Seclusion & Restraint

This document is to serve as guidance for staff, administrators, volunteers, and all other personnel that
have consistent contact with students. The intent of these procedures is to provide a safe environment
for all students.

The school will assure that:

● Every student participating in the Northeast Dubois County School Corporation will be treated
with dignity and respect.
● Appropriate student behavior will be promoted and taught to promote a safe school
environment.
● The school’s use of prevention and positive behavior intervention will support conflict
de-escalation to eliminate or minimize the need for use of any seclusion or physical restraint
● Chemical and Mechanical restraint are prohibited with the exception of an authorization from a
health professional, including Occupational and Physical Therapists
● Behavior Intervention used will be consistent with students’ IEP if applicable.
● Students are free from unreasonable and unnecessary physical restraint or seclusion.
● Seclusion or/ Physical Restraint will only be used as a last resort safety procedure, employed
after another less restrictive procedure has been used without success.
● Seclusion or Restraint will only be used when there is imminent risk of injury to the student,
other students, school employees, or visitors to the school.
● Seclusion or Restraint will only be used for short periods of time or until the imminent risk of
injury has passed.
● Students will be carefully and continuously visually monitored to ensure the safety of students
and staff.
● Every incident will be documented and debriefed as outlined in this plan
● The school’s plan will be reviewed annually for purposes of improvement and revision
● This plan will be available in the office for any staff member or parent that requests to review or
obtain a copy of the plan.
● The handbook, when revised, will include location of this plan and other policies for parent
access.

Monitoring and Documentation:
All seclusion and restraint incidents will be documented in order to memorialize the events that led up
to the use of either seclusion or restraint using the form designed to indicate the following:
1. Students Name
2. Dated and time of incident
3. Duration of any seclusion or restraint
4. Description of any relevant events leading up to the incident
5. Description of the incident or student behavior that resulted in implementation of seclusion or
restraint including a description of the danger of injury which resulted in the seclusion or
restraint.
6. A description of any interventions used prior to the implementation of seclusion or restraint
7. A log of the student’s behavior during seclusion or restraint, including a description of the
restraint technique or techniques used and any other interaction between the student and staff.
8. A description of any injuries to students, staff, or others or property damage.
9. A list of the school personnel who participated in the implementation, monitoring, and
supervision of seclusion or restraint.
10. If applicable, a statement that the intervention used was consistent with the student’s most
current behavioral intervention plan or IEP.
11. Description of the debriefing of the student and / or staff involved with the incident

● The Student Service Coordinator will be assigned to provide oversight and evaluation of all
incidents of seclusion or restraint in the assigned school
● The Student Service Coordinator in collaboration with the Principal will keep the documentation
in a secure location and prepare the information for the DOE annual performance report.

Incident safety assurance and documentation:
Immediately after the student has restored emotional and behavioral control following the use of
restraint or seclusion, or both, a staff member not involved with the incident shall examine the student
to ascertain if any injury was sustained during the seclusion or restraint.

Parent / Guardian Notification:
Parents / guardians will be notified as soon as practical when an incident of seclusion or restraint has
occurred by school personnel. The school administrator or designee will attempt to call the parent if
phone access is available for the parent. The formal letter of notification will be sent within a reasonable
amount of time but within 5 school days.
The Administrator may offer a phone conference to the parents, a meeting to discuss the incident if the
parent prefers rather than a school conference if a conference has been requested or deemed necessary.
Definitions
It is imperative that the following terms are defined and understood by all staff members. These
definitions will be reviewed annually as described in the staff-training component of this plan.
Seclusion: The confinement of a student alone in a room or area from which the student physically
is prevented from leaving. The student will be carefully and visually monitored to ensure the safety of
students and staff. The term does not include a supervised time-out or scheduled break in which an
adult is continuously present in the room with the student.

Restraint:
1. Chemical: administration of a drug or medication to manage a student’s behavior or restrict a
student's freedom of movement that is not standard treatment or dosage or both for a student’s
medical or psychiatric condition.
2. Mechanical: use of a mechanical device, material or equipment attached or adjacent to the
student’s body that the student cannot remove and restricts the freedom of movement. This
does not include devices or equipment that has been authorized by a health professional
including OT/PT. This does not include a bus harness or other safety equipment that is used to
restrain a student during transport when the harness is necessary for safety purposes.
3. Physical Restraint: means physical contact between a school employee and a student in which
the student unwillingly participates and involves the use of a manual hold to restrict freedom of
all or part of the student body. This term does not include briefly holding a student without
undue force in order to calm or prevent unsafe behavior.
4. Prevention and conflict de-escalation training: Training that is provided broadly to school staff
on how to prevent, diffuse, and de-escalate potential behavioral crisis situation without physical
contact between school employee and a student.

Time out: a behavior reduction procedure in which access to reinforcement is withdrawn for a
certain period of time Timeout occurs when the ability of the student to receive normal reinforcement
in the school environment is restricted.
Imminent: means likely to happen right away, within a matter of minutes
Definitions as described: 513 IAC 1-1-1

Training
Training will occur in the following areas to the specified staff at the frequency identified. All training will
be documented and the documentation will be kept in the principal’s office. The documentation will
include:
● Name and positions of those trained
● Who provided the training,
● Date of training
● A short description of training.
1. All staff will be trained annually on the Seclusion and Restraint plan in place in the school and
where the plan is kept in the school building
2. Administration in conjunction with co-op behavior staff will assure all contracted staff receive
the training annually.
3. All staff includes, not limited to: teachers, secretaries, custodians, paraprofessionals, security
officers, bus drivers, coaches and all other support staff.
4. Volunteers and Substitutes will be given directives regarding seclusion and restraint; they will not
be allowed to seclude nor restrain a student unless directed to do so in an emergency situation.
5. All staff will be provided training on de-escalation measures on an ongoing basis at least
annually. In addition, the administration will review incidents that de-escalation may have
defused the situation for the student and provide support to the staff member as a learning
opportunity.
6. If an incident occurs the staff will review the process to determine if staff members require
additional training
7. Administrative staff will identify the critical staff that will receive specific training for the use of
safe physical restraint.
8. Administration will work collaboratively with the co-op behavior staff to develop cohesive
training and supports for designated staff in the following areas to be implemented annually by

January 2023:
a. Positive behavior supports
b. Safe use of seclusion and restraint to build understanding
c. Steps to avoid the use of seclusion and restraint
d. Debriefing practices and procedures