Seclusion

02.26.16

Disability Rights Ohio calls for Enforcement of Ohio Department of Education Rule on Restraint and Seclusion

By Shakyra Diaz

Last year thousands of Ohio students were restrained or secluded in school, placing them at risk of injury and trauma. This happened despite a rule that was put in place specifically to stop this practice.

In 2013, upon the urging of Disability Rights Ohio, the ACLU of Ohio, and other advocates, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) established a rule limiting the use of restraint and seclusion in Ohio schools to situations where there is an imminent risk of physical harm.

09.07.15

Seclusion and Restraint Guidelines Now Apply to Ohio’s Charter Schools

By Shakyra Diaz

This school year, all of Ohio’s public school children now have the same rights and protections when it comes to the use of seclusion and restraints. It’s been three years in the making.

Investigative Reporting

In August 2012, The Columbus Dispatch and StateImpact Ohio, a collaborative of Ohio NPR stations WCPN, WKSU, and WOSU, launched, “Locked Away,” an investigation into restraint and seclusion practices in Ohio schools.

12.01.14

Close the Loophole: Protect Charter Schoolchildren From Restraint and Seclusion

By Shakyra Diaz

Update – 12/17/2014: Ohio Senate Bill 266 was amended to House Bill 178 and passed unanimously, extending the seclusion and restraint provisions of rule 3301-35-15 to public charter schools.

Last month the Ohio Department of Education released its first analysis of the use of restraint and seclusion in Ohio schools.

09.06.14

What Is Shackling?

By Shakyra Diaz

This is the first in a series of posts on the topic of juvenile shackling.

‘Shackling has made me feel like an animal, and it makes me feel like I can’t express myself. It is a distraction to me because rather than focusing on what I have to say, I’m focused on what other people are thinking of me, and on avoiding body movements that are painful and uncomfortable because of the shackles.

07.17.14

Juvenile Justice: The Return on Investment

By Shakyra Diaz

This is the eighth in a series of posts focusing on issues we will be tackling at the 2014 ACLU of Ohio biennial conference, Resist. Reclaim. Restore Your Rights!

We have all heard the saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’  I would like to add, ‘It takes a village to fail a child.’

As a society, we are very quick to take credit for any contribution we have made in the life of a successful young person.

05.30.14

Ohio’s Children Will Now Be Free From Isolation

By Shakyra Diaz

Children in Ohio’s youth prisons will finally be free from extreme isolation and seclusion. After youths suffered collectively through thousands of hours of being locked in isolation, the Ohio Department of Youth Services has now agreed to “dramatically reduce the conditions under which seclusion is allowed and the duration of seclusion.” Children suffering from mental health disorders were some of the most affected by this practice of seclusion.

05.12.14

Children Are Still Not Safe from Seclusion in Ohio Charter Schools

By Shakyra Diaz

It has been more than a year since the Ohio State Board of Education (BOE) restricted the use of seclusion and restraint in Ohio public schools, yet charter schools are still permitted to operate outside the rules.

Now, a piece of state legislation aims to hold these schools to the same rules that govern other taxpayer-funded educational institutions.

04.05.14

Ohio’s children are being tortured. A look at the extreme isolation of mentally-ill kids.

By wluby

Ohio is failing its children. From shackling of non-violent juveniles, to secluding school children with disabilities, to isolating children with mental illnesses, the rights and health of children are being ignored.

Children held in solitary confinement suffer extreme harm.  It leads to developmental delays and increases in mental illness.  

03.19.14

Buried Alive: Isolation doesn’t teach – it hurts!

By Shakyra Diaz

17-year-old Raistlen Katka twice tried to bite through the veins in his wrists. He tried to commit suicide while in solitary confinement in a Montana detention center.

Raistlen’s story is just one of the countless that indicate how isolation hurts.

This week, after several failed attempts to resolve the issue of excessive seclusion in Ohio’s juvenile detention facilities without litigation, the U.S.