System Change in Positive Behavior Support
Project Description:
Statewide System Change in Positive Behavior Supports: The South Carolina Model
This collaborative project in the area of behavioral supports between the SC Dept. of Disabilities and Special Needs and the SC UCEDD (Center for Disabiity Resources) responds to needs identified from a) focus group findings, b) requests for assistance in the area of behavioral support; and c) requests for alternative residential placement due to problem behavior.
This project increases the quality of behavioral supports provided throughout the SC DDSN (adult MR/DD) system of supports and services. Its activities are focused specifically on training for community program staff and those who write behavior support plans, quality assurance for the Medicaid MR/RD waiver service of Behavior Supports, the qualification process for individuals to provide this service, and collaboration on policy revisions.
One product has been a validated curriculum to teach supervisors and direct support staff the skills needed to implement positive behavioral support. This competency-based training curriculum, developed specifically for and by this project, has been made available for commercial purchase by AAMR in April 2003 with a second edition of the PBS Training Curriculum published by AAIDD in 2007. An article describing its validation and implementation was published in the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions in January 2003 and an article on this statewide system change effort published in Mental Retardation in 2005. There was also an article by another author praising our work published in Mental Retardation also in 2005.
With over 1300 supervisors of direct support staff trained and approximately 3000 direct support staff trained by "2nd generation" local trainers, many staff have demonstrated that they can implement key skills needed for positive behavior support. They have also shown an increased knowledge of what is reasonable to expect from those who develop behavior support plans. In addition to the changes in providers of behavior supports that have occurred as a result of local decisions that changes were needed, we expect increases in the positive outcomes of individual behavior support plans, decreases in the use of restrictive interventions, and increases in the satisfaction of consumers for whom behavioral supports are provided.
Keyword(s):
Positive Behavior Support ; System Change
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Developing & Disseminating Information
Area of Emphasis
Quality Assurance, Quality of Life, Other - Leadership
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
