Physical Intervention, Restraints and Seclusion

During the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions, two bills were signed into law impacting mandatory school policies and practices around physical intervention, restraints and seclusion of students. In 2023 House Bill 23-1191 was passed, explicitly prohibiting corporal punishment in public schools. Additionally, in 2022, House Bill 22-1376 was passed, establishing new and modifying existing requirements regarding restraints and seclusion in public schools. In May 2023, the State Board approved revisions to 1 CCR 301-45 to conform to changes made by House Bill 22-1376. The changes became effective on June 30, 2023.

Restraints and seclusion must only be used by trained employees in an emergency and with extreme caution after the failure of less restrictive alternatives and a determination that such alternatives would be inappropriate or ineffective. The revised regulations outline procedures related to:

• The administration of restraints and seclusion;
• Staff training;
• Documentation and notification requirements; and
• The review of the use of restraints and seclusion.

CSI schools should review the new requirements and revise their policies and practices. Additionally, CSI schools should ensure that a comprehensive annual Restraint Review is established for the appropriate use of restraint. The annual review should include:

• Analyzing incident reports, including procedures used during the restraint, preventative or alternative techniques tried, documentation, and follow up;
• Considering the training needs of staff;
• Reviewing the staff to student ratios; and
• Reviewing environmental conditions, including physical space, student seating arrangements and noise levels.

Schools are required to submit an Annual Restraint Review Report to CDE. CSI will support schools in fulfilling the requirements, including:

• Submitting one document listing all CSI schools with 0 reportable restraints; and
• Submitting a customized report for schools with reportable restraints (CSI will pull data from the Discipline collection and request additional information, as needed and applicable).

Schools should contact submissions_csi@state.co.us for questions related to the revised annual restraint and seclusion data reporting requirements. Additional resources, and a sample policy are provided below.