Behavioral Incidents Happen!
It doesn't matter if you have the best staff/team, FBA, BIP, updated reinforcement inventory, or relationship with a student - behavioral incidents happen!
What's important is how you handle the incident and how you make changes following the incident.
One of my favorite tools to use following a behavioral incident is the Staff Debrief Form. That way, there is documentation of the conversation, and also - if I have action steps following the chat, I can remember what I need to do!
Of course, finding TIME to debrief is always the biggest issue, but IMO, the debrief is a step that cannot be skipped.
This is also a good time to plug A-B-C (Antecedent - Behavior - Consequence) data. If you aren't already collecting this data, now is a good time to start! Link to a sample/editable ABC data sheet on TPT here.
This is the debrief form my team uses (linked below):
...and here's how we use it.
Date, team members, date of incident, time of incident (could be a range), and students and staff involved I think are all self-explanatory.
Using objective (judgement-free) language, what happened?
Objective language here is so important. You'll want to stay away from judgement, feelings, or emotion. Words like "disrespectful" or "aggressive" may be emotionally charged. Instead, if you were a 3rd party observer, how would you describe what happened? Stay neutral and state facts. Instead of "aggressive," you may say he hit an adult with an open hand on the arm 3 times.
What happened immediately before the behavior? (Antecedent)
Here is where ONE option is checked. There should only be one antecedent. This helps us collect data on potential triggers or where we need to implement additional interventions. It may be helpful here to edit the form for an individual student.
How did the staff react? (What was the consequence?)
We may check as many consequences as appropriate here. We document all consequences following the behavior, acknowledging that some are negative and some are positive.
Were there any outside/contributing factors (medication, home, environment)?
This is always important to note. If you know the student didn't have much sleep the night before, that may have impacted his/her behavior. Or, if there is a backorder on their medication, that could have been a contributing factor. (This is another reason why home/school communication and building relationships is *so* important!)
Were any interventions effective?
Even if a student doesn't have a BIP, was there ANYTHING staff did during the incident that was helpful? What eventually led to de-escalation? This can help when revising a BIP OR can help you to know to keep doing what you've been doing.
How will the team support the student in the future? What can be done differently?
This is the most important section because it's where you plan for the future and reflect together as a team on the incident. Was there something a team member did that may have been well-intended, but escalated the student? Are there any academic interventions that could be put in place to lessen frustration for the student? Are (additional) visuals needed, in order to reduce verbal input to the student? Did too many adults attempt to intervene?
Does the existing identified function of this student's behavior apply for this situation as well? Were the identified reinforcers effective?
Do other adults in the building need to know the plan updates?
Does your team do something similar? Are there any considerations in your debrief that would help my team too?!
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