End Seclusion and Restraint - New Jersey
Seclusion and Restraint Articles
2022-2023 SSDS New Jersey Annual Report (Entire State)
Montclair Local article by Matt Kadosh
Feds New Guidance on Seclusion and Restraint Should be ‘Wake-Up Call’ for Montclair, Group Says
January 2025
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Federal guidance signals stronger scrutiny of restraint and seclusion
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Advocacy groups says the district is not aligned with federal expectations
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Advocates call for policy reform, transparency, and elimination of seclusion
Montclair, NJ — In one civil rights case from March 2024, parents claim staff dragged their child through a hallway, then locked the student in a seclusion room at the Montclair Achievement Program (MAP) at Charles H. Bullock School, according to a letter to the district from an education advocate.
Saying that it can have a “lasting and negative” impacts on children, the federal Department of Education has advised school districts against the seclusion and restraint of students.
Seclusion, the practice of confining a student to a room, is a practice the Montclair Public Schools have grappled with as is physical restraint. And a national advocacy group on Tuesday said the new guidance should be a “wake-up call” to the district.
From Montclair Local
NorthJersey.com Article by Gene Myers
Discipline in schools infringes on NJ disability rights, says mom. Why it still happens
September 2024
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A New Jersey mother says school discipline practices harmed her son with disabilities
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Highlighting ongoing problems with how NJ schools discipline students with disabilities
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Advocates say current practices may violate state and federal disability laws
Kelly Graziano has become an outspoken critic of Bloomingdale schools' use of restraint and seclusion on kids. "What's going on isn't right." Her first-grader was surrounded by three school employees and restrained for more than 20 minutes behind rubber mats.
Kelly Graziano's son was 7 when he suffered what he still calls the worst day of his young life.
The trouble started on May 4 last year when the first grader, who has a learning disability and struggles with anxiety, began arguing with his teacher at Martha B. Day School in Bloomingdale over which side of a paper to color.
From Northjersey.com
Kevin R. Wexler/Northjersey.com
Series by Jennifer Abbanat
An Avoidable Crisis
The Focus on Compliance (Part 1)
We hear from so many parents, caregivers, and teachers how “out of control” so many kids they work with are. They describe them as rude, disrespectful, disruptive, always touching things, and one of my favorites, can’t sit still. But what makes “these kids” so terrible?
The Unlucky Ones (Part 2)
Dr. Ross Greene refers to kids with “lucky behaviors” and those with” unlucky behaviors.” Kids with lucky behaviors are often more capable of “using words” to describe their feelings. These kids often pout, cry, whine, withdraw, and these lucky behaviors usually get them empathy from the caregiver. This is why they are thought of as “lucky behaviors.”
The Keeping All Students Safe Act (Part 3)
The research and evidence are clear. We know better, so we must pass laws that will keep all students safe by banning these harmful practices with zero therapeutic value and are clearly dangerous. They should not even be an option that adults can use against other individuals.
From Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
From Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
From Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
Alliance Against Seclusion and Restriant Article by Alyssa Lidman
The Reality of Isolation Rooms in New Jersey’s Public Schools, and Efforts to Ban the Practice
January 2025
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New Jersey public schools have used isolation rooms—sometimes small, padded, locked, or windowless spaces—on children.
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There is an active movement in New Jersey to ban seclusion and isolation rooms entirely.
In the state of New Jersey, the issue of seclusion and restraint, specifically the topic of quiet rooms, are the subject of recent media attention. Isolation rooms, otherwise known as quiet rooms, are padded rooms where children are placed for disruptive behavior. Isolation rooms are known to have traumatic effects on students, and they are legal for students of grades K-12.
From Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
