What Will the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act Do?
H.R. 4247/ S.2860 will give schoolchildren a basic floor of minimum protections similar to the Children’s Health Act, and will safeguard students when their state laws don’t measure up to the federal minimum. Under the bill, the Department of Education would write regulations within 6 months to implement the new protections. The Regulations must be guided by preventing children from being subject to abuse. States would be required to adopt programs that meet or exceed the federal minimum, allowing states with stronger laws to keep them. They would have 2 years to provide assurances to the Department that they had done so. “Behavioral interventions for children must promote the right of all children to be treated with dignity. All children have the right to be free from physical or mental abuse,” the bill declares. Who/What the Bill Impacts. H.R.4247/S.2860 applies to all children, not just children with disabilities or IEPs. It applies to both public and private schools that receive U.
