Successful Seclusion and Restraint Prevention Effort in Child and Adolescent Programs

The current article presents the experiences of three different child- and family-serving programs in the United States that have successfully implemented interventions to prevent the use of restraint and seclusion (R/S) in their respective facilities. The article also provides family and youth perspectives on the impact of and recommendations for preventing R/S. Over the past decade, a significant shift has occurred toward preventing the use of R/S within programs serving children and adolescents. National efforts have included the work of the Building Bridges Initiative, as well as growing interest and support for the implementation of trauma-informed environments of care.