Glenholme participates in panel discussion at COPAA

The Glenholme School shared a leadership role in the state of Connecticut in reducing restraints and seclusion interventions. One of the original demonstration sites for Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant focused on this issue. The effort of Glenholme was recognized recently by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) with their invitation to participate in a panel discussion and Q&A on the Use of Aversives, Restraint and Seclusion in Schools at the COPAA Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday, March 13.

Dr. Patrick Queenan, assistant executive director and head of clinical services of the Glenholme School joined Dr. Joseph B. Ryan, a nationally recognized researcher and speaker on behavior management and seclusion and restraint policies for schools; Kristine Sullivan, an attorney with Disability Rights North Carolina; and Denise Marshall, the executive director of COPAA in the well attended morning session available to the 350 conference attendees. The timely COPAA panel discussion occurred on the heels of the House of Representatives passing H.R. 4247, the Keeping All Students Safe in School Act on March 3, 2010, which implements minimum standards to protect all schoolchildren from the dangers of restraint, seclusion, and aversives.

During the past decade, the Glenholme School has instituted many changes focused on aiding youth to replace maladaptive behavior with more appropriate and socially acceptable ways of behaving through the utilization of Positive Behavior Supports. The program is universally utilized by the residential and school environments; parents implement the same techniques at home with their child which creates consistency from the school to the home environment. An after school element of the program with creative engagement and preferred activities including community involvement has been highly effective and the school’s outcome studies have correlated engagement in creative and preferred activities to a reduction in behavioral issues and the need for restraints and seclusion.