A young man hanged himself while in “seclusion cell” at a Georgia school.  The parents were unaware this technique had been used with their son.  http://www.kansascity.com/2010/02/25/1773137/many-states-dont-regulate-seclusion.html

I once represented the family of a child in kindergarten.  He was kept in a wooden box at the back of his class, with only an eye slit for him to see out.  He bloodied his head from banging against the walls of his box.

In July of 2009, the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, urged all states to review current policies and guidelines on using restraint and seclusion in schools.  “Restraint and seclusion policies should be reviewed regularly to prevent the abuse of such techniques and ensure that schools provide a safe learning environment for all of our children.”

Missouri and Kansas have no state regulations in place.   Missouri “school districts are required to have policies on restraints by July 2011.”  Kansas is “developing a collection tool for schools to report quarterly seclusion data” to augment its existing guidelines, as set forth at www.drckansas.org/publications/SRGUIDELINES.pdf

Federal legislation limiting restraint and seclusion and requiring behavior management training for educators are in a bill passed by the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee earlier this month.

For a summary of state laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines, go to: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/seclusion/seclusion-state-summary.html

Kansas House Bill 2667 yesterday was amended to include covenant marriage.   Divorce from a Kansas covenant marriage would be permissible only for “a complete and total breach of the marital covenant commitment.”  Couples desiring a covenant marriage would be required to obtain counseling prior to stating their commitment.

The House Bill originally was intended as a non-substantive technical reorganization of the Domestic Relations statutes in Kansas.  Before yesterday, substantive amendments were deliberately omitted from the bill.  The House Judiciary Committee was intending first to reorganize the statutes in a coherent, accessible form.  Substantive changes were supposed to have been raised later.

Missouri just passed a new law requiring health insurance coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorders.  In April 2009, the Missouri State Senate passed Assembly Bill 167, which requires insurance companies to provide coverage of evidence-based, medically necessary autism therapies.   The Missouri House completes the needed legislation for ASD coverage in Missouri.

In Kansas, Kate’s Law remains pending.  Kate’s Law would bring to Kansas insurance coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Insurance covering autism is mandated by 15 other states, but understanding the coverage has proven to be a challenge.  Click here for Frequently Asked Questions about each state’s covereage.

The 15 states with insurance coverage are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

You have the right to attend your child’s IEP meetings.  In fact, federal regulations require the school to hold your IEP meetings at a “mutually agreed on time and place.”  Also, you must be notified early enough to ensure that you have an opportunity to attend.

In a recent unpublished opinion from California, a federal court overturned an IEP.  The school invited the parents to participate by speaker phone.  That wasn’t good enough.  The parents had the right to attend their child’s IEP meeting in person.  Because they weren’t present at the meeting, the IEP was invalid.

The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the rights of Native Americans in a case decided last week.  The trial court in Johnson County, Kansas terminated the rights of indigenous parents in a Child in Need of Care (CINC) case.  The parents and their child had Native American heritage.

The Kansas Supreme Court overturned the termination.  The Johnson County court failed to apply the extra requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).  The social worker did not meet the requirements for an expert in cases involving Native Americans.

This case demonstrates the importance of compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act in cases involving children with Native American heritage.

Abusing a child changes the victim’s brain, making the victim susceptible to drug addiction as she matures, according to drug addiction specialist, Dr. Gabor Mate, the author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.

During an interview on Democracy Now! on February 3, 2010, Dr. Mate detailed the biophysical changes to the brain of an abused child and how that makes the child vulnerable to drug addiction.  His experience treating addicts is consistent with the results of the national studies he cites: 90% of hardcore addicts suffered child abuse that changed their brain circuitry.

I embedded Dr. Mate’s interview so you may watch it now.  Just click this video: