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Definitions:
Physical restraint - any mechanical or personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the free movement of a person's arms, legs or head. The term does not include:
(a) briefly holding a person in order to calm or comfort the person;
(b) restraint involving the minimum contact necessary to safely escort a person from one area to another;
(c) medical devices, including, but not limited to, supports prescribed by a health care provider to achieve proper body position or balance;
(d) helmets or other protective gear used to protect a person from injuries due to a fall; or
(e) helmets, mitts and similar devices used to prevent self injury when the device is part of an individualized education program and is the least restrictive means available to prevent such self-injury.
Provider a person who provides direct care, education or supervision of a student at risk.
Seclusion the confinement of a person in a room, whether alone or with staff supervision, in a manner that prevents the person from leaving. The term does not refer to in-school suspension, disciplinary detention, time-out or any other confinement in which the student at risk is physically able to leave the area of confinement.
Student at risk a child requiring special education who is receiving special education by the Plainville Board of Education, or a child being evaluated for eligibility for special education and awaiting a determination, or a person receiving care, education or supervision in an institution or facility operating under contract with the Plainville Board of Education.
General Principles
Physical intervention and seclusion should be used only as a last resort for students at risk, after other verbal and nonverbal strategies have been attempted, and only when the student presents immediate or imminent injury to him or herself or to others. Physical restraint or seclusion will not be used as a punishment or restriction of freedom, nor will it be used as a means to inflict pain.
The sole purpose for using physical restraint is to keep the acting out student and others safe. This temporary intervention strategy allows the staff person to take control only until the student can regain control of his/her own behavior. Only safe and approved forms of restraint will be utilized. Staff members are not to use any form of physical restraint for which they have not been trained.
The sole purposes for using seclusion are to keep the acting out student and others safe and for other purposes as determined appropriate by the PPT. Seclusion should be limited to cases of immediate or imminent risk of injury to self or others, and cases in which the method is specified in the IEP of a student at risk as discussed below.
Physical restraint and/or seclusion should be terminated when the trained staff person determines, through verbal and non-verbal interactions and through observations, that the student has regained physical and/or emotional control. When the need arises for physical restraint and/or seclusion, the least restrictive physical management technique requiring the least amount of force should be used.
Seclusion in Student’s IEP
(1) The PPT shall determine, based on results of relevant functional behavioral assessments and other relevant information such as the student’s known medical or psychological conditions, whether the use of seclusion is an appropriate behavioral intervention strategy. If seclusion is included as a behavioral strategy in a student’s IEP, the IEP shall include information regarding such issues as the location, frequency and duration of the seclusion periods, the monitoring of the seclusion intervention and the manner of parental notification.
(2) The Student’s PPT shall review the continued use of seclusion as a behavioral intervention strategy on an annual basis or sooner as required by law.
(3) The PPT and/or building administrator shall review the physical space used for seclusion on a regular basis to ensure that it complies with state requirements.
(4) The Student’s PPT shall incorporate less restrictive positive behavioral intervention strategies into the student at risk’s IEP. The student at risk’s IEP shall specify that seclusion shall be used as a last resort to protect the student and others from imminent harm.
Monitoring of Seclusion
Any student at risk who is secluded shall be continually monitored by a provider who has received training in physical management, physical restraint and seclusion procedures. Monitor means (a) direct observation, or (b) observation by way of video monitoring within physical proximity sufficient to provide aid as may be needed. Each student at risk who is placed in seclusion shall be regularly evaluated for indications of physical distress. The provider conducting the evaluation shall enter each evaluation in the student’s educational record.
Documentation of Restraint and Seclusion
Any use of physical restraint or seclusion on a student at risk must be documented in the student’s educational record. The incidents shall be recorded on a form developed by the State Department of Education.
(1) In the case of emergency use, the documentation will include the nature of the emergency and what other steps, such as verbal de-escalation, were taken to prevent the emergency from arising if there were indications that such an emergency was likely to arise, and a detailed description of the nature of the restraint or seclusion, its duration and its effect on the student at risk’s behavioral support or educational plan.
(2) School staff will attempt to notify parents of a student at risk by telephone within twenty four hours after the use of physical restraint or seclusion as an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to self or others. If telephone contact cannot be made, school staff will provide a copy of the written incident report within five school days of the use of physical restraint or seclusion.
(3) School staff will notify the Board’s Director of Pupil Services on a regular basis regarding incidents of physical restraint and/or seclusion that occur in their respective buildings or programs.
(4) If seclusion is in a student at risk’s IEP, the PPT and the parents will determine an appropriate timeframe and manner of notification for each incident of seclusion.
(5) The Plainville Public Schools shall record the number of restraint and seclusion incidents on an annual basis and will share such documentation with the State Board of Education upon request.
(6) If the use of such restraint or seclusion results in physical injury to the person, (a) the administration may report the incident to the State Board of Education, and (b) the administration shall report the incident to the commissioner of the state agency that has jurisdiction or supervisory control over the institution or facility at which the injury occurred.
Training
All providers who may need to use physical restraint and/or seclusion during the student day shall receive appropriate training in the two methodologies. The training shall include, but not be limited to:
(a) verbal defusing or de-escalation;
(b) prevention strategies;
(c) types of physical restraint;
(d) the differences between life-threatening physical restraint and other varying levels of physical restraint;
(e) the differences between permissible physical restraint and pain compliance techniques;
(f) monitoring to prevent harm to a person physically restrained or in seclusion; and
(g recording and reporting procedures on the use of restraints and seclusion.
Legal References:
Connecticut General Statutes
Sec. 10-76d et seq.;
Sec. 10-220;
Sec. 10-235;
Sec. 46a-150 through 46(a)-154
Sec. 53a-18.
Connecticut Regulations Sec. 10-76-5 through 10-76b-11
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