Bill Text: FL S2118 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Individuals with Developmental Disabilities [SPSC]

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-28 - Placed on Special Order Calendar; Read 2nd time -SJ 00934; Substituted CS/CS/HB 1073 -SJ 00934; Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 1073 (Ch. 2010-224) -SJ 00934 [S2118 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S2118-Introduced.html

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Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 2118 
 
By Senator Gardiner 
9-00283-10                                            20102118__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to the use, prevention, and reduction 
3         of seclusion and restraint on students with 
4         disabilities in public schools; creating s. 1003.573, 
5         F.S.; providing definitions; providing legislative 
6         findings and intent; providing that manual physical 
7         restraint shall be used only in an emergency when 
8         there is an imminent risk of serious injury or death 
9         to the student or others; providing restrictions on 
10         the use of manual physical restraint; prohibiting the 
11         use of manual physical restraint by school personnel 
12         who are not certified to use district-approved methods 
13         for applying restraint techniques; prohibiting 
14         specified techniques; requiring the school to 
15         medically evaluate a student as soon as possible after 
16         the student is manually physically restrained; 
17         prohibiting school personnel from placing a student in 
18         seclusion; providing requirements for use of time-out; 
19         requiring reporting of training and certification 
20         procedures to the Department of Education; requiring 
21         that school personnel be trained and certified in the 
22         use of manual physical restraint; requiring student 
23         followup in certain circumstances; requiring 
24         notification to parents of school district policies 
25         regarding emergency procedures; requiring the school 
26         to prepare an incident report after each occasion of 
27         student restraint and specifying contents of report; 
28         requiring certain reporting and monitoring; requiring 
29         the development and revision of school district 
30         policies and procedures; providing an effective date. 
31 
32  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
33 
34         Section 1. Section 1003.573, Florida Statutes, is created 
35  to read: 
36         1003.573 Use, prevention, and reduction of seclusion and 
37  restraint on students with disabilities in public schools.— 
38         (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 
39         (a) “Department” means the Department of Education. 
40         (b) “Imminent risk of serious injury or death” means the 
41  impending risk of a significant injury, such as a laceration, 
42  bone fracture, substantial hematoma, or other injury to internal 
43  organs, or death. 
44         (c) “Manual physical restraint” means use of physical 
45  restraint techniques that involve physical force applied by a 
46  teacher or other staff member to restrict the movement of all or 
47  part of a student’s body. 
48         (d) “Mechanical restraint” means a physical device used to 
49  restrict a student’s movement or restrict the normal function of 
50  a student’s body. Objects that fall within the term “mechanical 
51  restraint” include straps, belts, tie-downs, calming blankets, 
52  and chairs with straps. The term does not include: 
53         1. Medical protective equipment; 
54         2. Physical equipment or orthopedic appliances, surgical 
55  dressings or bandages, or supportive body bands or other 
56  restraints necessary for medical treatment that is ongoing in 
57  the educational setting; 
58         3. Devices used to support functional body position or 
59  proper balance, or prevent a person from falling out of a bed or 
60  a wheelchair, except that these exceptions to the definition of 
61  mechanical restraint do not apply to any device when it is used 
62  for any purpose other than supporting a body position or proper 
63  balance, such as when used as coercion, discipline, convenience, 
64  or retaliation, to prevent imminent risk of serious injury or 
65  death of the student or others, or for any other behavior 
66  management reason; or 
67         4. Equipment used for safety during transportation, such as 
68  seatbelts or wheelchair tie-downs. 
69         (e) “Medical protective equipment” means health-related 
70  protective devices prescribed by a physician or dentist for use 
71  as student protection in response to an existing medical 
72  condition. 
73         (f) “Seclusion” means removing a student from an 
74  educational environment, involuntarily confining the student in 
75  a room or area, and preventing the student from leaving the room 
76  or area if achieved by locking the door or otherwise physically 
77  blocking the student’s way, threatening physical force or other 
78  consequences, or using physical force. The term does not include 
79  the use of time-out. 
80         (g) “Student” means a student with a disability. 
81         (h) “Time-out” means a procedure in which access to varied 
82  sources of reinforcement is removed or reduced for a particular 
83  time period contingent on a response. The opportunity to receive 
84  reinforcement is contingently removed for a specified time. 
85  Either a student is contingently removed from the reinforcing 
86  environment or the reinforcing environment is contingently 
87  removed for some stipulated duration. A time-out setting may not 
88  be locked and the exit may not be blocked. Physical force or 
89  threats may not be used to place a student in time-out. 
90         (2) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.— 
91         (a) The Legislature finds that public schools have a 
92  responsibility to ensure that each student is treated with 
93  respect and dignity in a trauma-informed environment that 
94  provides for the physical safety and security of students and 
95  others. 
96         (b) The Legislature finds that students, educators, and 
97  families are concerned about the use of seclusion and restraint, 
98  particularly when used on students in special education 
99  programs. Seclusion and restraint refer to safety procedures in 
100  which a student is isolated from others or physically held in 
101  response to serious problem behavior that places the student or 
102  others at risk of injury or harm. Concern exists that these 
103  procedures are prone to misapplication and abuse, placing a 
104  student at an equal or greater risk than the risk of the 
105  student’s problem behavior. Concerns include the following: 
106  seclusion or restraint is inappropriately selected and 
107  implemented as treatment or behavioral intervention rather than 
108  as a safety procedure; seclusion or restraint is inappropriately 
109  used for behaviors, such as noncompliance, threats, or 
110  disruption, which do not place the student or others at risk of 
111  injury or harm; students, peers, or staff may be injured or 
112  physically harmed during attempts to conduct seclusion or 
113  restraint; risk of injury or harm is increased because seclusion 
114  or restraint is implemented by staff who are not adequately 
115  trained; use of seclusion or restraint may inadvertently result 
116  in reinforcing or strengthening the problem behavior; and 
117  seclusion or restraint is implemented independent of 
118  comprehensive, function-based behavioral intervention plans. 
119  Moreover, there are concerns about inadequate documentation of 
120  seclusion or restraint procedures, failure to notify parents 
121  when seclusion or restraint is applied, and failure to use data 
122  to analyze and address the cause of the precipitating behavior. 
123         (c) The Legislature finds that the majority of problem 
124  behaviors that are currently used to justify seclusion or 
125  restraint could be prevented with early identification and 
126  intensive early intervention. The need for seclusion or 
127  restraint is, in part, a result of insufficient investment in 
128  prevention efforts. 
129         (d) The Legislature further finds that the use of seclusion 
130  or restraint may produce trauma in students. For such students, 
131  who are already experiencing trauma, the use may cause 
132  retraumatization. Left unaddressed, the lasting effects of 
133  childhood trauma place a heavy burden on individuals, families, 
134  and communities. Research has shown that trauma significantly 
135  increases the risk of mental health problems, difficulties with 
136  social relationships and behavior, physical illness, and poor 
137  school performance. 
138         (e) The Legislature intends that students be free from the 
139  abusive and unnecessary use of seclusion or restraint in the 
140  public schools. 
141         (f) The Legislature intends to prevent and achieve an 
142  ongoing reduction of the use of manual physical restraint in the 
143  public schools and, specifically, to prohibit the use of 
144  seclusion, prone and supine restraint, and mechanical restraint 
145  on students. 
146         (g) The Legislature also intends that manual physical 
147  restraint shall be used only when an imminent risk of serious 
148  injury or death exists; that manual physical restraint shall not 
149  be employed as punishment, for the convenience of staff, or as a 
150  substitute for a positive behavior-support plan; and that, when 
151  used, persons applying manual physical restraint shall impose 
152  the least possible restrictions and shall discontinue the 
153  restraint as soon as the threat of imminent risk of serious 
154  injury or death ceases. 
155         (3) MANUAL PHYSICAL RESTRAINT.—Manual physical restraint 
156  shall be used only in an emergency when there is an imminent 
157  risk of serious injury or death to the student or others. 
158         (a) Manual physical restraint shall be used only for the 
159  period needed in order to eliminate the imminent risk of serious 
160  injury or death to the student or others. 
161         (b) The degree of force applied during manual physical 
162  restraint must be only that degree of force necessary to protect 
163  the student or others from bodily injury. 
164         (c) Manual physical restraint shall be used only by school 
165  personnel who are qualified and certified to use the district 
166  approved methods for the appropriate application of specific 
167  restraint techniques. School personnel who have received 
168  training not associated with their employment with the school 
169  district, such as a former law enforcement officer who is now a 
170  teacher, shall be certified in the specific district-approved 
171  techniques and may not apply techniques or procedures acquired 
172  elsewhere. 
173         (d) School personnel may not manually physically restrain a 
174  student except when there exists an imminent risk of serious 
175  injury or death to the student or others. 
176         (e) School personnel may not under any circumstances use 
177  any of the following manual physical restraint techniques on a 
178  student: 
179         1. Prone and supine restraint. 
180         2. Pain inducement to obtain compliance. 
181         3. Bone locks. 
182         4. Hyperextension of joints. 
183         5. Peer restraint. 
184         6. Mechanical restraint. 
185         7. Pressure or weight on the chest, lungs, sternum, 
186  diaphragm, back, or abdomen, causing chest compression. 
187         8. Straddling or sitting on any part of the body or any 
188  maneuver that places pressure, weight, or leverage on the neck 
189  or throat, on any artery, or on the back of the student’s head 
190  or neck or that otherwise obstructs or restricts the circulation 
191  of blood or obstructs an airway. 
192         9. Any type of choking, including hand chokes, and any type 
193  of neck or head hold. 
194         10. Any technique that involves pushing on or into the 
195  student’s mouth, nose, eyes, or any part of the face or involves 
196  covering the face or body with anything, including soft objects 
197  such as pillows or washcloths. 
198         11. Any maneuver that involves punching, hitting, poking, 
199  pinching, or shoving. 
200         12. Any type of mat or blanket restraint. 
201         13. Water or lemon sprays. 
202         (f) The school shall have a student medically evaluated by 
203  a physician, nurse, or other qualified medical professional as 
204  soon as possible after the student has been manually physically 
205  restrained by school personnel. 
206         (4) SECLUSION; TIME-OUT.— 
207         (a) School personnel may not place a student in seclusion. 
208         (b) School personnel may place a student in time-out if the 
209  following conditions are met: 
210         1. The time-out is part of a positive behavioral 
211  intervention plan developed for that student from a functional 
212  behavioral assessment and referenced in the student’s individual 
213  education plan. 
214         2. There is documentation that the time-out was preceded by 
215  other interventions that used positive behavioral supports that 
216  were not effective. 
217         3. The time-out takes place in a classroom or in another 
218  environment where class educational activities are taking place. 
219         4. The student is not physically prevented from leaving the 
220  time-out area. 
221         5. The student is observed on a constant basis by an adult 
222  for the duration of the time-out. 
223         6. The time-out area and process is free of any action that 
224  is likely to embarrass or humiliate the student. 
225         (c) Time-out may not be used for a period that exceeds 1 
226  minute for each year of a student’s age, and time-out must end 
227  immediately when the student is calm enough to return to his or 
228  her seat. 
229         (d) Time-out may not be used as a punishment or negative 
230  consequence of a student’s behavior. 
231         (5) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.— 
232         (a) Each school district shall report its training and 
233  certification procedures to the department by publishing the 
234  procedures in the district’s special policies and procedures 
235  manual. 
236         (b) Training for initial certification in the use of manual 
237  physical restraint must include: 
238         1. Procedures for deescalating problem behaviors before 
239  they increase to a level or intensity necessitating physical 
240  intervention. 
241         2. Information regarding the risks associated with manual 
242  physical restraint and procedures for assessing individual 
243  situations and students in order to determine if the use of 
244  manual physical restraint is appropriate and sufficiently safe. 
245         3. The actual use of specific techniques that range from 
246  the least to most restrictive, with ample opportunity for 
247  trainees to demonstrate proficiency in their use. 
248         4. Techniques for implementing manual physical restraint 
249  with multiple staff members working as a team. 
250         5. Techniques for assisting a student to reenter the 
251  instructional environment and again engage in learning. 
252         6. Instruction in the district’s documentation and 
253  reporting requirements. 
254         7. Procedures to identify and deal with possible medical 
255  emergencies arising during the use of manual physical restraint. 
256         8. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). 
257         (c) School districts shall provide refresher certification 
258  in manual physical restraint techniques at least annually to all 
259  staff members who have successfully completed the initial 
260  certification program. The district must identify those persons 
261  to be certified and maintain a record that includes the name and 
262  position of the person certified, the date of the most recent 
263  certification, an indication of whether it was an initial 
264  certification or a refresher certification, and whether the 
265  individual successfully completed the certification and achieved 
266  proficiency. 
267         (d) School district policies regarding the use of manual 
268  physical restraint shall address whether it is appropriate for 
269  an employee working in specific settings, such as a school bus 
270  driver, school bus aide, job coach, employment specialist, or 
271  cafeteria worker, to be certified in manual physical restraint 
272  techniques. In the case of school resource officers or others 
273  who may be employed by other agencies when working in a school, 
274  administrators shall review each agency’s specific policies to 
275  be aware of techniques that might be used. 
276         (6) STUDENT-CENTERED FOLLOWUP.—If a student is manually 
277  physically restrained more than twice in a school year, the 
278  student’s functional behavioral assessment and positive 
279  behavioral intervention plan must be reviewed. 
280         (7) DOCUMENTATION AND REPORTING.— 
281         (a) The school district’s policy regarding the use of 
282  manual physical restraint must be thoroughly explained to 
283  parents annually. At the beginning of each school year, the 
284  district shall provide parents with a copy of the district’s 
285  policies on all emergency procedures, including the use of 
286  manual physical restraint. A parent should indicate receipt of 
287  the district policies by his or her signature, which should be 
288  retained on file by the student’s school. 
289         (b) A school shall prepare an incident report within 24 
290  hours after a student is released from a restraint. If the 
291  student’s release occurs on a day before the school closes for 
292  the weekend, a holiday, or another reason, the incident report 
293  must be completed by the end of the school day on the day the 
294  school reopens. 
295         (c) The following must be included in the incident report: 
296         1. The name of the student restrained. 
297         2. The date and time of the event and the duration of the 
298  restraint. 
299         3. The location at which the restraint occurred. 
300         4. The type of restraint used. 
301         5. The name of the person using or assisting the restraint 
302  of the student. 
303         6. The name of any nonstudent who was present to witness 
304  the restraint. 
305         7. A description of the incident, including: 
306         a. The context in which the restraint occurred. 
307         b. The student’s behavior leading up to and precipitating 
308  the decision to use manual physical restraint, including an 
309  indication as to why there was an imminent risk of serious 
310  injury or death to the student or others. 
311         c. The specific positive behavioral strategies used to 
312  prevent and deescalate the behavior. 
313         d. What occurred with the student immediately after the 
314  termination of the restraint. 
315         e. Any injuries, visible marks, or possible medical 
316  emergencies that may have occurred during the restraint, 
317  documented according to district policies. 
318         f. The results of the medical evaluation and a copy of any 
319  report by the medical professionals conducting the evaluation if 
320  available. If the medical report is not available within 24 
321  hours, the district must submit the medical report separately as 
322  soon as it is available. 
323         g. Evidence of steps taken to notify the parent. 
324         (d) A school shall notify the parent of a student each time 
325  manual physical restraint is used. Such notification must be in 
326  writing and provided before the end of the school day on which 
327  the restraint occurs. Reasonable efforts must also be taken to 
328  notify the parent by telephone or computer e-mail, or both, and 
329  these efforts must be documented. The school shall obtain, and 
330  keep in its records, the parent’s signed acknowledgement that he 
331  or she was notified of his or her child’s restraint. 
332         (e) A school shall also provide the parent with the 
333  completed incident report in writing by mail within 3 school 
334  days after a student was manually physically restrained. The 
335  school shall obtain, and keep in its records, the parent’s 
336  signed acknowledgement that he or she received a copy of the 
337  incident report. 
338         (8) MONITORING.— 
339         (a) Monitoring of the use of manual physical restraint on 
340  students shall occur at the classroom, building, district, and 
341  state levels. 
342         (b) Documentation prepared as required in subsection (7) 
343  shall be provided to the school principal, the district 
344  Exceptional Student Education (ESE) director, and the bureau 
345  chief of the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student 
346  Services each week that the school is in session. 
347         (c) A school shall send to the Advocacy Center for Persons 
348  with Disabilities, Inc., a redacted copy of any incident report 
349  and other documentation prepared as required in subsection (7) 
350  each week that the school is in session. 
351         (d) The department shall maintain aggregate data of 
352  incidents of manual physical restraint and disaggregate the data 
353  for analysis by county, school, student exceptionality, and 
354  other variables. This information shall be updated monthly and 
355  made available to the public through the department’s website no 
356  later than January 31, 2011. 
357         (9) DISTRICT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—School districts 
358  shall develop policies and procedures consistent with this 
359  section and governing the following: 
360         (a) Allowable use of manual physical restraint on students. 
361         (b) Personnel authorized to use manual physical restraint. 
362         (c) Training procedures. 
363         (d) Incident-reporting procedures. 
364         (e) Data collection. 
365         (f) Monitoring and reporting of data collected. 
366         (g) Analysis of data to determine trends. 
367         (h) Ongoing reduction of the use of manual physical 
368  restraint. 
369 
370  Policy and procedure revisions pursuant to this section, which 
371  must be prepared as part of the district’s special policies and 
372  procedures, must be filed with the bureau chief of the Bureau of 
373  Exceptional Education and Student Services no later than January 
374  31, 2011. 
375         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.