Call to Action: Support The Keeping All Students Safe Act (S.2020 and H.R. 1381)

The Keeping All Students Safe Act, introduced by Senator Tom Harkin, and Congressman George Miller will protect children nationwide from restraint and seclusion in schools.  A Government Accountability Office study found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death from restraint and seclusion in school.  They included a young teen who hanged himself in a seclusion room while a teacher sat outside and a 7 year old who was restrained face down and died because she could not breathe.  The majority of students in the GAO study had disabilities.

Please email your two Senators and your Conressional Representative and ask them to COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act.  Ask your friends, family members, and colleagues to send emails.  Congress needs to get emails from many, many parents, self-advocates, advocates, family, friends, and the wider community.  Every person is a voter.  Be sure you ask them to “cosponsor” the bill.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SENDING AN EMAIL: For the Senate, go to www.senate.gov and choose your state at the top. This page will give you links to your Senators’ contact forms. PLEASE EMAIL BOTH OF YOUR SENATORS.  For the House of Representatives, go to writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml Please do not call or fax unless you absolutely need to.  Letters mailed through regular mail to the U.S. Congress are delayed for anthrax screening.  So, please use EMAIL.

Here is a sample e-mail that you can use as a starting point.

Find out more about this issue:

• Keeping All Students Safe Act (S.2020)
  
• Description of the bill from Senator Harkin
• Description of the bill from Congressman Miller
  
• AUTCOM summary of the bill
• How Safe is the Schoolhouse?  A Summary and Analysis of State Restraint and Seclusion Laws and Policies
  

For more information about this alert, please contact
Jessica Butler, Congressional Affairs Coordinator, Autism National Committee, jessica@jnba.net

 

Additional Resources

GAO, Seclusions and Restraints: Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers, GAO-09-719T (May 19, 2009) http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-719T

Jessica Butler, Unsafe in the Schoolhouse, Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc: http://www.copaa.org/pdf/UnsafeCOPAAMay_27_2009.pdf

The Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion (APRAIS) website, which includes substantive research and also advice for parents/advocates: aprais.tash.org.