KASSA-Talking-Points
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) TALKING POINTS FOR YOUR USE ONLY/ NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION 2015 Autism Society’s Day on the Hill Restraint and Seclusion Legislation: Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) The Keeping All Students Safe Act was reintroduced last week in the 114th Congress. The bill was formerly written and championed in the 113th Congress by Congressman George Miller(D-CA), who retired last year and by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) who is also retired. There are no federal laws regulating the use of seclusion and restraints in schools. The bill was introduced two ways. Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) and his Primary original cosponsor Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), the Ranking Member on the House Education and Workforce introduced as a standalone bill, H.R. 927.The bill had 24 original co-sponsors, more than in any prior year introduction. KASSA was also introduced by Congressman Bobby Scott as his Democratic substitute amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education (ESEA) bill in the House Committee. That amendment eventually died in Committee as a result of Republicans passing their version of the ESEA bill. ESEA is the law formerly known as No Child Left Behind. Congressman Scott will include Keeping All Students Safe Act in his proposed substitute amendment when ESEA comes to the floor in the U.S. House next week. In 2011-2012, restraint and seclusion were used on at least 110,000 children in school, according to the Civil Rights Data Collection, disproportionately affecting children with disabilities and children of color. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) documented 20 students who had died in restraint, four of whom said they could not breathe before dying While children are protected from restraint and seclusion by federal law in hospitals and other settings, schools remain unregulated. The 2015 bill, H.R. 927, made a few changes to the Keeping All Students Safe Act. The definitions of restraint and seclusion were updated to match the Civil Rights Data Collection. It includes the definition of restraint those affecting the torso; and that seclusion includes rooms students cannot physically leave even if unlocked (e.g. door held shut by heavy furniture, etc.) The bill also is applicable to schools operated by the Department of Defense, which exist on certain military bases. There are similar provisions to all of these in the Senate bill previously introduced by Senator Harkin: many states already use these definitions. We urge Congress to pass the Keeping All Students Safe Act bill (H.R. 927), and create minimum restraint and seclusion standards in schools that will protect all children and to support the bill in the Senate when introduced. KASSA will ensure that physical restraint and seclusion are used only in emergencies posing an imminent threat of physical injury. Too often, these dangerous practices are used for behaviors that threaten no one. Less than 1/3 of states protect students from both non-emergency seclusion and non- emergency restraint. KASSA will require that parents be informed of restraint/seclusion on the day that it happened. The majority of states do not require parental notification for all children (although a majority of states require notice for students with disabilities). Too many parents have reported that they were never told, or that the notice was very delayed; prompt notification is needed to seek medical care and to work with the schools to prevent future incidents. If less restrictive and dangerous measures, such as de-escalation, conflict management, and positive behavioral supports will prevent the threat, the bill will require that they be used. The bill will ensure schools take steps to prevent problematic behavior through the use of de-escalation techniques, conflict management and evidence-based positive behavioral interventions and supports. The KASSA will ban restraints that impede breathing, mechanical restraints, and chemical restraints. These are highly dangerous. Of the 20 deaths the GAO documented, 4 were of children who said they could not breathe due to restraint. Mechanical restraints include locking chairs and devices, duct tape, rope, and straps, etc. The bill will impose additional strong protections around seclusion, including forbidding seclusion except in emergencies threatening imminent physical injury and requiring continuous visual monitoring. The KASSA will require reporting and data collection, disaggregated by subgroup. The data collection will better inform decision-making and planning to avoid use of these procedures and will provide transparency and better public oversight. Aversive behavioral interventions that threaten health or safety will be forbidden. The bill will require staff training to ensure that restraint and seclusion are used only when appropriate under the law, and to ensure that they are properly used. BEYER INTRODUCES FIRST LEGISLATION February 13, 2015 Press Release Keeping All Students Safe Act Would Protect Minority and Disabled Students Most at Risk February 13, 2015 (Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Don Beyer introduced his first piece of legislation yesterday, H.R. 927, the Keeping All Students Safe Act. The Keeping All Students Safe Act establishes minimum safety standards in schools similar to protections already in place in hospitals and non-medical community-based facilities. Rep. Beyer’s legislation would help states establish monitoring and enforcement systems that would identify and implement evidence-based models to prevent and reduce physical restraint and seclusion in schools. Over 200 national and state parent advocacy organizations have a history of support for this bill, which has been introduced with the support of 24 original co-sponsors. “It is our responsibility to make sure all children are safe and protected at school. Too often dangerous and abusive techniques are used to discipline our students, disproportionately subjecting minority and disabled students to inappropriate seclusion and restraint in the classroom,” said Rep. Beyer. "The Keeping All Students Safe Act will protect students from these incidents of harmful discipline by setting minimum safety standards for schools and by providing training and support to school personnel. It is of paramount importance that we address this issue now, as Congress begins to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.” Rep. Bobby Scott, Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, is an original co-sponsor. “I commend Congressman Beyer for introducing this important legislation,” said Rep. Scott. “Every child, in every school, in every state deserves to be safe. It’s time to end the despicable abuse that has hurt too many students, families and school communities.” Senator Barbara Favola has introduced similar legislation in the Virginia General Assembly. “Thirty-two states have already recognized the need for this legislation and passed measures addressing seclusion and restraint. Virginia needs to protect our children from unwarranted and unjust treatment in public schools by passing this common sense legislation,” said Senator Favola. Donna L. Gilles, Executive Director at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University, weighed in to support Rep. Beyer’s Keeping All Students Safe Act, saying: “Restraints and seclusion do not change behavior and actually can cause trauma and further behavior problems. In Virginia we have heard numerous stories from parents about young children being locked in rooms, tied to desks, or restrained using belts and ropes. The solution is not restraints but school-wide preventive strategies that create positive learning environments. At The Partnership for People with Disabilities at VCU, we work to provide teachers and administrators, as well as family members, the tools so that they do not use or support the use of these reactive techniques, which, we know from research are ineffective in preventing behavior challenges. Using restraints and seclusion, is unethical by any standards of behavior change.” The Keeping All Students Safe Act is the first piece of legislation Rep. Beyer has introduced. Co-Sponsors include: Bobby Scott, Susan Davis, Gerry Connolly, Dave Loebsack, Katherine Clark, Mark Takano, Paul Tonko, Jim Langevin, Sander Levin, Charles Rangel, Louise Slaughter, Steve Cohen, David Cicilline, Sean Patrick Maloney, Adam Schiff, Grace Napolitano, Pedro Pierluisi, Peter Defazio, Albio Sires, Chellie Pingree, Jim Himes, Mike Honda, Gregorio Sablan, Jim McGovern. ABOUT CONGRESSMAN BEYER: Representative Beyer ran a successful Northern Virginia business for over 40 years, served two terms as Virginia's Lieutenant Governor, and served as President Obama’s Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein from 2009 to 2013. He serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources and is Ranking Member on the Oversight Subcommittee to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. .