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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7214
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4320
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E PHYSICAL RESTRAINT AND
SECLUSION OF STUDENT S BY SCHOOL EMPLOYEE S.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-236b of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) For purposes of this section: 3
(1) "Life-threatening physical restraint" means any physical restraint 4
or hold of a person that (A) restricts the flow of air into a person's 5
lungs, whether by chest compression or any other means, or (B) 6
immobilizes or reduces the free movement of a person's arms, legs or 7
head while the person is in the prone position; 8
(2) "Psychopharmacologic agent" means any medication that affects 9
the central nervous system, influencing thinking, emotion or behavior; 10
(3) "Physical restraint" means any mechanical or personal restriction 11
that immobilizes or reduces the free movement of a person's arms, legs 12
or head, including, but not limited to, carrying or forcibly moving a 13 Raised Bill No. 7214
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person from one location to another. The term does not include: (A) 14
Briefly holding a person in order to calm or comfort the person; (B) 15
restraint involving the minimum contact necessary to safely escort a 16
person from one area to another; (C) medical devices, including, but 17
not limited to, supports prescribed by a health care provider to achieve 18
proper body position or balance; (D) helmets or other protective gear 19
used to protect a person from injuries due to a fall; (E) helmets, mitts 20
and similar devices used to prevent self-injury when the device is (i) 21
part of a documented treatment plan or individualized education 22
program pursuant to section 10 -76d, or (ii) prescribed or 23
recommended by a medical professional, as defined in section 38a-976, 24
and is the least restrictive means available to prevent such self-injury; 25
or (F) an exclusionary time out; 26
(4) "School employee" has the same meaning as provided in 27
subsection (b) of section 10-221o; 28
(5) "Seclusion" means the involuntary confinement of a student in a 29
room from which the student is physically prevented from leaving. 30
"Seclusion" does not include an exclusionary time out; 31
(6) "Student" means a child (A) enrolled in grades kindergarten to 32
twelve, inclusive, in a public school under the jurisdiction of a local or 33
regional board of education, (B) receiving special education and 34
related services in an institution or facility operating under contract 35
with a local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) 36
of section 10-76d, (C) enrolled in a program or school administered by 37
a regional education service center established pursuant to section 10-38
66a, or (D) receiving special education and related services from an 39
approved private special education program, but shall not include any 40
child receiving educational services from (i) Unified School District #2, 41
established pursuant to section 17a-37, or (ii) the Department of Mental 42
Health and Addiction Services; and 43
(7) "Exclusionary time out" means a temporary, continuously 44
monitored separation of a student from an ongoing activity in a non-45 Raised Bill No. 7214
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locked setting, for the purpose of calming such student or deescalating 46
such student's behavior. 47
(b) No school employee shall use a physical restraint on a student 48
except as an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or 49
imminent injury to the student or to others, [provided the restraint is] 50
except such physical restraint shall not be used during an emergency 51
intervention when the student cannot be safely restrained because 52
such restraint is medically contraindicated for reasons including, but 53
not limited to, asthma, seizures, cardiac conditions, obesity, bronchitis, 54
communication disorders or risk of vomiting. Physical restraint used 55
pursuant to this subsection shall not be used for discipline or 56
convenience [and is not used] or as a substitute for a less restrictive 57
alternative. 58
(c) No school employee shall use a life-threatening physical restraint 59
on a student. This section shall not be construed as limiting any 60
defense to criminal prosecution for the use of deadly physical force 61
that may be available under sections 53a-18 to 53a-22, inclusive. 62
(d) (1) No school employee shall place a student in seclusion except 63
as an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or imminent 64
injury to the student or to others, provided the seclusion is not used for 65
discipline or convenience and is not used as a substitute for a less 66
restrictive alternative. (2) No student shall be placed in seclusion 67
unless (A) such student is monitored by a school employee during the 68
period of such student's seclusion pursuant to subsection (m) of this 69
section, and (B) the area in which such student is secluded is equipped 70
with a window or other fixture allowing such student a clear line of 71
sight beyond the area of seclusion. (3) Seclusion shall not be utilized as 72
a planned intervention in a student's behavioral intervention plan, 73
individualized education program or plan pursuant to Section 504 of 74
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended from time to time. 75
(e) No school employee may use a psychopharmacologic agent on a 76
student without that student's consent except (1) as an emergency 77 Raised Bill No. 7214
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intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or 78
to others, or (2) as an integral part of the student's established medical 79
or behavioral support or educational plan, as developed consistent 80
with section 17a-543 or, if no such plan has been developed, as part of 81
a licensed practitioner's initial orders. The use of psychopharmacologic 82
agents, alone or in combination, may be used only in doses that are 83
therapeutically appropriate and not as a substitute for other 84
appropriate treatment. 85
(f) If any instance of physical restraint or seclusion of a student 86
otherwise permissible under subsection (b) or (d) of this section 87
exceeds fifteen minutes, (1) an administrator, as defined in section 10-88
144e, or such administrator's designee, (2) a school health or mental 89
health personnel, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10-212b, or (3) 90
a board certified behavioral analyst, who has received training in the 91
use of physical restraint and seclusion pursuant to subsection (o) of 92
this section, shall determine whether continued physical restraint or 93
seclusion is necessary to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the 94
student or to others. Upon a determination that such continued 95
physical restraint or seclusion is necessary, such individual shall make 96
a new determination every thirty minutes thereafter regarding 97
whether such physical restraint or seclusion is necessary to prevent 98
immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others. 99
(g) In the event that physical restraint or seclusion is used on a 100
student four or more times within twenty school days: 101
(1) An administrator, one or more of such student's teachers, a 102
parent or guardian of such student and, if any, a mental health 103
professional, as defined in section 10-76t, shall convene for the purpose 104
of (A) conducting or revising a behavioral assessment of the student, 105
(B) creating or revising any applicable behavioral intervention plan, 106
and (C) determining whether such student may require special 107
education pursuant to section 10-76ff; or 108
(2) If such student is a child requiring special education, as 109 Raised Bill No. 7214
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described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (5) of section 10-76a, or a 110
child being evaluated for eligibility for special education pursuant to 111
section 10-76d and awaiting a determination, such student's planning 112
and placement team shall convene for the purpose of (A) conducting 113
or revising a behavioral assessment of the student, and (B) creating or 114
revising any applicable behavioral intervention plan, including, but 115
not limited to, such student's individualized education plan. 116
(h) [Each local or regional board of education shall notify] The 117
school principal shall provide verbal notification to a parent or 118
guardian of a student who is placed in physical restraint or seclusion 119
not later than twenty-four hours after the student was placed in 120
physical restraint or seclusion and shall make a reasonable effort to 121
provide such notification immediately after such physical restraint or 122
seclusion is initiated. Not later than three business days after such 123
student was placed in physical restraint or seclusion, the principal 124
shall send the parent or guardian of such student written notice that 125
such student was placed in physical restraint or seclusion by (1) 126
electronic mail to an electronic mail address provided by the parent or 127
guardian for the purpose of communicating about the student, or (2) 128
mail. 129
(i) No school employee shall use a physical restraint on a student or 130
place a student in seclusion unless such school employee has received 131
training on the proper means for performing such physical restraint or 132
seclusion pursuant to subsection (o) of this section. 133
(j) (1) On and after July 1, 2016, each local or regional board of 134
education, and each institution or facility operating under contract 135
with a local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) 136
of section 10-76d that provides special education for children, 137
including any approved private special education program, shall (A) 138
record each instance of the use of physical restraint or seclusion on a 139
student, (B) specify whether the use of seclusion was in accordance 140
with an individualized education program, (C) specify the nature of 141
the emergency that necessitated the use of such physical restraint or 142 Raised Bill No. 7214
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seclusion, and (D) include such information in an annual compilation 143
on its use of such restraint and seclusion on students. Each local or 144
regional board of education and such institutions or facilities operating 145
under contract with a local or regional board of education pursuant to 146
subsection (d) of section 10-76d that provides special education for 147
children, including any approved private special education program 148
shall provide such annual compilation to the Department of Education 149
for the purposes of the pilot program established pursuant to 150
subdivision (2) of this subsection to examine incidents of physical 151
restraint and seclusion in schools and to the State Board of Education 152
for the purposes of subsection (k) of this section. Local or regional 153
boards of education and such institutions and facilities that provide 154
special education for children shall not be required to report instances 155
of in-school suspensions, as defined in subsection (c) of section 10-156
233a. 157
(2) The Department of Education shall establish a pilot program for 158
the school year commencing July 1, 2015. Such pilot program shall be 159
implemented in various districts, including, but not limited to, an 160
alliance district, a regional school district and a regional education 161
service center. Under the pilot program, the Department of Education 162
shall examine incidents of physical restraint and seclusion in schools 163
and shall compile and analyze data regarding such incidents to enable 164
the department to better understand and respond to incidents of 165
physical restraint and seclusion on students in the state. 166
(k) The State Board of Education shall review the annual 167
compilation of each local or regional board of education, and each 168
institution or facility operating under contract with a local or regional 169
board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-76d that 170
provides special education for children, including any approved 171
private special education program, and shall produce an annual 172
summary report specifying (1) the frequency of use of physical 173
restraint or seclusion on students, (2) whether any student subjected to 174
such restraint or seclusion was a special education student, and (3) if 175
any such student was a special education student, whether the use of 176 Raised Bill No. 7214
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such seclusion was in accordance with an individualized education 177
program or whether the use of such seclusion was an emergency 178
intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or 179
to others. Such report shall be submitted not later than January 15, 180
2017, and annually thereafter, to the joint standing committees of the 181
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children 182
and education for inclusion in the annual report card prepared 183
pursuant to section 2-53m. 184
(l) Any use of physical restraint or seclusion on a student shall be 185
documented in the student's educational record. The documentation 186
shall include (1) the nature of the emergency and what other steps, 187
including attempts at verbal deescalation, were taken to prevent the 188
emergency from arising if there were indications that such an 189
emergency was likely to arise, and (2) a detailed description of the 190
nature of the restraint or seclusion, the duration of such restraint or 191
seclusion and the effect of such restraint or seclusion on the student's 192
established educational plan. 193
(m) Any student who is physically restrained or involuntarily 194
placed in seclusion shall be continually monitored by a school 195
employee, [. Any student who is involuntarily placed in seclusion shall 196
be frequently monitored by a school employee] except, in the case of a 197
student who has been assigned a school paraprofessional and such 198
paraprofessional is available, such paraprofessional shall be the school 199
employee who shall continually monitor such student during the 200
period of physical restraint or involuntary seclusion. Each student so 201
restrained or in seclusion shall be regularly evaluated by a school 202
employee for indications of physical distress. The school employee 203
conducting the evaluation shall enter each evaluation in the student's 204
educational record. For purposes of this subsection, "monitor" means 205
[(1)] direct observation. [, or (2) observation by way of video 206
monitoring within physical proximity sufficient to provide aid as may 207
be needed.] 208
(n) If the use of such restraint or seclusion results in physical injury 209 Raised Bill No. 7214
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to the student, the local or regional board of education, and each 210
institution or facility operating under contract with a local or regional 211
board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-76d that 212
provides special education for children, including any approved 213
private special education program, shall report the incident to the State 214
Board of Education, which shall include such incident in the report 215
required pursuant to subsection (k) of this section. The State Board of 216
Education shall report any incidence of serious injury or death to the 217
nonprofit entity designated by the Governor in accordance with 218
section 46a-10b to serve as the Connecticut protection and advocacy 219
system, as required by the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and 220
Bill of Rights Act of 2000, 42 USC 15041, et seq., as amended from time 221
to time, and any regulations promulgated thereunder, and as required 222
by the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness 223
Act, 42 USC 10801 et seq., as amended from time to time, and any 224
regulations promulgated thereunder, and, if appropriate, to the Child 225
Advocate of the Office of the Child Advocate. 226
(o) (1) Each local or regional board of education shall provide 227
training regarding the physical restraint and seclusion of students to 228
the members of the crisis intervention team for each school in the 229
district, identified pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection. A 230
local or regional board of education may provide such training to any 231
teacher, as defined in section 10-144d, administrator, as defined in 232
section 10-144e, school paraprofessional or other school employee, as 233
defined in section 10-222d, designated by the school principal and who 234
has direct contact with students. Such training shall be provided 235
during the school year commencing July 1, 2017, and each school year 236
thereafter, and shall include, but not be limited to: 237
(A) An overview of the relevant laws and regulations regarding the 238
use of physical restraint and seclusion on students and the proper uses 239
of physical restraint and seclusion. For the school year commencing 240
July 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, such overview shall be provided 241
by the Department of Education, in a manner and form as prescribed 242
by the Commissioner of Education; 243 Raised Bill No. 7214
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(B) The creation of a plan by which each local and regional board of 244
education shall provide training regarding the prevention of incidents 245
requiring physical restraint or seclusion of students. Such plan shall be 246
implemented not later than July 1, 2018. The Department of Education 247
may, within available appropriations, provide ongoing monitoring 248
and support to local or regional boards of education regarding the 249
formulation and implementation of the plan; and 250
(C) The creation of a plan by which each local or regional board of 251
education shall provide training regarding the proper means of 252
physical restraint or seclusion of a student, including, but not limited 253
to, (i) various types of physical restraint and seclusion; (ii) the 254
differences between life-threatening physical restraint and other 255
varying levels of physical restraint; (iii) the differences between 256
permissible physical restraint and pain compliance techniques; and (iv) 257
monitoring methods to prevent harm to a student who is physically 258
restrained or in seclusion. Such plan shall be implemented not later 259
than July 1, 2018; 260
(2) For the school year commencing July 1, 2017, and each school 261
year thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall 262
require each school in the district to identify a crisis intervention team 263
consisting of any teacher, as defined in section 10-144d, administrator, 264
as defined in section 10-144e, school paraprofessional or other school 265
employee, as defined in section 10-222d, designated by the school 266
principal and who has direct contact with students. Such teams shall 267
respond to any incident in which the use of physical restraint or 268
seclusion may be necessary as an emergency intervention to prevent 269
immediate or imminent injury to a student or to others. Each member 270
of the crisis intervention team shall be recertified in the use of physical 271
restraint and seclusion pursuant to subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) 272
of this subsection or chapter 814e on an annual basis. Each local and 273
regional board of education shall maintain a list of the members of the 274
crisis intervention team for each school. 275
(p) Each local or regional board of education shall develop policies 276 Raised Bill No. 7214
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and procedures that establish monitoring and internal reporting of the 277
use of physical restraint and seclusion on students and shall make such 278
policies and procedures available on such local or regional board of 279
education's Internet web site and in such local or regional board of 280
education's procedures manual. 281
(q) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the justified 282
use of physical force by a local, state or federal law enforcement official 283
while in the performance of such official's duties. 284
(r) The State Board of Education shall adopt or revise regulations, in 285
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, concerning the use of 286
physical restraint and seclusion pursuant to this section. Not later than 287
sixty days after the adoption or revision of such regulations, each local 288
or regional board of education shall update any applicable policies and 289
procedures regarding the physical restraint and seclusion of students 290
and shall make such updated policies and procedures available in a 291
manner consistent with the provisions of subsection (p) of this section. 292
(s) Not later than January 1, 2019, each local or regional board of 293
education shall establish a policy regarding the use of an exclusionary 294
time out. Such policy shall include, but need not be limited to, a 295
requirement that (1) exclusionary time outs are not to be used as a 296
form of discipline, (2) at least one school employee remain with the 297
student, or be immediately available to the student such that the 298
student and school employee are able to communicate verbally, 299
throughout the exclusionary time out, (3) the space used for an 300
exclusionary time out is clean, safe, sanitary and appropriate for the 301
purpose of calming such student or deescalating such student's 302
behavior, (4) the exclusionary time out period terminate as soon as 303
possible, and (5) if such student is a child requiring special education, 304
as defined in section 10-76a, or a child being evaluated for special 305
education, pursuant to section 10-76d, and awaiting a determination, 306
and the interventions or strategies are unsuccessful in addressing such 307
student's problematic behavior, such student's planning and 308
placement team shall convene as soon as is practicable to determine 309 Raised Bill No. 7214
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alternative interventions or strategies. 310
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 10-236b
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) prohibit the physical restraint of a student who cannot be safely
restrained because such restraint is medically contraindicated, (2)
require school principals to provide verbal and written notification to
the parent or guardian of any student placed in physical restraint or
seclusion, (3) require continual rather than frequent monitoring of a
student placed in involuntary seclusion, and (4) require the presence of
a student's assigned school paraprofessional if such student is placed
in physical restraint or seclusion.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]