment. A Government Accountability Office study found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death from restraint and seclusion in school. They included a young teen who hanged himself in a seclusion room while a teacher sat outside and a 7 year old who was restrained face down and died because she could not breathe.

The bill bans life-threatening restraints, such as those that interfere with breathing. It bans chemical and mechanical restraint, like locking children into devices and chairs, and tying and duct-taping them to furniture. It requires schools to notify parents within 24 hours of restraint. Many parents never find out their child was abused, or find out months and years later. It requires the collection of data to improve decision-making and provide the public with information. While the bill bans seclusion of students, it does not prevent schools from using time out where staff can help calm a student.

While some states have laws protecting children, many do not, and some state laws are not very strong. Please COSPONSOR THE KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE ACT, S.2020, to ensure that all children nationwide are protected from these abuses.

Sincerely yours,

Your name here

For more information on S. 2020 visit http://www.copaa.org/public-policy/chairman-tom-harkin-introduces-keeping-all-students-safe-act/

National, State and Local groups are urged to sign on in support of the Act at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingAllStudentsSafeAct

IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT:

PLEASE EMAIL YOUR  SENATORS AND ASK THEM TO COSPONSOR THE KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE ACT (S.2020).  This bill will protect children nationwide from restraint and seclusion in schools. 

The need for this legislation is exemplified yet again in a horrific a situation regarding the use of school seclusion rooms, this time  in Middletown, CT – See one of many stories on this situation here:  http://www.wfsb.com/story/16490795/middletown 

The situation described by parents and students in this report is horrific and abusive.   Aptly termed “scream rooms” by students in this media report, such seclusion rooms are exactly what the Federal bill, S. 2020, pending in the Senate seeks to eliminate. The use of a seclusion room for any student is contrary to accepted educational and behavioral standards and has no place in the education setting.  Any student who has such a technique imposed upon them and all students and staff who are a witness to such abuse are at substantial risk of harm.  Every time a child is forced into an isolated room the risk of injury, death or trauma is exceedingly high, much higher in fact than the alleged danger of their actions.  This story also is illustrative of the critical need for the bill’s provision that prohibits writing restraint and seclusion into an IEP. 

For more than a decade,  the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) has protected the rights of students with disabilities and demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that children with disabilities receive the same high-quality education as all children. COPAA has voiced concern over the improper use of restraints, seclusion and aversive interventions in our nation’s schools.  We have reported extensively on the abuse of such interventions and been alarmed by the tragic results, including death, that have resulted from these acts.  The use of restraint and seclusion continues to disproportionately affect students with disabilities.  This past week COPAA members have filed an OCR complaint with the US Department of Education regarding the Middletown  CT situation.  Tragically, the use of such rooms in schools is  happening nationwide. 

COPAA is advocating for this federal legislation to prohibit the use of seclusion in schools and establish minimum standards for the use of physical intervention as a necessary step to ensure the safety of children in our schools.  

Our sincere thanks to Senator Tom Harkin (Chair, Health Education Labor and Pension Committee) who introduced  S. 2020 in December.  The bill would ban physical restraint except in emergency situations when there is an immediate threat of serious bodily injury.  The bill bans seclusion (confinement) of children in locked rooms or rooms from which they cannot exit.  It bans life-threatening restraint that interferes with breathing or the ability to communicate, and mechanical and chemical restraints.  It requires schools to notify parents within 24 hours of restraint. 

Please email your two Senators and ask them to COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act.  Ask your friends, family members, and colleagues to send emails.  The Senate needs to get emails from many, many parents, self-advocates, advocates, family, friends, and the wider community.  Every person is a voter.  Be sure you ask them to “cosponsor” the bill.

 SEND AN EMAIL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.  You can email your Senators through their Senate website forms.    Go to http://1.usa.gov/Senat or http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

You can find your  State’s Senators by choosing your state at the top.  Every State has two Senator’s PLEASE EMAIL BOTH OF YOUR SENATORS.  Please copy govrelations@copaa.org so we can track volume of correspondence and follow-up with Senate offices.   Letters mailed through regular mail to the U.S. Congress are delayed for anthrax screening.  So, please use EMAIL.

SAMPLE EMAIL. 

Here is a sample email you can send your Senators.  Feel free to change it as you like.  IF YOUR CHILD OR A FAMILY MEMBER/ FRIEND/ FELLOW STUDENT was restrained or secluded, please include that in your email, and tell their story briefly.    It is important to write even if you don’t know someone personally, or have not been affected personally, by the use of seclusion and restraint in schools.  Include a statement of why this issue is of concern to you.

Dear Senator,

Please COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act, S. 2020.  It will create minimum standards to protect all children nationwide from restraint and seclusion.

PERSONALIZE YOUR STORY HERE –  Explain why this bill is needed or how it will help your family or students in your district, etc.

 S.2020 will ban physical restraint except in emergencies when there is an immediate threat of serious bodily injury.  The bill bans seclusion of children. This means that schools cannot lock children in rooms or closets or put them in other rooms or spaces they cannot leave (such as blocking the door with furniture).  Far too often, children have been restrained or secluded for not doing assignments, being noisy, behavioral control, discipline, or punishment.  A Government Accountability Office study found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death from restraint and seclusion in school.  They included a young teen who hanged himself in a seclusion room while a teacher sat outside and a 7 year old who was restrained face down and died because she could not breathe.

The bill bans life-threatening restraints, such as those that interfere with breathing. It bans chemical and mechanical restraint, like locking children into devices and chairs, and tying and duct-taping them to furniture.  It requires schools to notify parents within 24 hours of restraint.  Many parents never find out their child was abused, or find out months and years later. It requires the collection of data to improve decision-making and provide the public with information.  While the bill bans seclusion of students, it does not prevent schools from using time out where staff can help calm a student.                                            

While some states have laws protecting children, many do not, and some state laws are not very strong.  Please COSPONSOR THE KEEPING ALL STUDENTS SAFE ACT, S.2020, to ensure that all children nationwide are protected from these abuses.

 Sincerely yours,

Your name here

 For more information on S. 2020 visit http://www.copaa.org/public-policy/chairman-tom-harkin-introduces-keeping-all-students-safe-act/ 

National, State and Local groups are urged to sign on in support of the Act at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingAllStudentsSafeAct 

Yet again COPAA has learned of horrific a situation regarding the use of school seclusion rooms, this time  in Middletown, CT – See  http://www.wfsb.com/story/16490795/middletown 

The situation described by parents and students in this report is horrific and abusive.   Aptly termed “scream rooms” in this media report, such seclusion rooms are exactly what the Federal bill, S. 2020, pending in the Senate seeks to eliminate. The use of a seclusion room for any student is contrary to accepted educational and behavioral standards and has no place in the education setting.  Any student who has such a technique imposed upon them and all students and staff who are a witness to such abuse are at substantial risk of harm.  Every time a child is forced into an isolated room the risk of injury, death or trauma is exceedingly high, much higher in fact than the alleged danger of their actions.

For more than a decade,  the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) has protected the rights of students with disabilities and demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that children with disabilities receive the same high-quality education as all children. COPAA has voiced concern over the improper use of restraints, seclusion and aversive interventions in our nation’s schools.  We have reported extensively on the abuse of such interventions and been alarmed by the tragic results, including death, that have resulted from these acts.  We have advocated for federal legislation to establish minimum standards for the use of physical intervention as a necessary step to ensure the safety of children in our schools.  

We urge the Connecticut State Department of Education to take immediate action to secure the safety of students and urge the provision of assistance to assure that students with significant behavioral challenges receive positive and preventive supports that are both evidence and values based in response to such intense needs.

For more information on S. 2020 visit http://www.copaa.org/public-policy/chairman-tom-harkin-introduces-keeping-all-students-safe-act/ 

National, State and Local groups are urged to sign on in support of the Act at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingAllStudentsSafeAct 

COPAA is accepting nominations for the Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy on behalf of children with disabilities.  The award is given to an individual or group of individuals who have made a particularly exceptional and outstanding contribution to COPAA’s primary mission: obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities.  Any individual or group is eligible for the award (excepting individuals currently serving on the COPAA Board), including special education attorney and advocates.  COPAA recognizes there are different ways to advocate for children with disabilities, including advocacy efforts to obtain FAPE and other important rights for children, activities in court, teaching effective advocacy, policy advocacy, exceptional service to COPAA and other activities. Applications must include clearly documented evidence of the honoree’s exemplary activities. 

COPAA’s award honors the memory of Diane Lipton, a tireless advocate for children with disabilities for over two decades.  She began as a parent-advocate on behalf of her own daughter, Chloe, who had been placed in a segregated school, separated from her nondisabled peers by a chain link fence.  Diane became an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), where she championed the civil rights of children with disabilities.  She advised President Clinton on special education issues and helped shape the laws prohibiting schools from segregating children with disabilities.  In memory of Diane, COPAA honors individuals who are exceptionally dedicated to the rights of children with disabilities.

Previous recipients of the Diane Lipton Award have included Wendy Byrnes (2006), Kathleen Boundy (2007), Judith Gran (2008), Ellen Chambers (2009), Warren J. Sinsheimer (2010), and Joseph Tulman (2011).

 The nomination must explain in specific detail the nominee’s particularly outstanding contributions on behalf of children with disabilities.  Nominations must be made by a COPAA member with knowledge of the nominee’s activities.  It is not necessary for the award nominee to be a COPAA Member.  The Diane Lipton Award winner will be recognized at COPAA’s annual conference with presentation of a plaque during the Saturday Awards Luncheon, and, at the discretion of the Board, the recipient will receive complimentary attendance at the main conference, airfare and hotel.  The recipient will be asked to deliver an acceptance speech at the Awards Luncheon.  

Nominations may be submitted to awards@copaa.org and must be received by January 27, 2012.  The Awards Committee will make a recommendation to the Board thereafter.  The Board will decide on the recipient in early February.  

COPAA Continues Work to Raise the Bar of Protection

 December 16, 2011

We are pleased to announce the introduction of the Keeping All Students Safe Act in the Senate by Chairman Tom Harkin this afternoon.  We sincerely thank Chairman Harkin for his unwavering commitment to the safety and welfare of our nation’s children. This bill would promote the development of effective intervention and prevention practices that do not impose restraints and seclusion; protect all students from physical or mental abuse, aversive behavioral interventions that compromise health and safety, and any restraint imposed for purposes of coercion, discipline or convenience, or as a substitute for appropriate educational or positive behavioral interventions and supports.  Importantly the bill also works to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel and promote positive school culture and climate.

 For years, schools’ use of restraint, seclusion, and aversive interventions was unpublicized and little-known, despite their widespread use. However, recent reports by COPAA and the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), and Congressional testimony of the U.S. General Accounting Office have served to shine a spotlight on these abusive practices.  See e.g.,  Unsafe in the Schoolhouse:  Abuse of Children with Disabilities, COPAA (Jessica Butler, 2009); School is Not Supposed to Hurt:  Investigative Report on Abusive Restraint and Seclusion in Schools, NDRN (2009); Seclusions and Restraints:  Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers (GAO-09-719T).  This bill recognizes that “physical restraint and seclusion have resulted in physical injury, psychological trauma, and death to children in public and private schools,” as described in these reports.   Existing laws alone have not protected students against such abuse and injury, though many do offer important protections.  The bill, therefore, includes a critically important savings clause that preserves existing additional rights under state and federal law.

 COPAA is a national organization of parents, advocates and attorneys dedicated to protecting the civil and educational rights of children with disabilities, whose members represent families in 48 States and the District of Columbia.  As such, COPAA believes this legislation is a crucial first step toward the ultimate goals of eliminating abuse and restraint in schools and assuring that children who exhibit challenging behaviors obtain appropriate, safe, and effective educational services.   COPAA is at the forefront of efforts to establish such federal protection and has been working on this issue for a number of years as a member of the Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion (APRAIS), and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD).

Specifically, COPAA supports the bill because it contains many provisions that provide a minimum floor of protection that does not yet exist in many states.  We are pleased that the bill establishes minimum standards for the use of  restraint and prohibits locked seclusion in educational settings.  Restraint  may only be imposed on a student if there is imminent danger of  serious bodily injury.  We are very pleased that the bill prohibits restraint as a planned intervention in students’ education plans, including behavior plans and Individual Education Programs (IEPs).  We applaud the emphasis on evidence-based practices shown to be effective in the prevention of the use of physical restraint; in keeping both school personnel and students safe in imposing physical restraint in a manner consistent with this proposed Act; in the use of data-based decision-making and evidence-based positive behavioral interventions and supports, debriefing, conflict prevention, behavioral assessments, de-escalation of challenging behaviors, and effective and safe conflict management.

 COPAA actively continues our work to raise the bar of protection and safety for all students through the passage of this legislation.   We will not rest until all students are protected in accordance with the principles outlined in our document: COPAA Declaration of Principles Opposing the Use of Restraint, Seclusion and Aversive Interventions.

 We urge all of our colleagues to join us in support of this critical legislation at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingAllStudentsSafeAct

COPAA Letter of Support for S 2020