Maryland Schools Criticized for Handcuffing Students, Sending Them to ER

Misuse of law intended for severe mental illness cases leads to increase in emergency room visits, disproportionately affecting Black students and students with disabilities.

In Wicomico County, Maryland, students as young as 5 are being handcuffed and taken to hospital emergency rooms for psychiatric evaluations, a process that has been used at least 750 times over the past eight years.
The state law allowing these removals is intended for severe mental illness cases endangering lives but is allegedly being misused to handle behaviors prompted by bullying or frustration over assignments.
Black students and students with disabilities are more frequently subjected to these removals than their peers.
Despite a 2017 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of mandated trips to the emergency room has increased.
Parents, educators, and advocates argue that a lack of resources, trained staff, and a punitive culture in some schools are behind the misuse of emergency petitions.