End Seclusion and Restraint - New Jersey
Did you know...?
In schools all around New Jersey, children as young as kindergartners are shut in closet-sized rooms, often alone, and not allowed to leave. These kids typically have a "fight, flight, or freeze" stress response. Some of them cry for their parents, try to fight their way out, shut down, or even urinate while they are inside. These rooms are often given misleading names like "time away room," "quiet room," "reset room," "red zone," or "calm down room." This traumatic practice should be illegal.
Misconceptions About the Need for Seclusion and Restraint
Many people, including lawmakers, community members, parents, school leaders, and even teachers, often believe the misconception that seclusion and restraint are essential for maintaining school safety. However, these methods are outdated and stem from a time when our understanding of the developing brain, behavioral neuroscience, and trauma was limited. Today, we have more effective, humane, and safer approaches to help children manage challenging behavior. In fact, using seclusion and restraint can make schools less safe for both students and educators.
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Support for Our Teachers
Our teachers are hard working people who have dedicated their careers to the education of our children. They work in extremely stressful, demanding environments that are understaffed and under resourced. Seclusion and restraint are techniques that they use when they don't know what else to do. If we take away their ability to use seclusion and restraint, then what?
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Great Question!
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If teachers are getting to a point where they don't know what else to do, then they are working without the knowledge and resources that they need to succeed in their environment. We aim to give them the knowledge and resources that they need. Evidence-based alternatives are out there.
Get to know EndSaR-NJ
EndSaR-NJ, which stands for end seclusion and restraint New Jersey is a volunteer-led organization based in New Jersey. Our organization consists of parents, educators, professionals and community members from throughout the state. Our mission is to make schools a safer place for students and staff by eliminating the use of seclusion and unlawful restraint techniques. We achieve this through public education, advocacy for legislative change, and systematic improvements to school policies and environments.
What is seclusion and restraint?
Seclusion and restraint are crisis management strategies used in schools worldwide. However, these interventions can be dangerous, leading to serious injuries for students, teachers, and staff, and, in some cases, even student fatalities.
What is seclusion?
Seclusion is the involuntary confinement of a child in a room or other space from which the child is prevented from leaving. Typically, children are left alone (solitary confinement), but being trapped a room against their will can have a traumatic impact on children even when adults are present.
What is restraint?
Physical restraint means using physical contact to prevent or significantly restrict a child's movement.
When is seclusion and restraint used?
Seclusion and restraint are crisis management techniques that are used in emergencies, when a student poses an immediate physical threat to themselves and others. However, data and first hand experiences have shown that seclusion and restraint techniques have been unlawfully used on students for punishment, coercion, and staff convenience.
Why is it a problem?
"Studies have shown that the use of seclusion and restraint can result in psychological harm, physical injuries, and death to both the people subjected to and the staff applying these techniques. Injury rates to staff in mental health settings that use seclusion and restraint have been found to be higher than injuries sustained by workers in high-risk industries. Restraints can be harmful and often re-traumatizing for people, especially those who have trauma histories." - US Department of Health and Human Services - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
“The data tells us that seclusion and restraint practices in school are dangerous, ineffective and predominately used against kids of color and students with disabilities. These practices leave traumatic, and sometimes fatal, fingerprints on those affected, and we need to stop them." Chris Murphy - Connecticut Senator
Laws and Policies
Federal
While there are currently no federal laws governing the use of seclusion and restraint, the U.S. Department of education does provide a seclusion and restraint resource document. In in introduction letter, it states, "As many reports have documented, the use of restraint and seclusion can have very serious consequences, including, most tragically, death. Furthermore, there continues to be no evidence that using restraint or seclusion is effective in reducing the occurrence of the problem behaviors that frequently precipitate the use of such techniques. Schools must do everything possible to ensure all children can learn, develop, and participate in instructional programs that promote high levels of academic achievement. To accomplish this, schools must make every effort to structure safe environments and provide a behavioral framework, such as the use of positive behavior interventions and supports, that applies to all children, all staff, and all places in the school so that restraint and seclusion techniques are unnecessary." - U.S. Department of Education, Restraint and Seclusion: Resource Document, Washington, D.C., 2012
State
"In January 2018, Public Law 2017, Chapter 291 was signed into law, establishing certain requirements for the use of restraint and seclusion with students with disabilities in school districts, educational services commissions (ESCs), and approved private schools for students with disabilities (APSSDs). The law sets forth criteria to which schools must adhere when employing the use of physical restraints and seclusion techniques on students with disabilities. Further, the law requires the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to establish guidelines for school districts, ESCs and APSSDs to ensure that a review process is in place to examine the use of physical restraints or seclusion techniques in certain circumstances."
Local
Local school boards also have the ability to create their own policies around seclusion and restraint, as long as they are within the New Jersey law. If you want to know if your school has it's own policy, you can ask the administrators at your local school or school board members. If your district does not have it's own policies, you can write a letter and provide public comment at a school board meeting urging them to create policies to keep students and teachers safe. There are lots of sample letters and legislation out there to use as reference.
"We believe that civil rights and human rights should not vary from state to state." - Alliance Against Seclusion & Restraint
No child deserves to be forced into a seclusion room by a caregiver.
New Jersey can do better!
We aim to ensure our group is diverse in all ways and that we prioritize the leadership and perspectives of those most impacted by seclusion and restraint in New Jersey. You can help!
