Disabilities Rights Center

The DRC works to end unnecessary restraint and seclusion and abuse and neglect against all people with disabilities.

The DRC is working to minimize the need for restraints in various settings, including public and private schools. If restraints are to be used at all, they must only be used in true emergency situations. Our research thus far has revealed that many public school systems in the state do not even have a written policy on restraint and seclusion. Children are unnecessarily being restrained and often, their emotional and physical well-being is placed in jeopardy due to the restraints.

We are gathering information on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools throughout the state. If your child is being restrained in school, please contact the receptionist at 228-0432 and she will direct your call to the appropriate person.

December 8, 2006, Press Release: Central Registry Abuse and Neglect Task Force Issues Final Report

March 6, 2007: Sean Magoon testified at a public hearing about his son, Sean Jr.'s services through an Area Agency. The neglect of Sean's medical needs, and the indifference of QA and complaint investigators, almost cost him his life. Read his full testimony here.

last updated: 5/2/08

The Law:

• RSA 161-F:42-57 – Elderly and Adult Services, Protective Services to Adults
• RSA 169-C: 29-39 – Child Protection Act, Reporting Law
• He-M 202, Rights Protection Procedures in the Mental Health and Area Agency systems

Resources:

• American Society of Adult Abuse Professionals and Survivors
• Child Maltreatment 2006, a report from the US DHHS Administration on Children and Families
• Adult Protection Program, NH Department of Health and Human Services
• Restraint and Seclusion: A Risk Management Guide, from the National Technical Assistance Center for State Mental Health Planning
• Restraint and Seclusion While at the Hospital: What are my Rights?
• In the Name of Treatment: A Parents Guide to Protecting your Child from the Use of Restraint, Aversive Interventions, and Seclusion, from TASH
• NH Department of education, Memo #13, Guidance on Considering the Use of Physical Restraints in New Hampshire School Settings
• Abuse and Neglect page of the National Disability Rights Network website
• A.P.R.A.I.S. The Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions, and Seclusion, dedicated to ending the use of inhumane practices in educational and residential programs for children and youth with disabilities.
• The Lethal Hazard of Prone Restraint: Positional Asphyxiation, April 2002, a paper by Protection and Advocacy, Inc. Investigations Unit, California
• The Hartford Courant Investigative Report on Deadly Restraint, 1998
• Charly D. Miller's Restraint Asphyxia Library
• New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
• Center for Disease Control, Victimization of Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury or Other Disabilities: A Fact Sheet for Professionals, 2006
• Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse
• Disabled Persons Protection Commission, Indicators of Abuse
• The Government Accounting Office (GAO) 1999 Mental Health Report: Improper Restraint or Seclusion Use Places People at Risk
• Human Services Restraint: Replace, Reduce or Relinquish? By David Ferleger, Esq.
• Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities, the American Academy of Pediatrics' policy and clinical report