Care Of Children With Special Needs

(1) When children with special needs are enrolled in a child care program, all reasonable and appropriate efforts shall be made to provide those children equal opportunity to participate in the same program activities as their peers. (2) Parents or other appropriate individual identified by the parent shall provide information and, as appropriate, training to teachers regarding special needs/techniques/emergency measures, as utilized in the child’s home to ensure the child’s well-being. (3) Adaptations to the environment shall be directed toward normalizing the lifestyle of the child with a disability by helping him/her become independent and develop self-help skills. (4) Behavior management techniques or program activities which would tend to demean or isolate the child are prohibited. (5) The program shall inform parents of any specialized services available from the program, and if the program is aware of any specialized services available through third parties, shall additionally inform the parent of such services. (6) Efforts to provide specialized service (e.g., speech/hearing therapy, physical therapy, psychological evaluation, or services for intellectual disability) either directly or by referral, shall be conducted only with written permission by the parent in accordance with the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) or Individual Education Plan (IEP) and documented in the child’s record. Any information exchange regarding these services that is shared with or received from third parties shall also be documented. (7) The program shall have written individualized emergency plans for each child with a disability who requires more assistance in emergencies than other children of the same age or in the STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL-ADMINISTERED CHILD CARE PROGRAMS CHAPTER 0520-12-01 same group. The program shall maintain documentation that the Emergency Plan is practiced monthly. (8) Each non-verbal child’s daily activities, including, as applicable to the individual child, the time and amount of feeding, elimination, times of diaper changes, sleep patterns, and developmental progress, shall be recorded and shared with the parent(s) daily. (9) Diapering of school-age children with special needs shall be completed as follows: (a) Children shall be changed in a location designated for that purpose and which provides privacy from other children and adults. (b) School-age children may be diapered on the floor on a nonporous washable, surface that adequately protects the floor from contamination. (c) The floor beneath the diapering surface shall be immediately cleaned after each diapering. (d) The diapering area shall be located near a hand washing lavatory. This area shall be in a separate location from food preparation/service area. (10) Isolation and physical restraint shall be in accordance with T.C.A. §§ 49-10-1301-1305: (a) A student receiving special education services, as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-102(4), may be isolated or restrained only in emergency situations and only if such isolation or restraint is provided in the student’s IEP in emergency situations. (b) If school personnel impose restraints or isolation in an emergency situation, the school shall immediately contact the appropriate school personnel designated to authorize isolation or restraint. The student’s parent or guardian shall be notified, orally or by written communication, the same day the isolation or restraint was used. (c) If the student’s individualized education program does not provide for the use of isolation or restraint for the behavior precipitating such action or if school personnel are required to use isolation or restraint longer than five (5) minutes, then an individual education program meeting shall be convened within ten (10) days following the use of such isolation or restraint. If the behavior precipitating such action also warrants a change of placement, the child will have all rights provided under applicable state and federal law. (d) School personnel who must isolate or restrain a student receiving special education services, as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-102(4), whether or not such isolation or restraint was in an emergency situation or provided for in the student’s individual education program, shall report the incident to the appropriate school personnel designated to authorize isolation or restraint who shall record the use of such isolation or restraint and the facts surrounding such use. A copy of such record shall be made available at individual education program meetings and upon the request of the student’s parent or legal guardian. (e) If the appropriate school personnel designated to authorize isolation or any person having knowledge of the isolation or restraint, have reason to believe that such isolation or restraint was unreasonable, unsafe, or unwarranted, and such isolation or restraint caused injury to the student, the incident shall be reported pursuant to T.C.A. § 37-1-403. STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL-ADMINISTERED CHILD CARE PROGRAMS CHAPTER 0520-12-01 (f) School personnel shall remain in the physical presence of any restrained student and shall continuously observe a student who is in isolation or being restrained to monitor the health and well-being of such student. (g) Administering a chemical restraint to a student receiving special education services, as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-102(4), is prohibited, provided that nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the administration of a chemical restraint when administered for therapeutic purposes under the direction of a physician and with the child’s parent or guardian’s consent to administer such chemical restraint. (h) Administering a noxious substance to a student receiving special education services, as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-102(4), is prohibited. (i) Use of any mechanical restraint on any student receiving special education services, as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-102(4), is prohibited. (j) Any form of life threatening restraint, including restraint that restricts the flow of air into a person’s lungs, whether by chest compression or any other means, to a student receiving special education services, as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-102(4), is prohibited. (k) The use of isolation or physical holding restraint as a means of coercion, punishment, convenience or retaliation on any student receiving special education services, as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-102(4), is prohibited. (l) The use of physical holding restraint in the following circumstances is not prohibited: 1. The brief holding by an adult in order to calm or comfort; 2. The minimum contact necessary to physically escort a student from one area to another; 3. Assisting a student in completing a task or response if the student does not resist, or resistance is minimal in intensity or duration; or 4. Holding a student for a brief time in order to prevent any impulsive behavior that threatens the student’s immediate safety. 5. The program is not required to notify the student’s parent or guardian pursuant to this Chapter in any of the circumstances listed in this subdivision (l). (m) The use of a locked door, or use of any physical structure that substantially accomplishes the intent of locking a student in a room or structure, to isolate or seclude a student, is prohibited.