Pennsylvania

Mechanical restraints, which are used to control involuntary movement or lack of muscular control of students when due to organic causes or conditions, may be employed only when specified by an IEP and as determined by a medical professional qualified to make the determination, and as agreed to by the student’s parents. Mechanical restraints shall prevent a student from injuring himself or others or promote normative body positioning and physical functioning.

The application of physical force, with or without the use of any device, for the purpose of restraining the free movement of a student’s or eligible young child’s body. The term does not include briefly holding, without force, a student or eligible young child to calm or comfort him, guiding a student or eligible young child to an appropriate activity, or holding a student’s or eligible young child’s hand to safely escort her from one area to another. The term does not include hand-over-hand assistance with feeding or task completion and techniques prescribed by a qualified medical professional for reasons of safety or for therapeutic or medical treatment, as agreed to by the student’s or eligible young child’s parents and specified in the IEP. Devices used for physical or occupational therapy, seatbelts in wheelchairs or on toilets used for balance and safety, safety harnesses in buses, and functional positioning devices are examples of mechanical restraints which are excluded from this definition, and governed by subsection (d).

Chemical restraint is not defined in the section of Pennsylvania law (22 Pa. Code § 14.133 Positive behavior support) that governs restraint use in schools.

Pennsylvania law (22 Pa. Code § 14.133 Positive behavior support) does not define “time‑out” or set specific requirements for its use in schools.

Pennsylvania law (22 Pa. Code § 14.133 Positive behavior support) does not define seclusion, but does state that aversive techniques of handling behavior are considered inappropriate and may not be used by agencies in educational programs, including locked rooms, locked boxes, or other structures or spaces from which the student cannot readily exit.

Corporal punishment is defined as physically punishing a student for an infraction of the discipline policy. Use of corporal punishment is prohibited.

Pennsylvania law does not prescribe minimum size, ceiling height, or other spatial specifications for seclusion rooms

The use of restraints is considered a measure of last resort, only to be used after other less restrictive measures, including de-escalation techniques, in accord with subsection (c)(2). Restraints to control acute or episodic aggressive or self-injurious behavior may be used only when the student is acting in a manner as to be a clear and present danger to himself, to other students or to employees, and only when less restrictive measures and techniques have proven to be or are less effective. The use of restraints to control the aggressive behavior of an individual student or eligible young child shall cause the school entity to notify the parent of the use of restraint and shall cause a meeting of the IEP team within 10 school days of the inappropriate behavior causing the use of restraints, unless the parent, after written notice, agrees in writing to waive the meeting. At this meeting, the IEP team shall consider whether the student or eligible young child needs a functional behavioral assessment, reevaluation, a new or revised positive behavior support plan, or a change of placement to address the inappropriate behavior.

Mechanical restraints, which are used to control involuntary movement or lack of muscular control of students when due to organic causes or conditions, may be employed only when specified by an IEP and as determined by a medical professional qualified to make the determination, and as agreed to by the student’s parents. Mechanical restraints shall prevent a student from injuring himself or others or promote normative body positioning and physical functioning.

There is no defined definition or criteria for the use of chemical restraints in Pennsylvania law.

Use of corporal punishment is prohibited.

No criteria are included in the state law.

The use of restraints to control the aggressive behavior of an individual student or eligible young child shall cause the school entity to notify the parent of the use of restraint and shall cause a meeting of the IEP team within 10 school days of the inappropriate behavior causing the use of restraints, unless the parent, after written notice, agrees in writing to waive the meeting. At this meeting, the IEP team shall consider whether the student or eligible young child needs a functional behavioral assessment, reevaluation, a new or revised positive behavior support plan, or a change of placement to address the inappropriate behavior.

Timeline for notifying the parent is not specified, only states that they must notify the parent of the use of restraint and shall cause a meeting of the IEP team within 10 school days of the inappropriate behavior.

Local Education Agencies (LEAs) must report every use of restraint with any school‑aged student who has an IEP, in any educational program setting (district, IU, APS, licensed private academic school, AEDY, etc.). LEAs are required to enter each restraint into PDE’s Restraint Information System Collection (RISC) online data system, and each incident must be reported within 30 days of the restraint, as required by 22 Pa. Code §§ 14.133(c)(5) and 711.46(c)(5). For each incident, LEAs must report at least the student’s grade and disability category; the program location where the restraint occurred; the type of restraint (e.g., standing, seated on the floor, supine, transport, chair, combination holds, police intervention); whether there were injuries and, if so, whether to the student, staff, or both; the duration of the restraint (time bands from under one minute to more than 30 minutes); the staff titles involved and whether each staff member was trained in an approved restraint system; and IEP‑related follow‑up (for example, whether an IEP meeting was held, waived, or reconvened with or without changes, whether an FBA, new evaluation or reevaluation, new or revised behavior support plan, or change of placement was indicated, and whether law enforcement was involved). The report reiterates that LEAs must comply with the Chapter 14/711 requirement to convene the IEP team within 10 school days of the behavior that led to the restraint, unless the parent signs a written waiver, and that this follow‑up status must be captured in RISC through a meeting date and/or waiver information. The Bureau of Special Education uses RISC data to flag cases for further investigation, including use of mechanical restraints (handcuffs), electric shock interventions (tasers), restraints lasting longer than 60 minutes, multiple injuries, patterns of frequent holds for a particular student, high restraint counts that do not decrease over time, high waiver counts without IEP meetings, serious injuries, frequent law‑enforcement involvement, and any use of restraint by untrained staff. Restraints that result in injury to the student must be reported to the parent(s) as per 22 PA Code § 10.25. Notification to parents/guardians: (a) A school entity shall immediately notify, as soon as practicable, the parent or guardian of a victim or suspect directly involved in an incident listed in section 1303-A(b)(4.1) or (4.2) of the Safe Schools Act (24 P. S. § 13-1303-A(b)(4.1) and (4.2)). In making the notification, the school entity shall inform the parent or guardian as to whether the local police department having jurisdiction over property of the school entity has been, or may be, notified of the incident. (b) A school entity shall document attempts made to reach the parent or guardian of a victim or suspect directly involved in an incident listed in Section 1303-A(b)(4.1) or (4.2) of the Safe Schools Act. In addition, PDE recommends that any restraint that results in a serious injury to a student, staff person, or both be reported via email to the RISC coordinator at the BSE within 48 hours. The restraint data is reviewed on an ongoing basis at the BSE in addition to reviews conducted during compliance monitoring conducted by PDE.

Seclusion is not reported as it is in theory, prohibited by state law.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) requires Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to report the use of restraint with school-aged students in educational programs that have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). LEAs utilize the Restraint Information System Collection (RISC) data collection system to meet this requirement. RISC was developed by PDE, in conjunction with recommendations from the state Special Education Advisory Panel (SEAP). Annually, this report is presented to the Secretary of Education.

Annual

https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/instruction/elementary-and-secondary-education/special-education/integrated-monitoring/compliance-monitoring/cyclical-monitoring-documents#accordion-a5556ad32f-item-418d486ca9

22 Pa. Code § 14.133 is part of Chapter 14, which governs special education services and programs for school districts and other public agencies, not all private schools.

School entities have the primary responsibility for ensuring that positive behavior support programs are in accordance with this chapter, including the training of personnel for the use of specific procedures, methods and techniques, and for having a written policy and procedures on the use of positive behavior support techniques and obtaining parental consent prior to the use of restraints or intrusive procedures as provided in subsection (c).