Abstract The use of seclusion timeout in school settings has again become controversial. For more than 35 years there have been recommendations that states and schools develop policies and procedures regarding the use of seclusion timeout in school settings. Recent lawsuits brought against school districts accusing them of violating student rights through the improper use of timeout procedures among a variety of other factors have again brought this issue to prominence. In addition, advocacy organizations have now begun to lobby for the elimination of seclusion timeout in all child caring agencies including schools. In order to identify whether states currently have policies in this area, the State Education Agency for each state was contacted, and their websites searched for policies on seclusion or timeout. Only 24 states were identified in the present study which have an established policy or provide guidelines to their respective school districts concerning the use of timeout procedures with students. The difficulty in locating and identifying these policies even when they do exist, indicates that they may not be viewed as a high priority by states or school systems in spite of the litigation and advocacy. These policies were then reviewed to determine whether they included a subset of the components called for in the literature. The content of these policies varied significantly, indicating that it was not likely that states were providing common comprehensive requirements or guidance to schools on this issue.
