Jennifer Smith Richards

Seclusion and Restraint in Schools to Be Dramatically Limited in Illinois

Original story written by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards for the Chicago Tribune on June 1st, 2021. A link to the original article may be found HERE Illinois lawmakers took sweeping action Sunday to limit the use of seclusion and restraint in schools, following through on promises made after a 2019 Tribune-ProPublica investigation revealed that…

Thoughts on Quiet Rooms

Friends, I’m writing today to discuss my thoughts on some troubling news that has come to my attention recently. On November 19th, ProPublica Illinois wrote a piece on the use of Quiet Rooms as a behavioral intervention (click here for the article). Quiet Rooms are when children are put into isolation rooms to help him/her…