Dive Brief:
- The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi was awarded a $350,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to monitor the disciplining of disabled and minority K-12 students in the state.
- Disabled students are almost six times as likely to be restrained at school than their non-disabled peers, according to Mississippi ACLU Executive Director Jennifer Riley-Collins, who spoke to the Clarion-Ledger.
- Mississippi is one of five states that does not have any laws or restrictions when it comes to restraint and seclusion in schools.
Dive Insight:
In recent months, many states still using restraint and seclusion have begun reconsidering the practice, which has been deemed inhumane by many. ProPublica recently pushed an investigation of the practice, writing on its website, "Spurred by a rash of injuries, deaths and bad publicity, psychiatric facilities and other institutions serving children have worked for more than a decade to reduce the practices of physically restraining children or isolating them in rooms against their will to control them. Federal law and regulation demanded it. Yet, restraining or secluding children in public schools remains perfectly legal under federal law – and in most state laws and school districts."