Indiana law ensures the right of all children to be treated with dignity and respect regarding behavioral interventions. All children have the right to be free from physical or mental abuse, aversive interventions that compromise health and safety, and any physical seclusion or restraint imposed solely for purposes of discipline or convenience.

Seclusion or restraint shall not be used as routine school safety measures; that is, they shall not be implemented except in situations where a child’s behavior or action poses imminent danger of physical harm to self or others. They shall not be used as a routine strategy to address instructional problems or inappropriate behavior. Neither shall they be used as a means of coercion, retaliation, or as a convenience. Any use of either seclusion or restraint shall be supervised, short in duration, and used only for the purposes of de-escalating the behavior.

Any behavior intervention must be consistent with a child’s rights to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be free from abuse.

Any behavior intervention used must be consistent with the student’s most current individualized education program and with the student’s behavior intervention plan, if applicable.

Every effort shall be made to prevent the need for the use of seclusion or for the use of restraint on a child.

Prevention, positive behavior intervention and support, and conflict de-escalation shall be used regularly to eliminate or minimize the need for use of seclusion, chemical restraint, mechanical restraint or physical restraint. Any program governed by Franklin Community School Corporation shall employ the use of prevention, positive behavior intervention and support, and conflict de-escalation before the use of any seclusion or restraint.

Physical seclusion or restraint shall not be used except when used as a last resort in situations where the child’s behavior poses imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others and other less restrictive interventions are ineffective.

Use of seclusion or restraint may only be used for a short period of time and shall be discontinued as soon as the imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others has dissipated.

Teachers and other personnel shall be trained regularly on the appropriate use of effective alternatives to physical seclusion and restraint, such as positive behavioral interventions and supports and only for cases involving imminent danger of serious physical harm. Whenever possible, schools shall designate certain staff to complete a crisis intervention program.

Every instance in which seclusion or restraint is used shall be carefully and with continuous visual monitoring to ensure the appropriateness of its use and safety of the child, other children, teachers, and other personnel.

A school shall never use mechanical restraints to restrict a child’s freedom of movement and a school shall never use a drug, medication or other chemical to control behavior or restrict freedom of movement (except as authorized by a licensed physician or other qualified health professional). A school shall never give a student any drug or medication that is not a standard treatment and dosage for the student’s medical or psychiatric condition.

Plans restricting the use of seclusion and restraint shall apply to all students, not only students with disabilities.

Seclusion or restraint shall never be used in a manner that restricts a child’s breathing or intentionally harms the child.

The use of seclusion or restraint, particularly when there is repeated use for an individual child, multiple uses within the same classroom, or multiple uses by the same individual, shall trigger a review and, if appropriate, revision of strategies currently in place to address dangerous behavior, including a functional behavior assessment and reviewing and/or modifying the student’s individualized education program or behavior intervention plan. If positive behavioral strategies are not in place staff shall consider developing them. ("Dangerous behavior" refers to behavior that poses imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others.)

Behavioral strategies to address dangerous behavior that results in the use of seclusion or restraint shall address the underlying cause or purpose of the dangerous behavior.

Parents or guardians shall be informed of and have access to the plan on seclusion and restraint at the child’s school or other educational setting, as well as applicable Federal, State, or local laws.

Parents or guardians shall be notified as soon as possible following each instance in which seclusion or restraint is used with their child. Schools must designate the staff who will be responsible for documenting every instance in which seclusion or restraint was used on a student. The documentation shall include a detailed account of the incident, including the circumstances that led to the use of seclusion and/or restraint. (See Form 5630.01 F1)

Any plan which includes the uses of seclusion and restraint shall provide that each incident involving the use of seclusion or restraint be documented, in writing, with sufficient detail to provide for the collection of specific data that would enable teachers, staff, and other personnel to review seclusion and restraint policies in order to implement modifications to the school’s plan. Data collected from the use of either seclusion or restraint shall be reviewed at least annually in order to improve prevention, positive behavioral intervention and support, and conflict de-escalation techniques in order to avoid the use of seclusion or restraint.

Adopted 10/20/14