Utah regulation ADC R277-609 adds new requirements to the current responsibility to develop plans for student and classroom management and discipline. These new procedures must include training for staff, prohibitions on certain types of restraints, and procedures for staff when interventions occur.
 
The regulations, effective on September 3, 2015, amend a previous rule to provide protections for all Utah students regarding the use of emergency safety procedures by school personnel as stated in Standards for LEA Discipline Plans and Emergency Safety Interventions.
 
Key sections of the regulations include:
Adding requirements that school written policies include procedures for ongoing training of school personnel in crisis intervention training and emergency safety intervention professional development.
 
Adding that the plan must include “policies and procedures for the use of emergency safety interventions for all students consistent with evidence-based practices.”
 
These include a prohibition of restraint unless a student: 
 
(i) presents a danger of serious physical harm to self or others; or
 
(ii) is destroying property;
 
The bill also prohibits:
 
(b) prone, or face-down, physical restraint; supine, or face-up, physical restraint;
 
(c) physical restraint that obstructs the airway of a student, or any physical restraint that adversely affects a student's primary mode of communication;
 
(d) mechanical restraint, except those protective, stabilizing or required by law, any device used by a law enforcement officer
 
The bill also includes rules for applying physical restraint and seclusion such as:
 
  • A seclusionary time out may only be used for maintaining safety.
 
  • If a public education employee uses seclusionary time out they must maintain the student within line of sight of the public education employee.
 
  • The LEA must now create the LEA ESI committee, which will oversee and support schools in developing and implementing procedures.
 
Do you know your school’s policies and your state’s laws on restraint and seclusion?

CPI Training Can Help You Comply
Schools throughout the US use our Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® training program because it focuses on prevention, de-escalation techniques, and other alternatives to restraint. Our training helps staff identify underlying causes of student behaviors, and how staff and student behaviors affect each other. The program also emphasizes:
  • Evaluating risk of harm and signs of distress
  • Documenting incidents
  • Safer, less restrictive holding skills to be used only as a last resort
  • Debriefing strategies to help prevent incidents from recurring
 
How to Get Training
We can bring the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® training program on-site to your school, or you can attend training in one of more than 150 public locations throughout the US.
 
More Resources
Get helpful hints for crisis intervention and learn about CPI training and restraint reduction.