seclusion in schools

'We should not have kids in closets.' Indiana legislation targets systemic issues for students with disabilities

Indiana lawmakers filed legislation this session aimed at fixing systemic problems for students with disabilities, including the use and oversight of restraint and seclusion in schools.

Members of the Indiana Commission on Seclusion and Restraint discuss the findings of three state audits during a public meeting Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023 at the Indiana Indiana Government Center South.

Seclusion, restraint of Indiana students not accurately reported by schools, audit finds

In the audit for the 2020-21 school year, nine of the 21 schools included failed to provide IDOE with records of seclusion and restraint incidents.

Luvmi Webber looks at a behavior sheet she received from a school her son attended. Webber’s son was secluded 23 times and restrained five times at a school for students with disabilities in Indianapolis during the 2021-22 school year.

Indiana parents are kept in the dark as schools isolate and restrain kids thousands of times

Sarah Vaughan

Students in Indiana are secluded and restrained thousands of times each year, according to data provided by the Indiana Department of Education.

Suzi Swinehart’s son (pictured right) was forcibly isolated in a seclusion room inside his Indiana elementary school (pictured left) for hours at a time last fall. Swinehart said her son was traumatized by the experience and often returned home from school distraught.

Indiana isn’t holding schools accountable for forcibly isolating and restraining students

Sarah Vaughan

Indiana lawmakers approved legislation a decade ago that was intended to regulate and curb the use of restraint and seclusion in schools.