From the Institution to the Community: Exploring Physical Restraint in Home and Community-Based Services

The Department of Disability and Human Development presents a thesis defense …

From the Institution to the Community: Exploring Physical Restraint in Home and Community-Based Services

by

Alison Cassidy Norton

10.30 – 11.30 am, CST
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Room 204, DHSP Building
1640 West Roosevelt Road
(see below for Zoom option)

Abstract
Adults with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) have been institutionalized for centuries where, in the earliest practices, they were withheld their human rights, detained in cells, and restrained with chains and shackles. In the 1980s, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) to offer living environments alternative to institutions. After more than thirty years of persisting institutional qualities within HCBS, CMS implemented the HCBS Setting Rule in 2014, acknowledging the need for policies and procedures to define the setting requirements. The HCBS Settings Rule exposits required standards for these settings and acknowledges the rights of individuals receiving waiver services in HCBS. Among the rights acknowledged in the HCBS Settings Rule, the right to freedom from restraint is declared. While restraining with chains is in the distant past in disability services, restraint use may be permitted in any HCBS waiver setting, and restraining persons with ID continues in the majority of U.S. states. This study explores how two states that authorize restraint use for adults with intellectual disabilities living in Home and Community-Based Settings (HCBS) implement restraint use procedures. Findings show that states have nearly full discretion for their restraint procedures resulting in variations in procedure requirements, training, and use of restraints. This knowledge can further the understanding of restraint use practices and their implications on the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities living in community-based settings.

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Zoom Info
https://uic.zoom.us/j/84746478873?pwd=N2hmenFyeEFuNmRFVXhrdVhGSDMydz09

Meeting ID: 847 4647 8873
Passcode: JN2yX001