Positive Relationships and Behaviour Management

This chapter provides guidance for carers on managing behaviour, which includes supporting positive behaviour, de-escalation of conflicts and discipline.

Children learn how to behave by watching, listening and talking to the adults who care for them. Children develop their morals and values from what they observe of how adults treat others.

Children need clear boundaries and consistent rules. You should have high aspirations of a child/young person placed with you and be clear about what is acceptable and not.

You are expected to understand, manage and deal with children and young people’s behaviour including encouraging children to take responsibility for their behaviour and helping them to learn how to resolve conflict.

It is important that you as the foster carer follow a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding and in supporting children and young people in the most positive of ways. As a foster carer you cannot and should not be expected to manage what can be very challenging behaviour in isolation in the absence of guidance and a shared understanding and agreement with regards to the strategies of support available.

The Fostering Agency should gain and share the referral information, Placement Plan and reviews as these are central to the ongoing planning and evaluation of the support in relation to behaviour. The Fostering Agency should ensure that, in relation to any child placed or to be placed with you as a foster carer, you are given such information, which is kept up to date, as to enable you to provide appropriate care for the child, and in particular you should be provided with a copy of the most recent version of the child's care plan. You should have all the necessary information available to the Fostering Agency about a child's circumstances, including any significant recent events, to help you understand and predict the child's needs and behaviours and support the child within your household. The Fostering Agency should follow up with the responsible authority where all such necessary information has not been provided by the authority.

When your foster child is new to your home they will not know or understand your rules unless you explain them. You will need to be mindful of the child’s background and early life experiences when setting boundaries and expectations. The safer caring plan should be in place which the child should be aware of.

It is important that the child is treated consistently by everyone who is dealing with them, particularly when there are two carers.

As the foster carer your role is to:

• Aim to create a safe, caring environment;
• Ensure that all children have opportunities to become confident and achieve their full potential;
• Encourage the child's consultation and participation in setting rules and consequences;
• Ensure that all children and young people live in homes where they have clear expectations in relation to their behaviour, are supported to understand and to develop alternative positive approaches to challenges within their lives;
• Ensure that all children and young people understand how positive behaviour is recognised and rewarded;
• Ensure that all children and young people are supported to understand the consequences of negative behaviour;
• Ensure that you understand and share the principles of positive approaches to behaviour;
• Accept the individuality of children and young people and celebrate the diversity of their backgrounds.

You play an important part in the day-to-day life of a child, therefore good parenting, supported by training on behaviour management techniques and strategies, will enable you to achieve and develop a more positive relationship with the child and a more harmonious life and will enable the child to feel good about themselves.

Positive behaviour support is about everyone playing their part in the child’s care and support and it should be a multi-disciplinary approach.

Things that need to be in place to support a positive behaviour approach:

You should provide an environment and culture that promotes, models and supports positive parenting and behaviour. The culture of the household, generated by you as the foster carer, is crucial. You should have high expectations of all of the foster children in your household.

Children must be enabled to build trusted and secure relationships with you and your family, who know them well, listen to them, spend time with them, protect them and promote their welfare. Children must be enabled to develop an appropriate sense of permanence and belonging and be fully included in your family life.

The care and help from you assists children and young people placed with you to develop a positive self-view and to increase their ability to form and sustain attachments and build emotional resilience and a sense of their own identity. This care and help also help them to overcome any previous experiences of neglect and trauma.

You will be, and should feel, well prepared and supported by the Fostering Agency to manage the behaviour of children and young people placed with you and situations arising from and leading to this behaviour.

You are expected to understand, manage and deal with children's behaviour including encouraging them to take responsibility for their behaviour and helping them to learn how to resolve conflict. You should have positive strategies for effectively supporting children where they encounter discrimination or bullying wherever this occurs, such as discussing the issue, counteracting the negativity and how to manage it, whether to involve others and when.

Children should be supported to develop and practice skills to build and maintain positive relationships, be assertive and to resolve conflicts positively. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour in a way that is appropriate to their age and abilities. You should respect the child's privacy and confidentiality, in a manner that is consistent with good parenting.

You should receive training in positive care and control of children, including training in de-escalating problems and disputes.

You will have clear, consistent and fair boundaries, to enable children to feel safe, encouraged and appropriately rewarded, to help ensure that they will thrive and do well and to contribute to a feeling of well-being and security for children.

As a foster carer you should think about the following in your practice:

• Listen to and empathise with children, respect their thoughts and feelings and take their wishes into consideration;
• Look for things that are going well, or any step in the right direction, and appropriately reward it;
• Use rewards in a creative and diverse way, specific to children's needs, capabilities and interests. This may mean that children are rewarded with activities or rewards that they enjoy. But all 'tangible' rewards should be accompanied by use of 'non tangible' encouragement and support – by you demonstrating to children that they have done well. Such 'non tangible' rewards include smiling and praising children;
• Make sure that children and young people are aware of the things that they have done well. This should involve prompt verbal feedback, along with clear recording in the child or young person’s file. All ‘tangible’ rewards should be clearly identified.

Children usually benefit, early on, from rewards which may appear to outweigh that which is expected. This is normal; over time rewards can be more relevant as children's self-esteem and skills improve.

For example:

• Children who have few social or life skills and whose self-esteem and confidence is low may require forms of encouragement and reward which are intensive, frequent or even excessive in order to help/remind them that they are doing well and appreciated;
• A child who has previously been unable to get up for school may be offered an incentive for getting up on time for a few days.

Over time, as children achieve what is expected, such rewards should be reduced or children should be expected to achieve more for the same or a similar reward.

The PACE model can help you work successfully with a child.

PACE stands for:

Sometimes 'L' for Love is included, making PLACE.

You should have house rules, setting out your expectations for how things are managed within the home. This should be explained to children, with the reasons for the rules and they should also know that that there are rules for everyone. They should not feel that they are being treated with less regard than other members of the household. Ideally children should know these expectations before they are placed.

These house rules should be recorded on the placement plan and in the safe caring document.

You will receive training in positive care and support of children, including training in de-escalating problems and disputes.

Conflict management should be used effectively and include the appropriate use of restorative practices that improve relationships, increase children's sense of personal responsibility and reduce the need for formal police intervention. This approach to care is designed to minimise the need for police involvement to deal with challenging behaviour and avoid criminalising children unnecessarily. Proactive and effective working relationships with the police help to support and protect children.

Children should be encouraged and helped to develop skills and strategies to manage their own conflicts and difficult feelings through developing positive relationships with you. There should be clear, consistent and appropriate boundaries for children.

Children should receive help to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. You should respond with clear boundaries about what is safe and acceptable and seek to understand the triggers for behaviour.

Positive behaviour should be promoted consistently. You should use effective de-escalation techniques and creative alternative strategies that are specific to the needs of each child and planned in consultation with them where possible.

You will receive support on how to manage your responses and feelings arising from caring for children, particularly where children display very challenging behaviour, and understand how children's previous experiences can manifest in challenging behaviour.

Difficult or challenging behaviour in children can occur for a number of reasons, for example:

• As a way of expressing emotions;
• As a result of developmental delays or learning disability;
• As a result of attachment/relationship difficulties;
• Learned behaviours in which challenging responses have become habit in the face of frustration or anxiety.

It is important that you have information about the child or young person’s history and can understand the causes of the child's behaviour and provide the child with help and support.

When working with, or caring for, children with challenging behaviour it is useful to bear in mind the following:

• The age and emotional maturity of the child, including understanding of behaviours;
• That the aim of any positive behaviour management is to help the child learn how to behave more appropriately and not to punish or to purely keep the child under control;
• Challenging or undesirable behaviour should not result in emotional distance between the child and you;
• No matter how difficult or challenging a child's behaviour, you should never resort to similar behaviour;
• The more you are able to understand a child's behaviour and are able to meet their needs in a consistent manner, the less likely they are to encounter difficulties with control.

Children need clear boundaries and to know what is expected of them to keep everyone safe.

The key points of a positive parenting behaviour approach are:

• The ground rules are discussed with the child and their family/carers so that their views can be taken into account;
• You should be honest about any non-negotiable issues, such as smoking on the premises;
• Rules need to be realistic and ideally phrased as a "do" rather than a "do not";
• Children may need to be reminded from time to time of the expectations we have regarding their behaviour and of why we have rules;
• When children or young people are stressed and upset they can display strong emotions such as anger, distress and frustration. Acknowledging that a child’s feeling are legitimate but look with the child at how the situation can be managed in a different way.

It is important to consider that a child may have disabilities that affect their behaviour, social skills, communication and understanding so require extra help with behaviour management.

It is important to work with the multi-disciplinary team to work out a positive approach to supporting the child or young person with their behaviours. This plan should be followed by all to ensure that the child or young person receives consistent messages around what is expected. Ongoing support around behaviours may be needed to keep the child or young person safe and healthy.

You are not permitted to conduct body searches, pat down searches, searches of clothing worn by children or of their bedrooms.

Should you suspect that a child is carrying or has concealed an item which may place the child or another person at risk, you should try to obtain the item by co-operation/negotiation.

If you suspect that a child is concealing an item which may place themselves or another person at risk, you must notify the Fostering Agency or, in an emergency, the Police.

In the event of any serious incident (e.g. accident, violence or assault, damage to property), you should take what actions you deem to be necessary to protect children/yourself from immediate harm or injury; and then notify the Agency immediately.

If there is a risk of serious injury/harm or damage to property, you should not use any form of physical intervention except as a last resort to prevent yourself or others from being injured or to prevent serious damage to property. If any form of physical intervention is used, it must be the least intrusive necessary to protect the child, yourself or others. See also: Restrictive Physical Intervention and Restraint Procedure.

At no time should you act unless they are confident of managing the situation safely, without escalation or further injury.

The Fostering Agency will endeavour to deal with as many as possible of the challenges that are involved in caring for children without recourse to the involvement of the police, who should only be involved in two circumstances:

• An emergency necessitating their immediate involvement to protect the child or others;
• Following discussion with the Supervising Social Worker, fostering manager, or the fostering Agency Out of Hours.

If any serious incident occurs or the police are called, the Supervising Social Worker, fostering manager or the Emergency Out of Hours (if out of office hours) must be notified without delay and will then notify the relevant social worker(s) and arrange for a full report to be made of the incident and actions taken. The Regulatory Authority must also be notified.

The permissible types of non-restrictive physical intervention which involve the physical involvement of Foster Carers are described. They are not intended to be progressive and failure of one method should not necessarily automatically lead to the next.

The type of physical intervention used will always depend upon and need to be in keeping with the circumstances including the age, competence and nature of the Child or Young Person and the potential risks involved. Wherever possible, physical intervention should be guided by a risk assessment and behaviour management plan. 

Any intervention should always be preceded by clear verbal instructions and warnings of the consequences of ignoring them and then accompanied throughout by attempts to "talk down" and calm the incident until any risk has passed. 

Physical intervention should only be used when required by the particular circumstances prevailing and never as part of a general regime. Consideration must be given to the health and cultural background of each individual Child/Young Person before intervening.

Touching

Foster Carers should be able to express "parental affection" towards Children and Young People in their care and to provide comfort to ease distress. This may include a hug or friendly arm on the shoulder etc. Foster Carers need to be mindful that a high proportion of Children and Young People who are looked after have experienced sexual and physical abuse. Therefore Foster Carers need always to be cautious and ensure that any physical contact is not misinterpreted. 

The family "safe caring plan” should give parameters of acceptable behaviour within the foster home. Reference should be made to the "safe caring statement" and any relevant background information about the Child or Young Person. Foster Carers also need to be aware of issues of age and gender and to be clear on when it is not appropriate to touch a Child or Young Person. 

Foster Carers should ensure that care is taken not to touch a Child or Young Person in any way they are uncomfortable with as certain physical contact may be open to misinterpretation. 

Where a Foster Carer is concerned that behaviour may have been inappropriate, they should discuss their concerns with their Supervising Social Worker.

Children and Young People who have been sexually abused may exhibit sexualised or inviting behaviour. Foster Carers need to remain aware of their role and acknowledge any issues such as behaviour that arises for them, seeking advice and guidance from their Supervising Social Worker.

Obstructing 

A Foster Carer may use his/her physical presence to stand in the way of a Child or Young Person who is ignoring instructions or losing control, or to obstruct an exit and, thereby, create an opportunity to express concern and remonstrate and reinforce the instruction.

However, "obstructing" must:

Be likely to be effective by virtue of the overall authority of the Foster Carer rather than simply his/her physical presence, and;

Be used in the general context of trying to engage the Child or Young Person in discussion about his/her behaviour and its implications, and;

Be discontinued if the Child or Young Person physically resists. Should this occur a decision will have to be made as to whether some other form of permitted intervention is justified and necessary.

The effect of the obstruction may be to restrict a Child or Young Person's movement around the room or building. This is acceptable only so long as the duration of the restriction does not extend into hours, unless in the case of a young Child, or Child or Young Person with severe learning disabilities the potential danger of, say leaving the home, is real and obvious and there is a need to provide close supervision to prevent injury or risk of significant harm.

Holding

This should involve no more than a hand placed on an arm or shoulder or leading a Child or Young Person by one or both hands and/or possibly by the flat of one hand placed against a Child or Young Person's back in order to guide him/her to some other place or activity.

This may be necessary:

To avoid external danger (for example holding a young Child's hand while crossing the road).

To divert a Child or Young Person from destructive or disruptive behaviour.

A Child or Young Person may be successfully diverted from destructive or disruptive behaviour by being led away by the hand, arm, or by means of an arm around his or her shoulder. Again, Children or Young People having a minor argument or a fight, which in itself is not likely to cause serious harm, but is nonetheless disruptive and detrimental to the well-being of other Children or Young People, may be successfully separated by being held firmly and guided away. Holding is more likely to be helpful for Foster Carers looking after younger Children. Particularly for those whose behaviour is unlikely to respond to verbal influence alone. However, even Young People may be successfully engaged by a hand placed firmly on the arm or shoulder to reinforce the attempts of Foster Carers to reason with them, or to emphasise the concern felt for them. 

Foster Carers should adopt the following principles when dealing with Children and Young People in this way:

• Whenever possible, the Foster Carer involved should have an established relationship with the Child or Young Person and should explain to the Child or Young Person what she/he is doing and why;
• Holding should not arouse sexual expectations or feelings, and should cease if the Child or Young Person gives any indication of this;
• Foster Carers should be careful where they hold Children or Young People. For instance, Foster Carers should be careful not to hold a Child or Young Person in such a way that involves contact with breasts or genitals.

If on any occasion the Child or Young Person forcibly resists or clearly objects, then "holding" should no longer be used as a method of physical intervention for that particular Child or Young Person. 

Should the Foster Carer feel unsure about any responses to a Child or Young Person's behaviour they should consult with the Child or Young Person’s Social Worker or their Supervising Social Worker. Where necessary the out of hours Emergency Duty Team should also be contacted.

• Placement Plan;
• Risk Assessment;
• Individual Safer Carer Plan;
• Behaviour Management Plan.