<\/p>\n
By Jessica J. Burchard
\nMay 24, 2007<\/p>\n
A new culture has emerged at the Grafton Schools Inc. over the past five years. Grafton implemented a policy in 2004 to significantly reduce the use of physical restraints with its clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a very systematic way of doing it,\u201d said Kim Sanders, executive director of Grafton\u2019s Winchester region. \u201cPeople were very skeptical in the beginning, but it\u2019s worked out well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The success of the policy is evident in reduction of reports of physical restraints. In November 2003, the Winchester region had 260 incidents of restraints.<\/p>\n
This April, one incident of a restratin was reported for the region. All incidents of physical restraints are three minutes or less. \u201cThere\u2019s always going to be that rare occasion when physical restraint is necessary to avoid any clear and present danger,\u201d Chief Executive Officer James G. Gaynor said.<\/p>\n
Reducing the use of physical restraints has proved a challenge for the schools. The school is a private nonprofit organization serving youths and adults with emotional disturbances, learning disabilities, mental retardation, autism, and severe behavioral disorders. The youngest client is 11 and the oldest is 65.<\/p>\n
Because Grafton\u2019s clients can become violent without provocation, Sanders was concerned about limiting the use of physical restraints as a way to deal with disorderly patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be very careful because you\u2019re taking away a protective device,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cWe had to make sure we gave them other tools such as blocking shields and [big] sponges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shields are used in Grafton\u2019 s \u201cextraordinary blocking\u201d technique \u2014 which allows a staff member to use a hand-held cushion to avoid being harmed or frightening a client who has become violent. The large sponges are used to act as a cushion between clients and hard objects such as table tops and walls.<\/p>\n
With 23 group homes across Virginia, Grafton has trained more than 800 employees to use techniques besides physical restraint.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo pull something like this off demanded a multi-layer approach,\u201d Gaynor said. \u201cIt also looked at a more holistic approach to the treatment of the whole [client].\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Grafton has budgeted funds for the equipment and training, Gaynor believes the program is saving the schools money.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pretty much said, \u2018Whatever it takes.\u2019 We saw this as an investment,\u201d he said. Gaynor declined to specify how much money was spent on the program and the training. \u201cWe knew every dollar we put into this we would get back in spades,\u201d added Gaynor.<\/p>\n
Some of the savings comes from a decrease of hundreds of thousands of dollars in workman\u2019s compensation claims.<\/p>\n
Despite its current success, Grafton is being sued for its earlier use of physical restraints. The school is in the middle of a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from an incident of physical restraint. The family of Garrett Halsey, 13, who died at Grafton on Dec. 23, 2004, filed a complaint in the Winchester Circuit Court Office in December accusing Grafton of negligence. The complaint was amended in March and the case is ongoing. <\/p>\n
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By Jessica J. Burchard May 24, 2007 A new culture has emerged at the Grafton Schools Inc. over the past five years. Grafton implemented a policy in 2004 to significantly reduce the use of physical restraints with its clients. \u201cWe had a very systematic way of doing it,\u201d said Kim Sanders, executive director of Grafton\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-news-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n