This week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has notified the Special School District of St. Louis, Missouri (District) that the District’s seclusion and restraint practices violate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The District is now required to implement remedial measures to address the deficiencies and protect the civil rights of students with disabilities. According to DOJ’s Findings, the District discriminates against students with disabilities by “routinely subjecting them to ineffective seclusion practices that are highly susceptible to abuse and restraints without justification, rather than providing the interventions and supports they need to receive the education they are guaranteed by federal law.” As part of its Factual Findings, DOJ wrote, “the District treated seclusion and restraint not as crisis responses to be used in rare emergencies but as a routine response to student behavior.” Among the nine required remedial measures outlined by DOJ, the District must: end the use of seclusion and supine restraint; prohibit the use of restraint unless the student’s behavior poses an imminent danger of physical harm to the student or another person; implement policies and procedures for suicide and self-harm prevention; document all uses of restraint and review and monitor incidents to ensure compliance with state law and District policies; provide students with interventions and supports to address their behaviors; offer compensatory education to students subjected to seclusion and restraint; train personnel, and more. 

In response to the DOJ’s announcement, COPAA CEO Denise Marshall stated, ”I am pleased to see the remedial steps required. As we have long advocated, including as the lead advocate for the federal Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) (HR 6617/S.3448), no student should ever be subjected to the trauma of seclusion nor the harmful effects of inappropriate restraint.” COPAA urges all members to email Congress and urge support for and swift passage of KASSA.