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Restraints & Seclusions in Schools
Chairman Miller Asks GAO to Investigate Cases
of Abuse and Neglect of Schoolchildren
January 27, 2009 2:21 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George
Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor
Committee, today asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office to
further investigate recent reports of seclusion and restraint of
children in public and private schools across the country. Miller’s
committee plans to hold a hearing on these practices in the coming
months. Earlier this month, the National Disability Rights Network
released a report detailing hundreds of cases where abusive uses of
seclusion and restraint by school staff injured or traumatized
schoolchildren, many with disabilities. The report revealed cases
where students were abusively pinned to the floor, handcuffed,
locked in closets, and subjected to other acts of violence. In some
of the cases, children died.
As Miller noted in his letter to
GAO today, a prior GAO investigation conducted at Miller’s request
uncovered thousands of similar cases of abuse at teen residential
treatment facilities across the country. GAO’s work laid the
groundwork for legislation to address these abuses, the Stop Child
Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (H.R. 6358),
which the House passed in June.
“Unfortunately, vulnerable children
and teens are being abused all too often in other contexts,” Miller
wrote. “To assist in the Committee’s ongoing efforts to help protect
our children, I specifically request that FSI investigate the use of
restraint, seclusion, and harmful aversive handling of children and
youth in private and public schools.”
For more information on the report
documenting these abuses, click here. For more information on H.R.
6358, click here.
The full text of Miller’s letter to
GAO is below.
***
January 27, 2009
Gene L. Dodaro Acting Comptroller
General U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20548
Dear Mr. Dodaro:
I write to request that the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Forensic Audits and Special
Investigations Unit (FSI) further investigate recent reports of
neglect and abuse of children in our nation’s schools.
Over the last several years, GAO
ably fulfilled my requests that it review and investigate the
alarming number of deaths and incidences of abuse of youth enrolled
in private residential treatment programs geared toward treating
troubled teens. Among other things, the investigative work
highlighted cases where staff at some programs employed unsafe
restraint techniques that lead to death in some of those cases. In
part because of these revelations, the House passed the Stop Child
Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008, H.R. 6358
(110th Congr.) on June 25, 2008.
Unfortunately, vulnerable children
and teens are being abused all too often in other contexts. Just
this month, the National Disability Rights Network released a
troubling report entitled School is Not Supposed to Hurt in which
the authors described instances of death and abuse of children and
youth in public and private schools across the United States. The
report focused on seclusion and restraint techniques and detailed
dozens of occurrences of students being abusively pinned to the
floor, handcuffed, locked in closets, and subjected to other
traumatizing acts of violence. In some of the cases, the abuse
resulted in death.
To assist in the Committee’s
ongoing efforts to help protect our children, I specifically request
that FSI investigate the use of restraint, seclusion, and harmful
aversive handling of children and youth in private and public
schools.
Sincerely,
George Miller
Chairman
cc: Senior Republican Member Howard
“Buck” McKeon
# # #
For Press Inquiries Contact: Aaron
Albright / Melissa Salmanowitz 2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 202-226-0853
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