If the school uses emergency interventions on your child, school districts must notify you of this within one school day.[1] The school district should also fill out a behavioral emergency report with information about the events leading up to the use of the emergency intervention and describe the name and age of your child, the location of the incident, the name of the staff or other person involved, whether your child has a BIP, the incident, the use of the intervention and the details of any injuries sustained by your child or others. The district must place this in your child’s school file.[2] The district is not required to give you a copy of this report unless you request it. You should make a written request for this report if you learn that an emergency intervention was used on your child.
If your child does not have a PBIP (also called BIP), the school district must schedule an IEP meeting within two days of the emergency intervention to determine whether an FBA is needed and to determine whether your child needs an emergency behavior plan while the assessment is being done.[3] If your child already has a PBIP or BIP, the district must schedule an IEP meeting to review and revise this plan if the school used an emergency intervention on your child because your child has engaged in behavior not covered in the plan or your child’s plan has not been effective in addressing the behavior.[4]
If you are informed that your child’s school used an emergency intervention on your child such as restraint or seclusion, you should remind the school district of their obligation to schedule an IEP meeting to develop a new or modified BSP for your child. If the school district does not do this, we recommend that you file a compliance complaint. You can also make a written request for an IEP Review to address the use of an emergency intervention. The district must hold an IEP meeting within 30 days from the date that your school district receives your written request.