The Student Care Department is designed to ensure that the collective and individual needs of students are met and that districts are responsive to the needs of children and families. Specifically, the Student Care Department will oversee and monitor all aspects of time out and physical restraint and work to further reduce practices deemed harmful to students. As an initial step, the Illinois State Board Education strengthened training requirements for crisis de-escalation; trauma-informed practices; behavioral management; and mandated robust documentation and reporting of all instances of time out and restraint, including same-day notification to parents/guardians and reporting to ISBE no later than two school days after each instance. The Student Care Department will also be the agency’s point of contact for bullying prevention and bullying policy reviews and complaints, discipline reduction, ISBE’s Student Advisory Council, supports and advocacy pertaining to LGBTQ inclusivity in schools, and will act as the main contact for any student or parent complaints received by the agency with respect to most all areas of the School Code.
Strategic Plan 2.1.2: Inclusive Practices Model Policy, Administrative Procedures, and Handbook Notices Toolkit is now available.
In support of Strategic Plan 2.1.2: Support district implementation of policy and guidance to promote students’ safety and wellbeing, including non-discrimination and inclusion. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) aims to better prepare schools to meet the needs of their dynamic populations, leading to reduced numbers of suspensions and expulsions and to students feeling safer, mentally healthier, and more welcomed at school. This model policy toolkit was created to provide schools/districts, charter schools, and non-public entities with related guidance and model policy checklists to assist with policy development in alignment with the requirements set forth in School Code and other state and federal legislation to create inclusive, non-discriminatory polices, administrative procedures, and handbook notices.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Student Care Department at
studentcare@isbe.net.
