Information about Restraint and Seclusion Data

Background

Assembly Bill (AB) 2657 (Statutes of 2018, Chapter 998) became effective on January 1, 2019. This bill added sections 49005–49006.4 to California’s Education Code (EC) regarding the use of restraint and seclusion with students receiving both general education and special education. AB 2657 requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to collect and report the data outlined in statute. This new CDE data collection is based, in part, on a similar data collection conducted by U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in which schools are required to report aggregate data to the OCR about the use of restraint and seclusion through the biannual Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The data collection authorized by AB 2657 differs from the federal CRDC in that it is an annual collection of information about the use of restraint and seclusion in both traditional and non-public schools (NPS) settings. While the law did not specify the exact collection methodology, the CDE decided to collect these data at the student-level through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).

Data Collection

The CDE collected restraint and seclusion data for the first time from local educational agencies (LEAs) as part of the 2019–20 CALPADS End-of-Year (EOY) 3 annual data submission. In preparation for this data collection, the CDE directed LEAs to start collecting these data locally beginning in fall 2019 for submission to CALPADS from May to September 2020. To accommodate the collection of these data, the CALPADS student discipline data files were modified to include the collection of the following behavioral restraint and seclusion data, which are defined in EC section 49005.1:

• Mechanical Restraint: Use of a device or equipment to restrict a pupil’s freedom of movement (with exceptions).
  
  
• Physical Restraint: A personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a pupil to move his or her torso, arms, legs, or head freely (with exceptions).
  
  
• Seclusion: The involuntary confinement of a pupil alone in a room or area from which the pupil is physically prevented from leaving.

It must be noted that mechanical and physical restraint excludes the use of devices or force by peace officers or security personnel for detention or for public safety purposes, including school safety officers California EC section 49005.1 (d) (2) and (f) (2).

The CDE provided extensive technical assistance to LEAs regarding this new data collection and the submission of these data, including notices to the field, meetings with stakeholders, and numerous data collection trainings and webinars. During the CALPADS EOY 3 data submission window, LEAs were required to submit the required data to CALPADS within this window. To certify the accuracy of the data, LEAs were the required to review and approve the information displayed in the following CALPADS reports:

• CALPADS Certification Report 7.10 - Incident - Count
  
  
• CALPADS Certification Report 7.11 - Incident Results - Count

Data Reporting

Pursuant to the data reporting requirements outlined in California EC section 49006(d), the CDE is required to annually post the following restraint and seclusion data on the CDE website no later than three months after they are reported to the CDE:

• Count of Mechanical Restraints: The number of times that students were mechanically restrained.
  
  
• Unduplicated Count of Students Mechanically Restrained: The unduplicated number of students who were mechanically restrained.
  
  
• Count of Physical Restraints: The number of times that students were physically restrained.
  
  
• Unduplicated Count of Students Physically Restrained: The unduplicated number of students who were physically restrained.
  
  
• Count of Seclusions: The number of times that students were secluded.
  
  
• Unduplicated Count of Students Secluded: The unduplicated number of students who were secluded.

Restraint and seclusion data are required to be reported at the LEA-level (i.e., county offices of education (COE), districts, and charter schools). While not required by law, the CDE is  reporting these data separately for students attending NPS schools. All non-charter school and non-NPS school data are aggregated to the authorized COE or district.

Restraint and seclusion data are required to be disaggregated by race/ethnicity and gender.

Restraint and seclusion data are required to be disaggregated with separate counts for pupils with a plan pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794), pupils with an individualized education program, and pupils who do not have a plan pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794) or an individualized education program. While not required by law, the CDE is also reporting these data separately for students who are English learners, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and for migrant, foster, and homeless students.