Friday, May 29, 2009
GAO Releases Report on Restraint & Seclusion of Children
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report containing the details of 10 restraint and seclusion cases in schools & treatment centers, including many involving children with disabilities. The report is at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09719t.pdf
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Dear Disability Community Members,
The House Committee on Education and Labor is collecting stories about restraint, seclusion, and other forms of abusive interventions in schools. Many of you submitted these stories to COPAA and we provided them to the Committee. The stories are very important because they show the extent of schoolhouse abuse in America and that this is a problem that affects us all....everywhere. We encourage you to submit your stories to the House Committee on Education and Labor at
seclusion-restraint-hearing@mail.house.gov
Please be sure to include your complete contact information, or at least your email address and city, state, and zip code. They will use them as they work in support of legislation to remedy the abuse of children in school. Every child’s dignity and human rights must be protected.
We would also ask that you forward a copy to us at COPAA or CC us, jessica@copaa.org
COPAA continues to need your stories for our grassroots advocacy and advocacy in Congress, including in the Senate. Stories can have a huge impact in this way. Any bill must pass both House and Senate and we need to be able to share your stories in the Senate. (As always, COPAA will NOT share your personal identifying information, such as your name, email, address, etc. without your permission first. You can see our report, http://www.copaa.org/news/unsafe.html to see the kinds of summaries we create) COPAA does have a separate reporting form that you can use,
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=kbizom_2bCU27wrYCCRv7R7w_3d_3d
but its okay to just send a copy of the email that you send to the House Committee to jessica@copaa.org .
If you already reported your story to COPAA or to the GAO, we ask you to also email the House Committee and thank them for their work and bringing attention to this important issue. You may wish to summarize your story again.
Please distribute this email broadly and share it with any lists, clients, colleagues, and anyone you wish.
Thank you very much,
Jessica Butler
Government Relations Co-Chair (for Congressional Affairs)
Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc.
a national voice for special education rights and advocacy
www.copaa.org
email: jessica@copaa.org
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