Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education, wrote to the chief officers of education for each of the states in the US on 31 July 2009 regarding the use of seclusion and restraint in schools. He expressed concern about the testimony heard recently by the Education and Labor Committee of the US House of Representatives, and recommended that states adopt Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support.
My home State of Illinois has what I believe to be one good approach, including both a strong focus upon Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) as well as State regulations that limit the use of seclusion and restraint under most circumstances….
Several other States have also adopted effective seclusion and/or restraint policies, but there are many jurisdictions that have not, leaving students and teachers vulnerable.
Approximately 8,000 schools across the country are already implementing PBIS, a systems approach to establishing the social culture needed for schools to achieve social and academic gains while minimizing problem behavior for all children….I urge each of you to develop or review and, if appropriate, revise your State policies and guidelines to ensure that every student in every school under your jurisdiction is safe and protected from being unnecessarily or inappropriately restrained or secluded….
I encourage you to have your revised policies and guidance in place prior to the start of the 2009-2010 school year to help ensure that no child is subjected to the abusive or potentially deadly use of seclusion or restraint in a school.
Getting PBIS into place in thousands of schools will be a challenging task. I have to doubt that it can be completed in the brief time remaining before the beginning of the school year in most places. There are many steps required in gearing up for and then implementing the necessary features of PBIS, as a visit to the PBIS site will show (check the page entitled “SWPBIS for Beginners“).
Still, here’s hoping that Secretary Duncan’s nudge will help schools become more humane and habilitative places.
Previous posts about seclusion and restraint: “Seclusion and restraint on Parade” 25 July 2009, “CCBD on seclusion and restraint” 22 May 2009, “US Congress hearings on seclusion and restraint” 19 May 2009, and “Remembering seclusion and restraint” 21 April 2009
Update 4 Aug 2009: The US Department of Education published a press release with a link to the full letter.
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Arne has it right. Now someone needs to ask Chicago Public Schools why it has stopped working with PBIS Illinois and why it no longer supports PBIS in schools. Why did those of us trained in PBIS lose our jobs this year? PBIS works, but it’s not Social Worker/Psychologist-focused enough for them. And it’s a bit scary in that it allows schools to make decisions based on their populations instead of letting the bureaucrats do it.