Some Thoughts on Recent Isolated Time-Out and Restraint Publication

I am sure that many or most of you have seen the ProPublica/Chicago Tribune publication regarding the use of physical restraint and isolated timeout.  I’m not going to link it here, because I think it is so clearly one-sided and void of context, that I am not sure it is anything close to an accurate picture of what occurs in schools.  The reporters involved apparently have made arbitrary decisions about when they view documented situations to be a valid safety concern or not – without the context of the individuals directly involved in the situations being able to ever talk about the specific instances due to student privacy concerns.  

However, I do think school districts need to learn from the perceptions created by the publication, and school personnel need to re-examine their practices regarding the documentation of these types of events.  My experience tells me that the use of restraint and isolated time-out is legally justified in many more of the situations than identified by the Tribune, but there is certainly room for improvement in how those situations are documented so that no question exists regarding the validity of the decisions that are made. 

It is exceedingly difficult to find personnel for these high-need student populations, and it is disappointing that this publication may do more to disrupt our recruitment and retention of the staff we need to provide a free appropriate public education and to prepare students for post-secondary life.  I have had the privilege to know so many of your educators and paraprofessionals who love these kids every single day, and who deserve respect and support, not the one-sided derision from the Tribune. 

In response to this publication, and in anticipation of the follow-up publications, a few reminders regarding the use of restraint and isolated time-out: 

- We cannot comment on matters pertaining to individual students, and based on the reporting in the publication, any comments by school personnel would be inappropriate as it may provide information that, alone or in combination, is linked to a specific student that will likely allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to individually identify an individual student, in violation of State and Federal law.

 - Each school district and special education cooperative should re-affirm the guidance and principles articulated by the federal Department of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education regulations, which make clear that restraint or seclusion should never be used except in situations where a child’s 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.

 - Each school district and special education cooperative should re-affirm and perhaps update and revise the required training for all staff who may be required to utilize restraint or isolated timeout in its safe and appropriate use.  As we know, only those properly trained can do so. 

 - Each school district and special education cooperation should confirm with staff that restraint and isolated timeout is used in situations where school personnel believe the student to be a risk of harm to themselves or others, and is used only as a means of keeping students safe when they are putting themselves or others at risk.  Our documentation should make this more clear.

 - Neither isolated timeout nor physical restraint is ever used in administering discipline to individual students and never as a form of punishment.  It is only a means of preserving safety and only when necessary.

 - Each school district and special education cooperative should make sure that it provides communication and documentation to parents in these situations consistent with the law.

 - Let’s clarify for staff the difference between a restraint and a “momentary redirection” allowed by the Illinois regulations.  Reading the entire statement in the regulations, I think the keys are “momentary” and “limited force” — and it cannot otherwise look like a restraint or restrain the student from movement. It is more like putting up your hand to stop a punch in the face.  Based on the totality of the legal issues at play, my strong preference is to have documentation any time we are putting our hands on in a situation like that. Our documentation is what protects us! The regulatory requirements are a minimum, and oftentimes we need to do more to keep everyone safe and informed.

 Remember: these are behavior interventions which can be legal, safe, and appropriate, as specifically recognized by the Department of Education, the Illinois State Board of Education, and various court decisions on the matter.  These interventions are necessary in order to meet our obligations to maintain safety of students and staff when there is a behavioral crisis.

 The most important thing we can do at this point is ensure that our training for staff leads to proper documentation, and at the same time work with parents to assist their understanding of the necessity and proper use of these last-resort interventions.