SF 4596

as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 03/07/2024 04:29pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; prohibiting the use of seclusion on all children; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 125A.0942, subdivision 4.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 125A.0942, subdivision 4, is
amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Prohibitions.

The following actions or procedures are prohibited:

(1) engaging in conduct prohibited under section 121A.58;

(2) requiring a child to assume and maintain a specified physical position, activity, or
posture that induces physical pain;

(3) totally or partially restricting a child's senses as punishment;

(4) presenting an intense sound, light, or other sensory stimuli using smell, taste,
substance, or spray as punishment;

(5) denying or restricting a child's access to equipment and devices such as walkers,
wheelchairs, hearing aids, and communication boards that facilitate the child's functioning,
except when temporarily removing the equipment or device is needed to prevent injury to
the child or others or serious damage to the equipment or device, in which case the equipment
or device shall be returned to the child as soon as possible;

(6) interacting with a child in a manner that constitutes sexual abuse, neglect, or physical
abuse under chapter 260E;

(7) withholding regularly scheduled meals or water;

(8) denying access to bathroom facilities;

(9) physical holding that restricts or impairs a child's ability to breathe, restricts or impairs
a child's ability to communicate distress, places pressure or weight on a child's head, throat,
neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, or abdomen, or results in straddling a child's
torso;

(10) prone restraint; and

(11) the use of seclusion on children from birth through grade 3 by September 1, 2024 new text begin ,
and the use of seclusion on all children by September 1, 2026 new text end .