Bill Text: IL HR0088 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges policy decisions of State agencies and the Illinois General Assembly to align with the goal of preventing, reducing, and ultimately eliminating, the use of restraint and seclusion with children and adolescents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-12 - Resolution Adopted [HR0088 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HR0088-Introduced.html
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Children and Family | ||||||
3 | Services, Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois | ||||||
4 | Department of Public Health, the Illinois Department of Mental | ||||||
5 | Health, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, and the | ||||||
6 | Illinois State Board of Education promulgate rules and | ||||||
7 | procedures to govern the use of restraint and seclusion with | ||||||
8 | children and adolescents in social services, medical, and | ||||||
9 | educational settings; and
| ||||||
10 | WHEREAS, Manual restraint is defined as anytime an adult | ||||||
11 | staff member, responsible for the care of a child or an | ||||||
12 | adolescent, manually holds a child to prevent the child's free | ||||||
13 | movement or normal access to the child's body; and
| ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, Seclusion is defined as the involuntary | ||||||
15 | confinement of a child in a room or an area from which the | ||||||
16 | child is physically prevented from leaving; and
| ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, Numerous sources document the harmful physical | ||||||
18 | outcomes associated with manual restraint, including | ||||||
19 | dehydration, choking, loss of strength or mobility, | ||||||
20 | incontinence, and injuries, including bruises, rug burns, | ||||||
21 | broken bones, and cardiopulmonary complications, or death; and
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | WHEREAS, Children and adolescents who experience restraint | ||||||
2 | express negative social-emotional consequences, including | ||||||
3 | fear, rage, anxiety, a lack of understanding about why they | ||||||
4 | were restrained, profound alienation from adult staff | ||||||
5 | responsible for their care, re-traumatization from their own | ||||||
6 | restraint, and vicarious traumatization from witnessing the | ||||||
7 | restraint of their peers; and
| ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Adult staff, responsible for the care of children | ||||||
9 | and adolescents, who implement restraints may be exposed to | ||||||
10 | biological material, such as saliva or blood, without | ||||||
11 | appropriate protective equipment or may sustain injuries, | ||||||
12 | including scrapes, bruises, sprains, scratches, bites, or | ||||||
13 | broken bones; and
| ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, Children and adolescents placed in seclusion have | ||||||
15 | experienced a wide variety of self-inflicted injuries, such as | ||||||
16 | cutting, pounding, head banging, and suicide; and
| ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, High frequency of restraint and seclusion | ||||||
18 | episodes are associated with turbulent workplace environments, | ||||||
19 | uncertainty, lost productivity, low morale, and potentially | ||||||
20 | detrimental influences on the quality of care delivered; and
| ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the | ||||||
22 | Child has stated that restraint and seclusion may violate |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | children's rights, including their right to be free from | ||||||
2 | cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, their | ||||||
3 | right to respect for bodily integrity, and their right not to | ||||||
4 | be deprived of their liberty; and
| ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, Over the last two decades, national | ||||||
6 | organizations, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health | ||||||
7 | Services Administration, the Child Welfare League of America, | ||||||
8 | the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, and | ||||||
9 | the National Association of State Mental Health Program | ||||||
10 | Directors, began supporting programs to prevent and reduce the | ||||||
11 | use of restraint and seclusion; and
| ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Education warned on | ||||||
13 | multiple occasions that secluding students can be dangerous | ||||||
14 | and that there is no evidence it is effective in reducing | ||||||
15 | problematic behaviors among children and adolescents; and
| ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, The Statewide Youth Advisory Board for the | ||||||
17 | Department of Children and Family Services, which provides the | ||||||
18 | Department and General Assembly with the perspective of | ||||||
19 | youth-in-care, voted that reforming use of restraints was a | ||||||
20 | top policy priority; and
| ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, The National Association of State Mental Health | ||||||
22 | Program Directors' position statement on restraint and |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | seclusion illustrates that practices should only be | ||||||
2 | administered in the least restrictive method and should never | ||||||
3 | be used for purposes of punishment, discipline, or | ||||||
4 | convenience; and
| ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Education found Illinois | ||||||
6 | had the highest number of state-level seclusion totals within | ||||||
7 | schools across the country; and
| ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Research has shown that children and adolescents | ||||||
9 | often see seclusion as a form of punishment and can be | ||||||
10 | traumatized by the practice; and
| ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The use of restraint and seclusion are based on | ||||||
12 | the staff assumption that controlling children and adolescents | ||||||
13 | by force will reduce dangerous behaviors and maintain | ||||||
14 | community safety, although academic research shows that such | ||||||
15 | coercive interventions can maintain and intensify the very | ||||||
16 | behaviors staff are trying to control; and
| ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, Research shows that inexperienced or inadequately | ||||||
18 | trained staff are involved in more restraint and seclusion | ||||||
19 | incidents than experienced staff in child welfare, mental | ||||||
20 | health, juvenile justice, and educational settings; and
| ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, Strategies to reduce restraint and elimination |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | may include leadership in organizational culture change, using | ||||||
2 | data to inform practice, workforce development, inclusion of | ||||||
3 | family and peers, specific reduction interventions, and | ||||||
4 | rigorous debriefing; and
| ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, Service providers may select from various | ||||||
6 | available training curricula, supported by data and academic | ||||||
7 | research, to implement organizational change and focus on the | ||||||
8 | reduction of restraint and seclusion; and
| ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, Research by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health | ||||||
10 | Service Administration deemed one training curriculum, the Six | ||||||
11 | Core Strategies, an evidence-based intervention after an | ||||||
12 | eight-state evaluation; and
| ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, Restraint and seclusion reduction training | ||||||
14 | curricula include trauma-informed principles as foundational | ||||||
15 | components; and
| ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, When Massachusetts developed and implemented a | ||||||
17 | statewide initiative to reduce or eliminate the use of | ||||||
18 | seclusion and restraint among children and adolescents for | ||||||
19 | psychiatric facility workers, the number of workers' | ||||||
20 | compensation claims decreased by 29 percent, and the amount of | ||||||
21 | compensation paid decreased by 98 percent; and
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | WHEREAS, A shared vision across child and adolescent | ||||||
2 | serving organizations, which is grounded in academic research | ||||||
3 | and data, will help unite professionals under the common goal | ||||||
4 | of restraint and seclusion reduction; therefore, be it
| ||||||
5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
6 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
7 | we urge policy decisions of State agencies and the Illinois | ||||||
8 | General Assembly to align with the goal of preventing, | ||||||
9 | reducing, and ultimately eliminating, the use of restraint and | ||||||
10 | seclusion with children and adolescents; and be it further
| ||||||
11 | RESOLVED, That it is the overarching policy of the State | ||||||
12 | of Illinois that restraint and seclusion should only be used | ||||||
13 | as a last resort to protect a youth from harming themselves or | ||||||
14 | others and should never be used for punishment, discipline, or | ||||||
15 | convenience; and be it further
| ||||||
16 | RESOLVED, That until use of restraint and seclusion is | ||||||
17 | ultimately eliminated, State agencies who employ restraint and | ||||||
18 | seclusion, as well as contractors to those agencies, must | ||||||
19 | ensure that only staff members with certified training who are | ||||||
20 | experienced in restraint and seclusion employ these methods to | ||||||
21 | reduce incidents of harm; and be it further
| ||||||
22 | RESOLVED, That we urge all administrative staff of the |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | State of Illinois who promulgate rules and procedures that | ||||||
2 | govern the use of restraint and seclusion with children and | ||||||
3 | adolescents, including the Office of the Governor, the State | ||||||
4 | Board of Education, the Department of Human Services, the | ||||||
5 | Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of | ||||||
6 | Public Health, and the Department of Juvenile Justice, to | ||||||
7 | operate under the shared vision that restraint and seclusion | ||||||
8 | are behavior management interventions of last resort and work | ||||||
9 | towards their reduction.
|