Congressman George Miller (D-CA), ranking member of the House
Education & Workforce Committee and Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS) this
week introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act, HR 1893, a bill to
protect all students nationwide from restraint and
seclusion.
NDSC was one of the founding organizations
of APRAIS, the group whose mission is to protect children from restraint,
seclusion and aversives in schools, and who has worked on development of this
bill for several years.
Please contact your members of Congress and ask them to
Cosponsor and Support the Keeping All Students Safe Act, HR 1893. Dial
202-224-3121; ask for your Representative's Office, and then ask for the
individual who deals with education issues.
If
you are unable to call and need to use email, go to http://bit.ly/RepWrit.
The link to Congressman Miller's speech is
here.
Tell your Congressional
representative that:
- A 2009 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that children were injured, traumatized, and even killed through restraint and seclusion in schools. The GAO documented 20 deaths of school children.
- The Civil Rights collection data shows that 40,000 children were physically restrained during the 2009-2010 school year.
- Restraint and seclusion are disproportionately used upon students with disabilities and minority students.
The Keeping All Students Safe Act
will protect children in the following ways:
· ban restraint/seclusion except in
emergencies where someone is in danger of physical harm.
· require that parents be informed if their
child was restrained/secluded on the same day that the event
occurred.
· ban restraints that impede breathing,
mechanical restraints, and chemical restraints.
· prevent restraint/seclusion from being
used when less restrictive alternatives, like positive supports and
de-escalation, would eliminate any danger.
If you have questions, please contact susan@ndsccenter.org.