Positive behaviour
Children and young people who have experienced trauma have particular challenges to overcome. Some kids enter care with a mistrust of adults and a belief that they have to look out for themselves. Because of that, they may react or behave in ways that carers find difficult to manage.
Dealing with challenging behaviour
Sometimes, the impact of trauma can lead to behaviour that is profoundly challenging. Challenging behaviour is the kind of behaviour that can potentially put your child, you, your family or other people in danger. It is different to everyday difficult behaviour and can include:
- verbal and physical abuse, threats and assaults
- sexual offences, such as indecent exposure, sexually explicit behaviour, sexual harassment and sexual assault
- running away
- antisocial behaviour, such as damaging property, stealing and picking fights.
Challenging behaviour may also include a child or young person seemingly being unable to control their actions, and certain behaviours that occur frequently or continue for extended periods of time.
Stay positive, stay focused and remember always where these kids have come from and what they have gone through.
Support for challenging behaviour
You are not expected to manage challenging behaviour on your own. Your caseworker can work with you to identify ideas, techniques, strategies and support services to help you deal with the situation and make some progress towards more positive behaviour.
Together, you, your caseworker, and possibly other experts such as a psychologist, should consider the least intrusive and most supportive ways to address the challenging behaviour. The options include the positive parenting approaches and behaviour support strategies described here, with the possibility of escalating to a Behaviour Support Plan in certain circumstances.
Positive parenting
‘Positive parenting’ is the idea of proactive early intervention by the carer as part of day-to-day behaviour management. It focuses on providing a respectful and sensitive environment that will empower the child or young person to achieve and maintain their goals. Your caseworker will support you in:
- identifying discipline responses that respect the rights of children and young people in out-of-home care
- monitoring and adjusting these responses according to the needs of the child or young person
- developing new skills and techniques for managing behaviour
- adjusting the home environment to suit the child or young person’s preferred lifestyle so that they do not need to resort to challenging behaviour as a means of expressing their need.
Behaviour support
Behaviour support strategies are appropriate when the child or young person’s behaviour is negative or challenging and appears to be escalating. It does not include the use of any ‘restricted practices’ to address the behaviour.
The caseworker will meet with you, the child or young person (depending on their developmental age) and relevant clinical staff to develop a strategy. It will include:
- the behaviour to be addressed by the strategy
- what happened before and after the behaviour, including any conversations
- the consequences of the child or young person’s behaviour
- appropriate strategies for managing the behaviour
- any support and training that can help you implement the strategy at home
- details on how the strategy will be implemented and when it will be reviewed
- details about the information you should collect and record (for example, the number of times the child or young person refuses to follow directions).