IB 

Union Calendar No. 243 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4247 

[Report No. 111–417] 

To prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2009 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself and Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

FEBRUARY 23, 2010 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. HARE, Mr. 

COURTNEY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. 

SESTAK, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. 

KILROY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. HARPER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HOLT, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 

BISHOP of New York, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. CHU, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. 

POLIS of Colorado, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Mr. COHEN, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. DELAURO, and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts 

FEBRUARY 23, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on December 9, 2009] 


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A BILL 

To prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and 

seclusion in schools, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Harmful Re5 straint and Seclusion in Schools Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Physical restraint and seclusion have re9 sulted in physical injury, psychological trauma, and 

10 death to children in public and private schools. Na11 tional research shows students have been subjected to 

12 physical restraint and seclusion in schools as a means 

13 of discipline, to force compliance, or as a substitute 

14 for appropriate educational support. 

15 (2) Behavioral interventions for children must 

16 promote the right of all children to be treated with 

17 dignity. All children have the right to be free from 

18 physical or mental abuse, aversive behavioral inter19 ventions that compromise health and safety, and any 

20 physical restraint or seclusion imposed solely for pur21 poses of discipline or convenience. 

22 (3) Safe, effective, evidence-based strategies are 

23 available to support children who display challenging 

24 behaviors in school settings. Staff training focused on 

25 the dangers of physical restraint and seclusion as well 


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1 as training in evidence-based positive behavior sup2 ports, de-escalation techniques, and physical restraint 

3 and seclusion prevention, can reduce the incidence of 

4 injury, trauma, and death. 

5 (4) School personnel have the right to work in a 

6 safe environment and should be provided training 

7 and support to prevent injury and trauma to them8 selves and others. 

9 (5) Despite the widely recognized risks of phys10 ical restraint and seclusion, a substantial disparity 

11 exists among many States and localities with regard 

12 to the protection and oversight of the rights of chil13 dren and school personnel to a safe learning environ14 ment. 

15 (6) Children are subjected to physical restraint 

16 and seclusion at higher rates than adults. Physical re17 straint which restricts breathing or causes other body 

18 trauma, as well as seclusion in the absence of contin19 uous face-to-face monitoring, have resulted in the 

20 deaths of children in schools. 

21 (7) Children are protected from inappropriate 

22 physical restraint and seclusion in other settings, 

23 such as hospitals, health facilities, and non-medical 

24 community-based facilities. Similar protections are 


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1 needed in schools, yet such protections must acknowl2 edge the differences of the school environment. 

3 (8) Research confirms that physical restraint 

4 and seclusion are not therapeutic, nor are these prac5 tices effective means to calm or teach children, and 

6 may have an opposite effect while simultaneously de7 creasing a child’s ability to learn. 

8 (9) The effective implementation of school-wide 

9 positive behavior supports is linked to greater aca10 demic achievement, significantly fewer disciplinary 

11 problems, increased instruction time, and staff per12 ception of a safer teaching environment. 

13 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

14 The purposes of this Act are to— 

15 (1) prevent and reduce the use of physical re16 straint and seclusion in schools; 

17 (2) ensure the safety of all students and school 

18 personnel in schools and promote a positive school 

19 culture and climate; 

20 (3) protect students from— 

21 (A) physical or mental abuse; 

22 (B) aversive behavioral interventions that 

23 compromise health and safety; and 


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1 (C) any physical restraint or seclusion im2 posed solely for purposes of discipline or conven3 ience; 

4 (4) ensure that physical restraint and seclusion 

5 are imposed in school only when a student’s behavior 

6 poses an imminent danger of physical injury to the 

7 student, school personnel, or others; and 

8 (5) assist States, local educational agencies, and 

9 schools in— 

10 (A) establishing policies and procedures to 

11 keep all students, including students with the 

12 most complex and intensive behavioral needs, 

13 and school personnel safe; 

14 (B) providing school personnel with the nec15 essary tools, training, and support to ensure the 

16 safety of all students and school personnel; 

17 (C) collecting and analyzing data on phys18 ical restraint and seclusion in schools; and 

19 (D) identifying and implementing effective 

20 evidence-based models to prevent and reduce 

21 physical restraint and seclusion in schools. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) CHEMICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘chemical 

25 restraint’’ means a drug or medication used on a stuVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:24 Feb 23, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4247.RH H4247

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1 dent to control behavior or restrict freedom of move2 ment that is not— 

3 (A) prescribed by a licensed physician for 

4 the standard treatment of a student’s medical or 

5 psychiatric condition; and 

6 (B) administered as prescribed by the li7 censed physician. 

8 (2) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The term 

9 ‘‘educational service agency’’ has the meaning given 

10 such term in section 9101(17) of the Elementary and 

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 7801(17)). 

13 (3) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen14 tary school’’ has the meaning given the term in sec15 tion 9101(18) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(18)). 

17 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

18 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given the 

19 term in section 9101(26) of the Elementary and Sec20 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(26)). 

21 (5) MECHANICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘me22 chanical restraint’’ has the meaning given the term in 

23 section 595(d)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(1)), except that the meaning shall be 

25 applied by substituting ‘‘student’s’’ for ‘‘resident’s’’. 


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1 (6) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 9101(31) of the Elemen3 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 7801(31)). 

5 (7) PHYSICAL ESCORT.—The term ‘‘physical es6 cort’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

7 595(d)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 290jj(d)(2)), except that the meaning shall be applied 

9 by substituting ‘‘student’’ for ‘‘resident’’. 

10 (8) PHYSICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘physical 

11 restraint’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 595(d)(3) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 290jj(d)(3)). 

14 (9) POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS.—The term 

15 ‘‘positive behavior supports’’ means a systematic ap16 proach to embed evidence-based practices and data17 driven decisionmaking to improve school climate and 

18 culture, including a range of systemic and individ19 ualized strategies to reinforce desired behaviors and 

20 diminish reoccurrence of problem behaviors, in order 

21 to achieve improved academic and social outcomes 

22 and increase learning for all students, including those 

23 with the most complex and intensive behavioral needs. 

24 (10) PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM.—The 

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1 tection and advocacy system established under section 

2 143 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and 

3 Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15043). 

4 (11) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means an en5 tity— 

6 (A) that— 

7 (i) is a public or private— 

8 (I) day or residential elementary 

9 school or secondary school; or 

10 (II) early childhood, elementary 

11 school, or secondary school program 

12 that is under the jurisdiction of a 

13 school, educational service agency, or 

14 other educational institution or pro15 gram; and 

16 (ii) receives, or serves students who re17 ceive, support in any form from any pro18 gram supported, in whole or in part, with 

19 funds appropriated to the Department of 

20 Education; or 

21 (B) that is a school funded or operated by 

22 the Department of the Interior. 

23 (12) SCHOOL PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘school 

24 personnel’’ has the meaning— 


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1 (A) given the term in section 4151(10) of 

2 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7161(10)); and 

4 (B) given the term ‘‘school resource officer’’ 

5 in section 4151(11) of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7161(11)). 

8 (13) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘secondary 

9 school’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

10 9101(38) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(38)). 

12 (14) SECLUSION.—The term ‘‘seclusion’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 595(d)(4) of the 

14 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(4)). 

15 (15) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of Education. 

17 (16) STATE-APPROVED CRISIS INTERVENTION

18 TRAINING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘State-approved cri19 sis intervention training program’’ means a training 

20 program approved by a State and the Secretary that, 

21 at a minimum, provides— 

22 (A) evidence-based techniques shown to be 

23 effective in the prevention of physical restraint 

24 and seclusion; 


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1 (B) evidence-based techniques shown to be 

2 effective in keeping both school personnel and 

3 students safe when imposing physical restraint 

4 or seclusion; 

5 (C) evidence-based skills training related to 

6 positive behavior supports, safe physical escort, 

7 conflict prevention, understanding antecedents, 

8 de-escalation, and conflict management; 

9 (D) first aid and cardiopulmonary resus10 citation; 

11 (E) information describing State policies 

12 and procedures that meet the minimum stand13 ards established by regulations promulgated pur14 suant to section 5(a); and 

15 (F) certification for school personnel in the 

16 techniques and skills described in subparagraphs 

17 (A) through (D), which shall be required to be re18 newed on a periodic basis. 

19 (17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning 

20 given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

21 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

22 (18) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

23 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given the 

24 term in section 9101(41) of the Elementary and Sec25 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(41)). 


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1 (19) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means a 

2 student enrolled in a school defined in section 11, ex3 cept that in the case of a private school or private 

4 program, such term means a student enrolled in such 

5 school or program who receives support in any form 

6 from any program supported, in whole or in part, 

7 with funds appropriated to the Department of Edu8 cation. 

9 (20) TIME OUT.—The term ‘‘time out’’ has the 

10 meaning given the term in section 595(d)(5) of the 

11 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(5)), ex12 cept that the meaning shall be applied by substituting 

13 ‘‘student’’ for ‘‘resident’’. 

14 SEC. 5. MINIMUM STANDARDS; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 (a) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, in order to pro17 tect each student from physical or mental abuse, aversive 

18 behavioral interventions that compromise student health 

19 and safety, or any physical restraint or seclusion imposed 

20 solely for purposes of discipline or convenience or in a man21 ner otherwise inconsistent with this Act, the Secretary shall 

22 promulgate regulations establishing the following minimum 

23 standards: 

24 (1) School personnel shall be prohibited from im25 posing on any student the following: 


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1 (A) Mechanical restraints. 

2 (B) Chemical restraints. 

3 (C) Physical restraint or physical escort 

4 that restricts breathing. 

5 (D) Aversive behavioral interventions that 

6 compromise health and safety. 

7 (2) School personnel shall be prohibited from im8 posing physical restraint or seclusion on a student 

9 unless— 

10 (A) the student’s behavior poses an immi11 nent danger of physical injury to the student, 

12 school personnel, or others; 

13 (B) less restrictive interventions would be 

14 ineffective in stopping such imminent danger of 

15 physical injury; 

16 (C) such physical restraint or seclusion is 

17 imposed by school personnel who— 

18 (i) continuously monitor the student 

19 face-to-face; or 

20 (ii) if school personnel safety is signifi21 cantly compromised by such face-to-face 

22 monitoring, are in continuous direct visual 

23 contact with the student; 

24 (D) such physical restraint or seclusion is 

25 imposed by— 


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1 (i) school personnel trained and cer2 tified by a State-approved crisis interven3 tion training program (as defined in sec4 tion 4(16)); or 

5 (ii) other school personnel in the case 

6 of a rare and clearly unavoidable emergency 

7 circumstance when school personnel trained 

8 and certified as described in clause (i) are 

9 not immediately available due to the unfore10 seeable nature of the emergency cir11 cumstance; and 

12 (E) such physical restraint or seclusion end 

13 immediately upon the cessation of the conditions 

14 described in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

15 (3) States and local educational agencies shall 

16 ensure that a sufficient number of personnel are 

17 trained and certified by a State-approved crisis inter18 vention training program (as defined in section 

19 4(16)) to meet the needs of the specific student popu20 lation in each school. 

21 (4) The use of physical restraint or seclusion as 

22 a planned intervention shall not be written into a 

23 student’s education plan, individual safety plan, be24 havioral plan, or individualized education program 

25 (as defined in section 602 of the Individuals with 


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1 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401)). Local 

2 educational agencies or schools may establish policies 

3 and procedures for use of physical restraint or seclu4 sion in school safety or crisis plans, provided that 

5 such school plans are not specific to any individual 

6 student. 

7 (5) Schools shall establish procedures to be fol8 lowed after each incident involving the imposition of 

9 physical restraint or seclusion upon a student, includ10 ing— 

11 (A) procedures to provide to the parent of 

12 the student, with respect to each such incident— 

13 (i) an immediate verbal or electronic 

14 communication on the same day as each 

15 such incident; and 

16 (ii) within 24 hours of each such inci17 dent, written notification; and 

18 (B) any other procedures the Secretary de19 termines appropriate. 

20 (b) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—The Secretary of 

21 the Interior shall ensure that schools operated or funded by 

22 the Department of the Interior comply with the regulations 

23 promulgated by the Secretary under subsection (a). 


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1 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

2 shall be construed to authorize the Secretary to promulgate 

3 regulations prohibiting the use of— 

4 (1) time out (as defined in section 4(20)); or 

5 (2) devices implemented by trained school per6 sonnel, or utilized by a student, for the specific and 

7 approved therapeutic or safety purposes for which 

8 such devices were designed and, if applicable, pre9 scribed, including— 

10 (A) restraints for medical immobilization; 

11 (B) adaptive devices or mechanical supports 

12 used to achieve proper body position, balance, or 

13 alignment to allow greater freedom of mobility 

14 than would be possible without the use of such 

15 devices or mechanical supports; or 

16 (C) vehicle safety restraints when used as 

17 intended during the transport of a student in a 

18 moving vehicle; or 

19 (3) handcuffs by school resource officers (as such 

20 term is defined in section 4151(11) of the Elementary 

21 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

22 7161(11)))— 

23 (A) in the— 

24 (i) case when a student’s behavior 

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1 jury to the student, school personnel, or oth2 ers; or 

3 (ii) lawful exercise of law enforcement 

4 duties; and 

5 (B) less restrictive interventions would be 

6 ineffective. 

7 SEC. 6. STATE PLAN AND REPORT REQUIREMENTS AND EN8 FORCEMENT. 

9 (a) STATE PLAN.—Not later than 2 years after the 

10 Secretary promulgates regulations pursuant to section 5(a), 

11 and each year thereafter, each State educational agency 

12 shall submit to the Secretary a State plan that provides— 

13 (1) assurances to the Secretary that the State has 

14 in effect— 

15 (A) State policies and procedures that meet 

16 the minimum standards, including the standards 

17 with respect to State-approved crisis intervention 

18 training programs, established by regulations 

19 promulgated pursuant to section 5(a); and 

20 (B) a State mechanism to effectively mon21 itor and enforce the minimum standards; 

22 (2) a description of the State policies and proce23 dures, including a description of the State-approved 

24 crisis intervention training programs in such State; 

25 and 


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1 (3) a description of the State plans to ensure 

2 school personnel and parents, including private school 

3 personnel and parents, are aware of the State policies 

4 and procedures. 

5 (b) REPORTING.— 

6 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 

7 2 years after the date the Secretary promulgates regu8 lations pursuant to section 5(a), and each year there9 after, each State educational agency shall (in compli10 ance with the requirements of section 444 of the Gen11 eral Education Provisions Act (commonly known as 

12 the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 

13 1974’’) (20 U.S.C. 1232g)) prepare and submit to the 

14 Secretary, and make available to the public, a report 

15 with respect to each local educational agency, and 

16 each school not under the jurisdiction of a local edu17 cational agency, located in the same State as such 

18 State educational agency that includes the informa19 tion described in paragraph (2). 

20 (2) INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (A) GENERAL INFORMATION REQUIRE22 MENTS.—The report described in paragraph (1) 

23 shall include information on— 

24 (i) the total number of incidents in the 

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1 ical restraint was imposed upon a student; 

2 and 

3 (ii) the total number of incidents in 

4 the preceding full-academic year in which 

5 seclusion was imposed upon a student. 

6 (B) DISAGGREGATION.— 

7 (i) GENERAL DISAGGREGATION RE8 QUIREMENTS.—The information described 

9 in subparagraph (A) shall be disaggregated 

10 by— 

11 (I) the total number of incidents 

12 in which physical restraint or seclu13 sion was imposed upon a student— 

14 (aa) that resulted in injury; 

15 (bb) that resulted in death; 

16 and 

17 (cc) in which the school per18 sonnel imposing physical re19 straint or seclusion were not 

20 trained and certified as described 

21 in section 5(a)(2)(D)(i); and 

22 (II) the demographic characteris23 tics of all students upon whom phys24 ical restraint or seclusion was imposed, 

25 including— 


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1 (aa) the categories identified 

2 in section 1111(h)(1)(C)(i) of the 

3 Elementary and Secondary Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 6311(h)(1)(C)(i)); 

6 (bb) age; and 

7 (cc) disability status (which 

8 has the meaning given the term 

9 ‘‘individual with a disability’’ in 

10 section 7(20) of the Rehabilitation 

11 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705(20))). 

12 (ii) UNDUPLICATED COUNT; EXCEP13 TION.—The disaggregation required under 

14 clause (i) shall— 

15 (I) be carried out in a manner to 

16 ensure an unduplicated count of the— 

17 (aa) total number of inci18 dents in the preceding full-aca19 demic year in which physical re20 straint was imposed upon a stu21 dent; and 

22 (bb) total number of inci23 dents in the preceding full-aca24 demic year in which seclusion was 

25 imposed upon a student; and 


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1 (II) not be required in a case in 

2 which the number of students in a cat3 egory would reveal personally identifi4 able information about an individual 

5 student. 

6 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

8 (A) USE OF REMEDIES.—If a State edu9 cational agency fails to comply with subsection 

10 (a) or (b), the Secretary shall— 

11 (i) withhold, in whole or in part, fur12 ther payments under an applicable program 

13 (as such term is defined in section 400(c) of 

14 the General Education Provisions Act (20 

15 U.S.C. 1221)) in accordance with section 

16 455 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1234d); 

17 (ii) require a State educational agency 

18 to submit, and implement, within 1 year of 

19 such failure to comply, a corrective plan of 

20 action, which may include redirection of 

21 funds received under an applicable pro22 gram; or 

23 (iii) issue a complaint to compel com24 pliance of the State educational agency 

25 through a cease and desist order, in the 


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1 same manner the Secretary is authorized to 

2 take such action under section 456 of the 

3 General Education Provisions Act (20 

4 U.S.C. 1234e). 

5 (B) CESSATION OF WITHHOLDING OF

6 FUNDS.—Whenever the Secretary determines 

7 (whether by certification or other appropriate 

8 evidence) that a State educational agency who is 

9 subject to the withholding of payments under 

10 subparagraph (A)(i) has cured the failure pro11 viding the basis for the withholding of payments, 

12 the Secretary shall cease the withholding of pay13 ments with respect to the State educational agen14 cy under such subparagraph. 

15 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

16 subsection shall be construed to limit the Secretary’s 

17 authority under the General Education Provisions 

18 Act (20 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.). 

19 SEC. 7. GRANT AUTHORITY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appropriated 

21 under section 12, the Secretary may award grants to State 

22 educational agencies to assist the agencies in— 

23 (1) establishing, implementing, and enforcing the 

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1 ards established by regulations promulgated by the 

2 Secretary pursuant to section 5(a); 

3 (2) improving State and local capacity to collect 

4 and analyze data related to physical restraint and se5 clusion; and 

6 (3) improving school climate and culture by im7 plementing school-wide positive behavior support ap8 proaches. 

9 (b) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this section 

10 shall be awarded to a State educational agency for a 3- 

11 year period. 

12 (c) APPLICATION.—Each State educational agency de13 siring a grant under this section shall submit an applica14 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

15 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may re16 quire, including information on how the State educational 

17 agency will target resources to schools and local educational 

18 agencies in need of assistance related to preventing and re19 ducing physical restraint and seclusion. 

20 (d) AUTHORITY TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 

22 receiving a grant under this section may use such 

23 grant funds to award subgrants, on a competitive 

24 basis, to local educational agencies. 


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1 (2) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency 

2 desiring to receive a subgrant under this section shall 

3 submit an application to the applicable State edu4 cational agency at such time, in such manner, and 

5 containing such information as the State educational 

6 agency may require. 

7 (e) PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency re9 ceiving subgrant funds under this section shall, after 

10 timely and meaningful consultation with appropriate 

11 private school officials, ensure that private school per12 sonnel can participate, on an equitable basis, in ac13 tivities supported by grant or subgrant funds. 

14 (2) PUBLIC CONTROL OF FUNDS.—The control of 

15 funds provided under this section, and title to mate16 rials, equipment, and property purchased with such 

17 funds, shall be in a public agency, and a public agen18 cy shall administer such funds, materials, equipment, 

19 and property. 

20 (f) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State educational agen21 cy receiving a grant, or a local educational agency receiving 

22 a subgrant, under this section shall use such grant or 

23 subgrant funds to carry out the following: 

24 (1) Researching, developing, implementing, and 

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1 vent and reduce physical restraint and seclusion in 

2 schools, consistent with the minimum standards es3 tablished by regulations promulgated by the Secretary 

4 pursuant to section 5(a). 

5 (2) Providing professional development, training, 

6 and certification for school personnel to meet such 

7 standards. 

8 (3) Carrying out the reporting requirements 

9 under section 6(b) and analyzing the information in10 cluded in a report prepared under such section to 

11 identify student, school personnel, and school needs 

12 related to use of physical restraint and seclusion. 

13 (g) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In addi14 tion to the required activities described in subsection (f), 

15 a State educational agency receiving a grant, or a local 

16 educational agency receiving a subgrant, under this section 

17 may use such grant or subgrant funds for one or more of 

18 the following: 

19 (1) Developing and implementing high-quality 

20 professional development and training programs to 

21 implement evidence-based systematic approaches to 

22 school-wide positive behavior supports, including im23 proving coaching, facilitation, and training capacity 

24 for administrators, teachers, specialized instructional 

25 support personnel, and other staff. 


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1 (2) Providing technical assistance to develop and 

2 implement evidence-based systematic approaches to 

3 school-wide positive behavior supports, including tech4 nical assistance for data-driven decision-making re5 lated to behavioral supports and interventions in the 

6 classroom. 

7 (3) Researching, evaluating, and disseminating 

8 high-quality evidence-based programs and activities 

9 that implement school-wide positive behavior supports 

10 with fidelity. 

11 (4) Supporting other local positive behavior sup12 port implementation activities consistent with this 

13 subsection. 

14 (h) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Each State edu15 cational agency receiving a grant under this section shall, 

16 at the end of the 3-year grant period for such grant— 

17 (1) evaluate the State’s progress toward the pre18 vention and reduction of physical restraint and seclu19 sion in the schools located in the State, consistent 

20 with the minimum standards established by regula21 tions promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to sec22 tion 5(a); and 

23 (2) submit to the Secretary a report on such 

24 progress. 


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1 (i) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.—From the 

2 amount appropriated under section 12, the Secretary may 

3 allocate funds to the Secretary of the Interior for activities 

4 under this section with respect to schools operated or funded 

5 by the Department of the Interior, under such terms as the 

6 Secretary of Education may prescribe. 

7 SEC. 8. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT. 

8 (a) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall 

9 carry out a national assessment to determine the effective10 ness of this Act, which shall include— 

11 (1) analyzing data related to physical restraint 

12 and seclusion incidents; 

13 (2) analyzing the effectiveness of Federal, State, 

14 and local efforts to prevent and reduce the number of 

15 physical restraint and seclusion incidents in schools; 

16 (3) identifying the types of programs and serv17 ices that have demonstrated the greatest effectiveness 

18 in preventing and reducing the number of physical 

19 restraint and seclusion incidents in schools; and 

20 (4) identifying evidence-based personnel training 

21 models with demonstrated success in preventing and 

22 reducing the number of physical restraint and seclu23 sion incidents in schools, including models that em24 phasize positive behavior supports and de-escalation 

25 techniques over physical intervention. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the Com2 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of Representa3 tives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

4 Pensions of the Senate— 

5 (1) an interim report that summarizes the pre6 liminary findings of the assessment described in sub7 section (a) not later than 3 years after the date of en8 actment of this Act; and 

9 (2) a final report of the findings of the assess10 ment not later than 5 years after the date of the en11 actment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 9. PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS. 

13 Protection and Advocacy Systems shall have the au14 thority provided under section 143 of the Developmental 

15 Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 

16 U.S.C. 15043) to investigate, monitor, and enforce protec17 tions provided for students under this Act. 

18 SEC. 10. HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

19 (a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 

21 promulgate regulations with respect to Head Start agencies 

22 administering Head Start programs under the Head Start 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.) that establish requirements con24 sistent with— 


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1 (1) the requirements established by regulations 

2 promulgated pursuant to section 5(a); and 

3 (2) the reporting and enforcement requirements 

4 described in subsections (b) and (c) of section 6. 

5 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—From the amount appro6 priated under section 12, the Secretary may allocate funds 

7 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assist 

8 the Head Start agencies in establishing, implementing, and 

9 enforcing policies and procedures to meet the requirements 

10 established by regulations promulgated pursuant to sub11 section (a). 

12 SEC. 11. LIMITATION OF AUTHORITY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con14 strued to restrict or limit, or allow the Secretary to restrict 

15 or limit, any other rights or remedies otherwise available 

16 to students or parents under Federal or State law or regula17 tion. 

18 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 

19 (1) PRIVATE SCHOOLS.—Nothing in this Act 

20 shall be construed to affect any private school that 

21 does not receive, or does not serve students who re22 ceive, support in any form from any program sup23 ported, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated 

24 to the Department of Education. 


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1 (2) HOME SCHOOLS.—Nothing in this Act shall 

2 be construed to— 

3 (A) affect a home school, whether or not a 

4 home school is treated as a private school or 

5 home school under State law; or 

6 (B) consider parents who are schooling a 

7 child at home as school personnel. 

8 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

10 may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal year 2011 

11 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 


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Union Calendar No. 243 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4247 

[Report No. 111–417] 

A BILL 

To prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint 

and seclusion in schools, and for other purposes. 

FEBRUARY 23, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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