EMERGENCY SAFETY INTERVENTION (ESI):

ANNUAL ALL-STAFF TRAINING: AUGUST 2015

RESOURCES COMPILED FROM:

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

1. Introduce the emergency safety intervention statute that became law in June 2015

2. Review minor changes and clarification to definitions

2. Discuss parent notification and meeting requirements

3. Discuss documentation

NEW EMERGENCY SAFETY INTERVENTION STATUTE

There are two titles for the statute: The Freedom from Unsafe Restraint and Seclusion Act

The Act S Sub for Sub HB 2170

Senate Substitute for Substitute House Bill 2170 You may also hear different terms referring to the various emergency

safety intervention law or regulatory requirements• Statute

• The statute refers to the bill that became law on June 4, 2015 (the Act or HB 2170)

• Regulations• The Kansas Board of Education will adopt amended regulations

regarding the use of emergency safety intervention by March 1, 2016. The emergency safety intervention regulations are still in effect and have defined the use of emergency safety intervention in schools since April 2013.

• Standards• The emergency safety intervention statute and regulations provide

a uniform standard of when emergency safety intervention may be used. School districts are required to draft district policies that conform to the uniform standard in the emergency safety intervention statute and regulations.

NEW ESI DEFINITIONS

Emergency Safety Intervention (ESI) Means the use of seclusion or physical restraint

Physical Restraint Means bodily force used to substantially limit a student’s

movement, except that consensual, solicited, or unintentional contact and contact to provide comfort, assistance or instruction shall not be deemed to be physical restraint

Seclusion Means the placement of a student in a location where all of the

following conditions are met: The student is placed in an enclosed area by school personnel The student is purposefully isolated form adults and peers The student is prevented from leaving or the student reasonably

believes that such student will be prevented from leaving the enclosed area

WHEN MAY AN ESI BE USED?

Emergency safety intervention shall only be used when the student presents a reasonable and immediate danger of physical harm to self or others with the present ability to effect such physical harm

Less restrictive alternatives, such as positive behavior interventions support, must be deemed inappropriate or ineffective under the circumstances prior to emergency safety intervention being used

The use of emergency safety intervention must stop immediately when the danger of physical harm ends

Violent action that is destructive of property may necessitate the use of emergency safety intervention

Emergency safety intervention must not be used for discipline, punishment, or the convenience of a school employee

WHEN MAY AN ESI BE USED?

A student cannot be secluded if staff know that a student has a medical condition that could put the student in mental or physical danger.

When a student is placed in seclusion, a staff member must be able to see and hear the student at all times.

All seclusion rooms that have a locking door must be designed to ensure that the lock automatically disengages when the staff member watching the student walks away or in cases of emergency such as fire or severe weather.

If a school uses a seclusion room it must be a safeplace, free of any dangerous conditions, well-ventilated, and sufficiently lighted.

NOTIFYING PARENTS OF ESI INCIDENTS

There are new requirements for notifying parents of emergency safety intervention incidents under the emergency safety intervention statute.

1st Emergency Safety Intervention Incident of the School Year Parents must be notified on the same day as the incident Documentation of an emergency safety intervention incident must be

completed and provided to the parents no later than the school day following the incident

• Parents must be provided the following information in printed form no later than the school day following the incident:• A copy of the standards of when emergency safety intervention can

be used• A flyer on parents’ rights under emergency safety intervention law• Information on the parents’ right to file a complaint through the local

dispute resolution process and the administrative review process of the state board of education (available no later than March 1, 2016)

• Information that will assist the parents in navigating the complaint process, including contact information for Families Together and the Disability Rights Center of Kansas

NOTIFYING PARENTS OF ESI INCIDENTS

Any Emergency Safety Intervention Incident AFTER the First Emergency Safety Intervention Incident of the School Year Parents must be notified on the same day as the

incident Documentation of an emergency safety intervention

incident must be completed and provided to the parent no later than the school day following the incident

The parent shall be provided a website address for the page on the school or district website where the parent can find all of the information that was given in printed form after the first incident.

PARENT MEANS…

Natural parent Adoptive parent A person acting as a parent A legal guardian An education advocate for a student with an

exceptionality A foster parent, unless the student is a child

with an exceptionality A student who has reached the age of majority

or is an emancipated minor

MEETING AFTER THIRD ESI INCIDENT

3rd Emergency Safety Intervention Incident of the School Year

Parent must be notified and receive documentation as required. Documentation of ESI incident Website address for building or district ESI resources

If a student has an IEP or 504 plan, the student’s IEP team or 504 team shall meet after the third incident, unless the IEP team or 504 plan team has agreed on a different process.

IEP or 504 team meet within 10 days of incident (follow IDEA requirements for IEP meeting)

Student must be invited The 10-day time for calling a meeting can be extended if parent or student is

unable to attend Discuss the incident and consider the need to conduct a functional behavioral

analysis, develop a behavior intervention plan (BIP) or amend either An FBA/BIP can be completed if student has had less than 3 ESI incidents

If the IEP or 504 team agrees on a process other than holding a meeting, document this decision and process carefully

Must be in writing, dated and have team member signatures If a process is not in place, the IEP team MUST meet within 10 days of the third ESI

incident

REQUIRED MEETING AFTER THIRD ESI INCIDENT

3rd incident involving a student without an IEP or 504: Meeting between student’s parent and required school employees

within 10 days of the incident (student must be invited) Discuss the incident and consider whether it would be appropriate to

refer the student for an evaluation for special education and the need for a functional behavioral analysis or a BIP

Meeting must include: parent, school administrator, student’s teacher, school employee involved in the incident, and other school employees designed appropriate for the meeting. Student must be invited.

LOCAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Emergency Safety Intervention Incident Occurs, Parent Notified

Parents receive documentation and feel

emergency safety intervention was used

appropriately.

Parents feel emergency safety intervention was used inappropriately

or did not follow the district’s emergency safety intervention policy,

the emergency safety intervention regulations, or the emergency safety

intervention statute.

Parents may choose to first speak with the building administrator to try to resolve the issue informally.

If this is effective, the building administrator should provide written documentation of the issues to the superintendent.

Parents file a written complaint with local board of education within 30 days of the emergency

safety intervention incident

Upon receiving a complaint, the local board will designate an individual to oversee an

investigation, maintaining confidentiality

The local board will mail the written findings of fact and proposed resolution to the parent and KSDE

within 30 days of receiving the complaintUpon receiving the report, parents may determine

the findings are sufficient and consider the dispute

resolved.Upon receiving the report, parents may

determine the findings are insufficient and the dispute was not resolved. If findings are not agreeable, parents may proceed to the

state administrative review process.

ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW WITH STATE BOARD

A complaint is filed through the local dispute resolution process and the findings are not

agreeable or the local board did not respond in time

Parent files a written request with the Commissioner of Education. Must be submitted within 30 days of the completion of the local dispute resolution process or within 30 days of the

initial complaint if the local board did not issue findings

The Kansas State Board of Education will appoint a Review Officer to conduct a

review.

Investigation results will be provided to the state board, local board, parents, and district administrators within 60

days of the commissioner's receipt of the request for administrative review.

The Review Officer may initiate a separate investigation that may include: A discussion with

the parent Contacting the local

board or other staff involved

An on-site investigation

If the Review Officer finds new information, he/she may send the issue back to the local board.

Request for administrative review must include:

Name and contact information of student involved in emergency safety intervention incident

Name and contact information to the extent known for all involved parties including teachers, aides, administrators, and district staff

A statement describing the basis for the review with all supporting facts and documentation

The initial complaint, any written findings of fact provided by the local board and its proposed resolution if one was issued

Type or legibly write the statement and provide a signature

REPORTING ESI INCIDENTS TO KSDE

In order to collect this information, reports to KSDE must be submitted at the student level based on the KIDS Student ID number

Reports to KSDE must now include: KIDS Student ID number

From this KSDE staff will pull: Student race/ethnicity Student age

If the student had an IEP at the time of the incident If the student had a 504 plan at the time of the incident If the student had a BIP at the time of the incident Date of incident Type of incident (seclusion or physical restraint) Duration of incident

Reports will be entered in the Kan-Dis web application

Two options to report:• An uploaded Excel spreadsheet• A form to fill out for each

incident

Reports can be entered by the building administrator or a district administrator

FORMS AND GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE

To assist in the transition to the new requirements under the emergency safety intervention statute, KSDE has developed guidance documents and templates for schools and districts to edit and use, if desired. These documents are available at www.ksdetasn.org.

Professional ESI documents for each district are available at the link below.

https://sites.google.com/a/greenbush.org/esi-resources/esi-forms-for-professional-staff-

A FOCUS ON PREVENTION

Focus on using proactive strategies to support students including positive behavior interventions and supports

De-escalation is helpful to begin to identify acting out behavior early and use proactive strategies to decrease the use of seclusion and restraint

more resources about de-escalation will be

available soon on www.ksdetasn.org

Being calm and professional Having a respectful voice tone and

appropriate volume Using non-threatening body language Being respectful of student’s personal

space Redirecting, giving choices and setting

limits

PREVENTION INCLUDES

If an ESI occurs:-Be supportive of student-Review incident with staff -Determine how it can be prevented in the future

CONCLUSION

Questions?