The first Congressional bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on December 9, 2007, and named the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act.
[1] The primary sponsors of the two bills are Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Congressman George Miller (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS).
[3] In 2009, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) undertook a nationwide study of the use of restraint and seclusion in schools and its effects.
[4] The GAO found "hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the use of these methods on schoolchildren during the past two decades.
The GAO also reported about restraints that resulted in broken arms, and kindergartners who were tied to chairs with duct tape and who suffered bloody noses.
[7] The National Disability Rights Network and the Council of Parents Attorneys and Advocates also documented the nationwide use of restraint and seclusion in 2009.
[9] On May 19, 2009, the House Education and Labor Committee held hearings about the use of restraint and seclusion, chaired by Congressman George Miller.
[10] One witness testified that her 14-year-old son was killed when restrained by his 230-pound teacher, who smothered him by lying on top of him in a restraint during a disagreement about lunch.
[10] The GAO also reported that restraint and seclusion have been used to control minor student misbehaviors such as speaking out of turn or refusing to remain in one's chair.
He noted that sometimes educators need to use restraint in emergency situations, where there is a risk that a child will injure himself or others and nothing else will work to prevent the immediate danger.
[14] A 2012 report by Jessica Butler for the Autism National Committee summarized state seclusion and restraint laws and policies.
[15] As there is no national clearinghouse that gathers data on the use of the techniques, the exact number of children subjected to restraint and seclusion in school is unknown.
[12] Professor Reece Peterson testified at the House Education and Labor hearing about the need for federal law requiring data collection nationwide.
[10] On December 9, 2009, six months after the House hearing, the first national restraint and seclusion bill was introduced by Congressman George Miller.
The Senate bill bars physical restraint unless there is an immediate threat of serious bodily injury and less restrictive measures will not solve the situation.
The House bill will require staff to continuously visually monitor (watch) children who are confined to seclusion rooms to ensure that they are safe.
Both bills ban the use of mechanical restraints, meaning devices that lock and restrain children, or taping or tying them to chairs or furniture.
[21] Debriefings are intended to reduce and eliminate restraint and seclusion, by determining what caused the event and how to avoid it in the future, and by analyzing, planning for, and implementing positive interventions.
[23] When Congressman Miller re-introduced the House bill in 2011, he described his reasons for doing so, "In 2009, the Government Accountability Office told our committee of the shocking wave of abuse by untrained school staff who were misusing emergency interventions.
This important legislation will protect school children against ineffective harmful and life threatening seclusion and restraint practices.
This Act will remedy this situation, as it requires each State educational agency to prepare and submit a report documenting" the use of restraint and seclusion.