Class Action Seeks to End Illegal and Abusive Restraints and Seclusion Practices Used Against Children with Disabilities in California

Four elementary school children with disabilities and their parents and guardians filed a class action lawsuit Monday against the California Department of Education (CDE), directors of the Contra Costa County Office of Education, and staff at Floyd I. Marchus School to challenge the illegal and abusive use of restraints and seclusion in non-emergency situations.

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California teachers can pin students face down. Does the danger outweigh the benefit?

It’s a scenario that sounds more likely in jails than schools: Arms pulled behind their back, a person is forced into a “prone restraint,” pinned face down on the floor with limbs held immobile by at least two people.

But prone restraints are regularly used in California schools, often on students with special needs such as those on the autism spectrum — and at a higher rate on black students, an analysis of federal data by The Sacramento Bee found.

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Report finds no systemic failure in Loudoun Co.’s restraint, seclusion of special needs students

After allegations that Loudoun County public schools were isolating children with special needs in makeshift cells and improperly restraining them, Virginia’s Department of Education’s investigation has found isolated mistakes, but “no evidence of systemic failure.”

In March, nine state lawmakers asked Virginia’s secretary of education to investigate, after a report in the Loudoun Times-Mirror included a photo of a student at Belmont Ridge Middle School trying to climb out of a small pen where she was being kept, isolated from other students in the classroom.

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What to expect when your child is restrained at school

In a previous article, I called for a reduction in the use of seclusion and restraint in public schools by focusing on positive behavior interventions. In circumstances when restraint is used, parents need to be aware of the information they should expect to receive from their child’s school. I will address seclusion in a future article.

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