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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- FREEDOM FROM PRONE

RESTRAINT ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Canario, Gallison, Tanzi, Lombardi, and Handy

     Date Introduced: January 14, 2016

     Referred To: House Health, Education & Welfare

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND

GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 158

FREEDOM FROM PRONE RESTRAINT ACT

     42-158-1. Short title. -- This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Freedom

from Prone Restraint Act."

     42-158-2. Fundamental purpose. -- This chapter is enacted to protect and promote the

right of each person who is served by a covered facility to be free from the use of prone restraint.

Research has shown that prone restraint is a hazardous and potentially lethal position.

     42-158-3. Definitions. -- For the purpose of this chapter:

     (1) "Service provider" means any person employed or contracted by a covered facility to

provide support or care, residential support, education, health care, treatment, or direct

supervision.

     (2) "Covered facility" means any agency, organization, or public or private entity,

regardless of the state agency under whose authority its license or certification is established, that

provides support or care, residential support, education, health care, treatment, or direct

supervision to any person. "Covered facility" does not include any law enforcement department,

the department of corrections, the training school for youth, or the forensic unit at the Eleanor

Slater Hospital.

     (3) "Prone restraint" means a restraint or hold that limits or controls the movement or

normal functioning of any portion, or all, of an individual's body while the individual is in a face-

down position. Prone restraint does not include the temporary controlling of an individual in a

prone position while transitioning to an alternative, safer form of restraint.

     42-158-4. Use of restraints. – No service provider of any covered facility may use a

prone restraint at any time.

     42-158-5. Training and policies. – Each covered facility shall:

     (1) Develop policies and procedures that establish monitoring, documentation, reporting,

and internal review of the use of restraint in accordance with this chapter.

     (2) Require training of all service providers in the reduction/elimination of restraint and

seclusion. The training shall be approved by the director of the state agency that has supervisory

control over the covered facility. The training shall include, but not be limited to:

     (i) Leadership towards organization change;

     (ii) Use of data to inform practice;

     (iii) Workforce development;

     (iv) Use of prevention tools, including positive behavior interventions and de-escalation;

     (v) Inclusion of individuals, families, and advocates; and

     (vi) Debriefing techniques and outcomes.

     (3) Make the policies and procedures required under subsection (1) of this section

available to the director of the state agency that has jurisdiction or supervisory control over the

covered facility.

     42-158-6. Study commission. – (a) A joint legislative study commission is hereby

created to study the restraint reporting requirements and training approaches of each of the

covered facilities and make recommendations to ensure that reporting is as uniform as possible

and appropriate data is collected to inform practice and policy decisions.

     (b) The study commission will be comprised of twenty (20) members: one member of the

House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House; one member of the

Senate, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; two (2) of whom shall be individuals

restrained by a covered facility or knowledgeable about restraint, one of whom to be appointed by

the Speaker of the House and one of whom to be appointed by the President of the Senate; two

(2) of whom shall be family members of individuals restrained by a covered facility or

knowledgeable about restraint, one of whom to be appointed by the Speaker of the House and one

of whom to be appointed by the President of the Senate; one of whom shall be the director of the

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Department of Children, Youth, and Families, or designee; one of whom shall be the

commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or designee; one of

whom shall be the Director of the Department of Behavioral Healthcare Developmental

Disabilities and Hospitals, or designee; one of whom shall be the director of the Paul V. Sherlock

Center on Disabilities, or designee; one of whom shall the be director of the Rhode Island

Developmental Disabilities Council, or designee; one of whom shall be the Rhode Island Child

Advocate, or designee; one of whom shall be the Rhode Island Mental Health Advocate, or

designee; one of whom shall be the director of the Disability Law Center, or designee; one of

whom shall be the director of Bradley Hospital, or designee; one of whom shall be the director of

the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, or designee; one of whom shall be the director of

Butler Hospital, or designee; one of whom shall be the director of the Groden Center, or designee;

one of whom shall be the director of the Community Provider Network of Rhode Island; and one

of whom shall be a director of a provider of mental health services.

     In lieu of any appointment of a member of the legislature to a permanent advisory

commission, a legislative study commission, or any commission created by an act of the general

assembly, the appointing authority may appoint a member of the general public to serve in lieu of

a legislator, provided that the majority leader or the minority leader of the political party which is

entitled to the appointment consents to the appointment of the member of the general public.

Vacancies in said commission shall be filled in like manner as the original appointment.

     (c) Upon passage of this act, the members of the commission shall meet at the call of the

Speaker of the House and President of the Senate and organize and shall select, from among the

legislators, a chairperson.

     (d) The membership of said commission shall receive no compensation for their services.

     (e) All departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and information,

documentary, and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as is deemed necessary or

desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this act.

     (f) The joint commission on legislative services is hereby authorized and directed to

provide suitable quarters for said commission.

     (g) The commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the general

assembly no later than February 1, 2017, and said commission shall expire on June 30, 2017.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- FREEDOM FROM PRONE

RESTRAINT ACT

***

     This act would prohibit the use of prone restraints in certain facilities; would require

training of all service providers in the reduction/elimination of restraint and seclusion, and would

create a twenty (20) member study commission to study prone restraint and training approaches

in covered facilities.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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