NDRN Federal Policy Update on Restraint and Seclusion
February 2022
Water poured on a 7-year-old child, a middle schooler locked in seclusion until 5:30 PM, a student with ADHD and a hearing impairment tased repeatedly. This NDRN white paper references these and other incidents P&As have investigated and makes recommendations for policy change to protect students from inhumane practices used as behavioral interventions.
Out from the Shadows: Informal Removal of Children with Disabilities from Public Schools
January 2022
Schools across the country remove students with disabilities from the classroom using illegal practices known as “informal removals. These off the books dismissals are described in detail in this new report released by the National Disability Rights Network.
Count Everyone, Include Everyone: The Need for Disability Inclusion and Representation in Federal Data
October 2021
People with disabilities are in every community, and it is long overdue that federal data collection and calculations do not overlook or forget the disability community. This report highlights the importance of accurate data, the availability of data on the disability community today, the limitations that exist and what needs to be improved in federal data collection moving forward. Both federal agencies and the disability community need to further engage and collaborate on the best practices on how to be fully inclusive of the disability community in the future to achieve real change.
Desperation without Dignity: Conditions of Children Placed in For Profit Residential Facilities
October 2021
This report provides a comprehensive review of investigations by the nation’s Protection and Advocacy agencies and others in 18 states. It examines the history of the for-profit residential treatment industry, the private funding structure that fuels it, and discusses alternatives to residential placement that are both nurturing and provide the treatment that children and youth need.
Blocking the Ballot Box: Ending Misuse of the ADA to Close Polling Places
January 2020
This report shows many of America’s polling places remain inaccessible to people with disabilities and examines an alarming new trend in which jurisdictions are misusing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to close polling places, a practice that NDRN vehemently opposes.
Probation Referral: A Model for Diversion of Children and Youth with Disabilities from the Juvenile Justice System
October 2019
The report describes strategies to prevent mis-incarceration of children with disabilities who end up in the correctional system, after they are failed by other systems.
The Writing on the Wall: Nearing the End of Sheltered and Segregated Employment
February 2016
After many decades in which businesses were lawfully permitted to pay people with disabilities well below the minimum wage, often in segregated workshops, the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) network and its allies are beginning to unravel the structural underpinning of this misguided policy.
The Americans with Disabilities Act at 25: Cause for Celebration and Renewed Resolve
July 2015
In this report, we review the progress our nation has made since the historic enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 and call attention to disturbing national trends that threaten to distort and weaken the promise of full community integration.
Orphanages, Training Schools, Reform Schools and Now This? Recommendations to Prevent the Disproportionate Placement and Inadequate Treatment of Children with Disabilities in the Juvenile Justice System
June 2015
The report describes the problems children and youth with disabilities encounter, solutions used with success by the P&As, and provides specific recommendations for systemic improvements.
All Aboard (Except People with Disabilities): Amtrak’s 23 Years of ADA Compliance Failure
October 2013
Equal access to public transportation is one of the cornerstones of the American with Disabilities Act. Despite being given ample opportunities and extensions, The National Passenger Railroad Corporation, also known as Amtrak, failed to make itself inclusive of this broad segment of the population.
Devaluing People with Disabilities: Medical Procedures that Violate Civil Rights
May 2012
This report puts individuals with disabilities at the center of this discourse. It reviews the facts of Ashley X, as a case study for a larger discussion and presents a continuum of common experiences and treatment of individuals with disabilities within a context of medical decision making.
School Is Not Supposed to Hurt: The U.S. Department of Education Must Do More to Protect School Children from Restraint and Seclusion
March 2012
NDRN’s report School is Not Supposed to Hurt: The U.S. Department of Education Must Do More to Protect School Children from Restraint and Seclusion makes recommendations to the Department of Education to reduce and prevent the use of restraint and seclusion on school children.
Keeping the Promise: True Community Integration and the Need for Monitoring and Advocacy
November 2011
The report summarizes two projects that monitored people with disabilities, many of whom were moving out of large institutions into homes in the community.
Segregated and Exploited: A Call to Action! The Failure of the Disability Service System to Provide Quality Work
January 2011
NDRN found a total failure of the disability service system to provide quality work for people with disabilities. The report blast segregated work, sheltered environments and low wages for people with disabilities and highlight a massive breakdown between good federal and state policies and their implementation and oversight.
School is Not Supposed to Hurt: Update on Progress in 2009 to Prevent and Reduce Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
January 2010
School Is Not Supposed to Hurt: Update on Progress in 2009 to Prevent and Reduce Restraint and Seclusion in Schools is a culmination of a year of intense advocacy work, family support, and initial action of lawmakers to regulate restraint and seclusion in schools.
School is Not Supposed to Hurt: Investigative Report on Abusive Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
January 2009
This report examines the abusive use of restraint and seclusion in our nation’s schools. It outlines the problems associated with the use of restraint or seclusion and details the proven risks to children associated with the use of these aversive techniques. The report goes on to propose solutions to the use of restraint or seclusion by highlighting the best practices in education and the use of positive behavioral supports.
