A good Behaviour Support Plan should do more than describe behaviours of concern or provide a list of strategies. It should help the people supporting the person understand what matters to them, why particular behaviours may occur, what can be changed proactively, how meaningful communication and skills can be supported, and how to respond safely and consistently when the person is distressed.
Just as importantly, the plan must be realistic to implement. A strategy can be theoretically sound but have little value if it cannot be carried out in the person’s actual home, school, workplace, community or support environment.
The strongest plans connect Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) to practical Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), while taking account of the real people, routines, resources, environments and competing demands involved in implementation.
This guide explains what a good Behaviour Support Plan should include and uses fictional examples to demonstrate how assessment findings can be translated into practical, person-centred support.
What Is a Behaviour Support Plan?
A Behaviour Support Plan is an individualised document that describes how a person can be supported to improve quality of life, address unmet needs and factors contributing to behaviours of concern, develop meaningful communication and skills, and receive safe and consistent support when behaviours occur.
Depending on the setting and jurisdiction, related documents may be called a Positive Behaviour Support Plan (PBSP), Behaviour Support Plan (BSP), Behaviour Intervention Plan (BIP), behaviour management plan or another term.
Whatever the title, a good plan should be understandable and usable by the people expected to implement it. It should translate assessment and formulation into support that can actually occur in everyday life.
What Makes a Good Behaviour Support Plan?
Person-centred – reflects the individual’s strengths, preferences, communication, relationships, goals, routines and quality-of-life needs.
Assessment-informed – strategies are connected to behavioural patterns and the functional behaviour hypothesis.
Observable and specific – behaviours and early indicators are described in ways different supporters can recognise.
Proactive – support begins before behaviour escalates.
Functionally relevant – strategies address what behaviour may communicate, achieve, avoid, regulate or change.
Practical and realistic – strategies can reasonably be implemented within the person’s actual routines, settings, staffing arrangements and available resources.
Clear about implementation – supporters know what to do, when to do it, who is responsible and why the strategy matters.
Collaborative – the person and relevant implementers contribute to developing and refining strategies so barriers to implementation can be identified early.
Consistent but flexible – supports consistency without ignoring context, autonomy or individual choice.
Least restrictive – prioritises prevention, environmental accommodation, communication, skill development and safe, proportionate responses.
Measurable and reviewable – implementation and outcomes can be evaluated and the plan changed when needed.
A Good Behaviour Support Plan Must Be Realistic to Implement
Implementation feasibility is a core feature of plan quality. Behaviour support happens in real environments, not on paper. A recommendation should therefore be considered not only for its clinical rationale, but also for whether the people supporting the person can reasonably and consistently put it into practice.
This does not mean reducing a plan to whatever is easiest for a service. The person’s rights, needs and quality of life remain central. Rather, practitioners should work collaboratively to identify what is required for effective support, what barriers exist, and whether the strategy, environment, staffing arrangements, training or other implementation supports need to change.
Before including a strategy, consider:
- Can this realistically be done during an ordinary shift, classroom routine, family routine or community activity?
- Is it clear who is expected to implement the strategy and at what point?
- Does the strategy depend on staffing levels, equipment, funding, time, training or specialist expertise that is actually available?
- Does it fit the person’s ordinary routines or create an unnecessarily complex support regime?
- Can supporters recognise the circumstances in which the strategy should be used?
- Can the strategy be implemented consistently across the relevant settings, or does it need setting-specific adaptation?
- Has the person, and where appropriate the family, carers, workers and implementing providers, been consulted about whether the strategy is workable?
- Are the instructions concise and understandable enough to use without the behaviour support practitioner standing beside the implementer?
- Have likely barriers to implementation been identified?
- If implementation is difficult, is the barrier within the strategy, environment, resources, training or service system rather than simply being attributed to staff ‘non-compliance’?
A strategy that is theoretically appropriate but cannot be implemented in the person’s real environment is unlikely to produce meaningful change. Good behaviour support requires both clinical rationale and implementation feasibility.
A realistic plan also avoids overloading supporters with dozens of low-priority strategies. Where possible, identify the small number of high-impact practices that matter most, make them easy to locate, and explain clearly when they apply.
Behaviour Support Plan vs Functional Behaviour Assessment
A Functional Behaviour Assessment and a Behaviour Support Plan are closely connected but serve different purposes. The FBA focuses on understanding behaviour: what it looks like, when and where it occurs, relevant setting events and antecedents, what tends to happen afterwards, and the likely function or functions.
The Behaviour Support Plan uses that understanding to determine how the person should be supported.
If a strategy cannot be logically connected to the assessment findings, or cannot realistically be implemented, practitioners should question why it is in the plan.
What Should a Behaviour Support Plan Include?
- information about the person
- clear descriptions of behaviours of concern
- frequency, duration, intensity and risk information where relevant
- setting events, antecedents and triggers
- a functional behaviour hypothesis
- behaviour support and quality-of-life goals
- proactive and preventative strategies
- communication and skill-development strategies
- an individualised escalation profile where relevant
- stage-specific response and de-escalation strategies
- clear implementation responsibilities and practical guidance
- training or implementation supports where needed
- restrictive practice information and reduction/elimination planning where applicable
- monitoring of both implementation and outcomes
A Fictional Behaviour Support Plan Example
The following fictional example demonstrates how the different parts of a plan should connect. It is not a template to copy for another person.
Jordan is a fictional young adult who enjoys music, familiar routines, walking outdoors and spending time with trusted people. Jordan communicates verbally but can find it difficult to explain when a task feels confusing, too demanding or overwhelming. One behaviour of concern involves pushing materials away, shouting and leaving an activity area.
1. About the Person
Jordan enjoys music, outdoor walks, predictable routines and one-to-one interaction with familiar people. Jordan responds best when information is presented clearly and one step at a time. Jordan values having choices and knowing what will happen next. When unsure what is expected, Jordan may become quiet, repeatedly ask questions or attempt to leave the situation.
2. Describe the Behaviour Clearly
Jordan pushes or sweeps task materials away from the immediate work area, may shout words such as “no” or “stop”, stands up and moves away from the activity area. On some occasions Jordan closes the door after leaving.
3. Frequency, Duration, Intensity and Risk
Available data indicates that the behaviour occurs most often during structured tasks and transitions into unfamiliar activities. Episodes are usually brief when Jordan is able to move away and obtain support. Risk increases if another person blocks Jordan’s exit or repeatedly re-presents the demand while Jordan is distressed.
4. Identify Setting Events and Triggers
For Jordan, assessment information suggests relevant setting events may include fatigue, disrupted routine and a previous stressful interaction. More immediate antecedents include unfamiliar multi-step tasks, unclear instructions and repeated prompting after indicating difficulty.
5. Write the Functional Behaviour Hypothesis
When Jordan is presented with unfamiliar or multi-step activities, particularly when tired or already unsettled, Jordan is more likely to push materials away, shout and leave the activity area. The available evidence suggests these behaviours may function to communicate difficulty and obtain assistance with, or a pause from, activities Jordan experiences as confusing or overly demanding.
6. Develop Meaningful Goals
Jordan will increasingly use an agreed communication method to indicate when an activity is unclear, request assistance or request a break, while supporters adjust task demands and provide information in an accessible way.
7. Proactive and Preventative Strategies
- Provide clear information about what is happening and what is expected before unfamiliar activities begin.
- Break complex instructions into manageable steps where this supports Jordan’s understanding.
- Check understanding rather than repeatedly presenting the same instruction.
- Offer meaningful choices about how or when an activity can be completed where flexibility is available.
- Ensure Jordan has an accessible way to request clarification, assistance or a break.
- Where Jordan shows early signs of overload, reduce unnecessary verbal input and allow processing time.
- Plan demanding activities with consideration of known setting events such as fatigue or significant disruption to routine.
These strategies are intentionally practical. They can be incorporated into ordinary interactions rather than requiring supporters to run a separate therapeutic program throughout the day.
8. Test Strategies Against the Reality of the Setting
Before finalising Jordan’s plan, the practitioner should discuss the proposed strategies with Jordan and the people who will implement them.
For example, if a strategy states that Jordan should receive a ten-minute preparation period before every transition, the practitioner should establish whether this timing is actually meaningful for Jordan and feasible across settings. If the evidence supports advance preparation but not an exact ten-minute interval, a more flexible instruction may be both clinically appropriate and easier to implement.
Similarly, a recommendation requiring continuous one-to-one support cannot simply be written into a plan if the person does not have that staffing arrangement. The practitioner should identify the actual support need, risks and implementation barrier and work with relevant stakeholders rather than writing a strategy that exists only on paper.
Do not confuse precision with quality. A highly specific strategy is only useful when that level of specificity is supported by evidence and can realistically be implemented.
9. Supportive Environment, Activities and Interactions
Supportive environment – consider relevant noise, crowding, predictability, access, sensory conditions and physical layout supported by assessment.
Supportive activities – consider task difficulty, pacing, duration, choice, meaning, interest and required assistance.
Supportive interactions – consider language complexity, tone, pace, processing time, predictability, autonomy and how supporters respond to communication.
Do not prescribe sensory equipment, exposure approaches, schedules, reinforcement systems or other specific interventions unless supported by evidence for the individual.
10. Communication and Skill Development
Because Jordan’s behaviour may communicate that an activity is confusing or overwhelming, relevant skill development could focus on reliably communicating “help”, “show me”, “one step at a time” or “I need a break”, using the communication method most accessible to Jordan.
Teaching an alternative response is unlikely to succeed if supporters cannot reliably recognise or respond to it. Implementation planning therefore includes ensuring the alternative communication is available in the relevant settings and that supporters understand how to respond.
11. Escalation Profile and Response Strategies
| Stage | What Jordan may look or sound like |
| Baseline/Calm | Conversational, engages with familiar activities, asks questions and responds to usual support. |
| Early Signs | Quieter, repeats questions, pauses longer, looks away or begins moving materials. |
| Escalation | Pushes materials away, raises voice, says “no” or “stop”, stands and attempts to leave. |
| Peak | May shout loudly, rapidly move away and reject interaction. |
| De-escalation | Increased physical distance, quieter voice, reduced movement and gradual re-engagement. |
| Recovery | Seeks familiar activity or person, resumes usual communication and may need additional time before returning to demands. |
Response instructions should be brief enough to use during real incidents. At early signs, pause, check understanding, reduce verbal information and offer established options for assistance or a break. During escalation or peak, prioritise safety, reduce unnecessary demands and interaction, allow appropriate space and avoid arguing about task completion. During recovery, allow time, re-establish connection and return to routine gradually.
12. Make Responsibilities Clear
A plan should avoid vague instructions such as “staff should support regulation” without explaining what this means. Where responsibilities differ, identify who is expected to do what.
Direct support workers may be responsible for using agreed preventative and response strategies during everyday support.
Team leaders or managers may need to ensure workers have access to the current plan, training and supervision.
The behaviour support practitioner may provide training, review data, observe implementation and revise strategies when needed.
Other clinicians may have defined roles where strategies intersect with communication, sensory, health, mobility or other professional areas.
The person and their chosen supporters should have meaningful opportunities to provide feedback about whether strategies are acceptable and helpful.
13. Training Is Part of Implementation
A written plan alone does not guarantee implementation. Some strategies require explanation, modelling, coaching, practice and feedback. Training should focus on the individual person and the actual strategies in their plan, not only generic behaviour support theory.
Where implementation difficulties emerge, practitioners should consider whether supporters understand the rationale, can recognise relevant behavioural stages, have practised the strategies, have the necessary resources and receive appropriate organisational support.
14. Restrictive Practices
Where restrictive practices are used, the Behaviour Support Plan must address applicable legal, regulatory, authorisation, safeguarding, monitoring and reporting requirements. Restrictive practices should not be presented as ordinary behaviour-management strategies.
The plan should include proactive approaches intended to reduce the circumstances in which the restrictive practice is required and, where applicable, a pathway toward reduction and elimination. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and service context.
15. Monitor Implementation as Well as Behaviour
If outcomes are not improving, it is important to know whether the strategy itself is ineffective or whether it has not been implemented as intended. Monitoring should therefore consider both outcomes and implementation.
- Are the agreed strategies actually being used?
- Are they being used at the intended time or stage?
- Do supporters understand them?
- Are there practical barriers preventing implementation?
- Does the person experience the strategies as helpful and acceptable?
- Are changes occurring in communication, participation, wellbeing, safety or quality of life?
- Are behaviours of concern changing in frequency, duration, intensity or risk where these measures are relevant?
- Are restrictive practices reducing where applicable?
If a strategy is repeatedly difficult to implement, the response should not automatically be to tell supporters to try harder. Review whether the plan is realistic, sufficiently clear, adequately resourced and appropriately matched to the setting.
How the Pieces Connect
This connection is what turns a collection of recommendations into an implementable Behaviour Support Plan.
Common Behaviour Support Plan Mistakes
- Starting with strategies before understanding why behaviour may occur.
- Using vague or judgemental labels instead of observable descriptions.
- Copying generic trigger lists.
- Assuming function without sufficient evidence.
- Including long lists of generic strategies with no prioritisation.
- Writing strategies that depend on staffing, time, resources or equipment that are not available without identifying how the implementation barrier will be addressed.
- Making instructions so complex that supporters cannot use them during everyday routines.
- Being overly prescriptive about timing, equipment or procedures without evidence that such specificity is needed.
- Failing to consult the people who will implement the plan.
- Treating implementation problems simply as staff non-compliance rather than analysing barriers.
- Writing goals focused only on reducing behaviour.
- Teaching communication without ensuring supporters respond to it.
- Using the same response strategy at every escalation stage.
- Failing to include recovery support.
- Collecting behaviour data without monitoring whether the plan itself is being implemented.
- Failing to revise strategies when evidence shows they are impractical or ineffective.
A Behaviour Support Plan Is Not a Generic Template
Templates can help practitioners remember important sections, but the completed plan should never be generic. Two people displaying the same observable behaviour may do so for entirely different reasons, and even an evidence-informed strategy may need adaptation to different environments.
The purpose of a template is to structure clinical reasoning and documentation, not replace individual assessment, collaboration or implementation planning.
See the companion Positive Behaviour Support Plan Template for a blank structure to adapt for an individual.
Create Functional Behaviour Assessments and Behaviour Support Plans in the Behaviour Help App
The Behaviour Help App provides a structured online platform that guides practitioners through the Assess, Manage and Prevent stages of Functional Behaviour Assessment and Positive Behaviour Support.
Practitioners can bring together individual information, behaviour data and ABC incidents, analyse behavioural patterns and develop a functional behaviour hypothesis. They can then develop escalation and response strategies, proactive supports, skill-development goals and monitoring arrangements within a connected workflow.
The platform can help reduce fragmentation across separate Word documents, spreadsheets, incident forms and behaviour data systems. Importantly, the practitioner remains responsible for ensuring that recommendations are evidence-informed, person-centred and realistic for the environments in which they will be implemented.
Implementation should still involve collaboration with the person, support network and relevant providers, alongside training, feedback and review where required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be included in a Behaviour Support Plan?
A comprehensive plan commonly includes information about the person, observable behaviour descriptions, relevant risk information, setting events and triggers, a functional hypothesis, meaningful goals, proactive strategies, communication and skill development, response strategies, implementation responsibilities, monitoring and review, and restrictive-practice information where applicable.
What makes a Behaviour Support Plan realistic to implement?
Strategies should fit the person’s real environments and routines, be understandable to implementers, have clear responsibilities, account for available staffing and resources, and be developed collaboratively with the people involved. Barriers should be identified and addressed rather than ignored.
What is an example of a good Behaviour Support Plan?
A good plan demonstrates a clear connection between assessment findings, function, strategies and implementation. It tells supporters what to do, when to do it, why it matters and who is responsible, while remaining practical in everyday settings.
Should support workers be involved in developing the plan?
Where appropriate and with the person’s consent, people who know and support the person can provide important information about everyday routines and implementation. Their involvement can also help identify practical barriers before strategies are finalised.
What if a strategy cannot be implemented?
The practitioner and relevant stakeholders should examine why. The strategy may need modification, additional training or resources may be required, or a service-level barrier may need to be addressed. Repeated implementation difficulty is useful information for plan review.
Does a Behaviour Support Plan need an FBA?
Where a plan addresses behaviours of concern, Functional Behaviour Assessment provides the evidence-informed foundation for understanding why behaviour may occur and selecting relevant strategies. The required assessment scope depends on the person, behaviour, risks and context.
Can the same plan be used across settings?
The formulation may remain consistent, but implementation often needs to reflect differences between home, education, work, community and service environments. Strategies should be functionally coherent while practical for each setting.
How do you know whether a Behaviour Support Plan is working?
Monitor both implementation and outcomes. Consider whether strategies are being used as intended and whether meaningful changes are occurring in wellbeing, communication, participation, safety, quality of life, behaviours of concern and restrictive practices where relevant.
Key Takeaway
A good Behaviour Support Plan is not defined by its length or the number of strategies it contains. Its quality comes from the connection between understanding, action and implementation.
The plan should help supporters understand the person, recognise what contributes to distress, make meaningful changes proactively, support communication and skill development, respond safely when needed, and evaluate whether the person’s life and support are improving.
The strongest plans answer five practical questions:
- Why might this be happening?
- What can we change or support proactively?
- What should we do when it happens?
- Can these strategies realistically be implemented?
- How will we know whether the plan is helping the person?