The following is a press release from TASH regarding the passage today of the Restraint Bill H.R. 4247 which now goes to the Senate where hopefully it will be taken up in a timely way.
TASH, the leader in advancing inclusion and human rights for people with
significant disabilities, applauds of the passage of H.R. 4247 in the House of
Representatives March 3, 2010, but urges additional action in the Senate on the
Keeping All Students Safe Act, S. 2860.
The bill – formerly the
Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act – would assist in the
prevention of practices that cause physical and emotional harm to students with
and without disabilities, if enacted. These practices, including prone
restraint, aversive interventions and seclusion, have resulted in the serious
injury, emotional trauma and death of hundreds of children nationwide. There is
no defensible rationale of their continued use, and there is currently no
uniform monitoring on a national level of these techniques.
“The passage of H.R. 4247 in
the House is major step forward in protecting the human rights, dignity and
safety of not only children with disabilities, but all children,” said Barbara
Trader, executive director of TASH. “The responsibility of ensuring these
protections now rests with the Senate, and we urge all members to act
responsibly and promptly on this critical matter.”
As the founder of the Alliance
to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion, a 17-member
organization, TASH encourages supporters of the disability community to
continue contacting their Senators to push for a vote on S. 2860. The full
passage of the Keeping All Students Safe Act will fill the gap in protections
for all children, a need recently addressed in part by the Government
Accountability Office in its report to Congress: Seclusion and Restraints;
Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment
Centers, available
at www.gao.gov.
Additional information on
abusive practices and other resources, including the APRAIS Call to Action, can
be found on the TASH Web site at www.tash.org.