Dealing with Challenging and Violent Behaviour

Contents

1.	Introduction
2.	Referral and Admission
	2.1	Risk Assessments
3.	Reporting and Recording
4.	Follow up After an Incident
5.	Level of Risk
6.	Actions for Staff following a Violent Incident

1. Introduction

Children who have suffered abuse and neglect may display difficult, risk taking or challenging behaviours, including violence and / or aggression. A child’s challenging behaviour should never be viewed in isolation but rather should be seen in the context of their experiences to date.

Children who have a history of challenging behaviour (including violence) should be placed in settings which are able to promote and support positive behaviour and help them deal with their challenging behaviour in a positive way. The placing authority must ensure that the home has strategies to deal with challenging behaviour, and that staff are trained in encouraging positive behaviour through de-escalation of conflicts and confrontations.

Staff working with children who display challenging, aggressive and violent behaviour should be trained in promoting positive behaviour and offered on-going support to manage their own feelings and responses.

2. Referral and Admission

Before a child is admitted to the home, the placing authority will provide information on the following as part of the placement planning process:

• Any previous challenging behaviour (including violence and aggression);
• A description of the behaviour, including any triggers so staff can identify whether there are any patterns of behaviour.

Staff in the home should also ascertain the following:

• What intervention strategies have been used to manage the behaviour?
• What interventions had positive outcomes?
• What interventions triggered further challenging or violent behaviour?
• Whether additional specialist support (e.g. from CYPMHS) is required.

2.1 Risk Assessments

The home’s manager should:

• Ensure all staff are provided with training on how to de-escalate conflict and confrontation and manage aggression and potentially violent behaviour;
• Undertake a written risk assessment and develop strategies for managing any challenging behaviour in individual children.

The child's Placement Plan should outline strategies for managing and promoting positive behaviour. If necessary, there should be a separate detailed Behaviour Management Plan.

3. Reporting and Recording

The manager and the staff within the home should agree the behaviours which will be taken to constitute violent or challenging behaviour for reporting purposes.

Reports on challenging and violent behaviour should provide the following information:

• What was happening at the time;
• Who was present;
• What happened?

Staff and managers should consider the following before reporting violent behaviour:

• Staff should question their own behaviour and responses;
• Has the child responded inappropriately to a feeling or act against them where the right to be angry was acceptable, but their response/behaviour was not?
• Did this occur with a specific person with whom it is known they have difficulty?
• Had the child received visitors or contact from family/ friends at the time of the incident or shortly before or after?

Home’s managers and staff should explore all of the above and look for any triggers before they label a child as challenging or violent.

Accurate records are important as they allow evaluation to take place and help identify any patterns in behaviour. This critical assessment of a situation will ensure that future reports of behaviours, which can 'label' a child challenging or violent will be based on factual and evaluative reporting.

4. Follow up After an Incident

Whenever an act of violence or other challenging behaviour has occurred the home’s manager should ensure that both staff and child concerned, are allowed to discuss the incident and its impact on themselves and others in the group.

Managers should:

• Undertake a review and make necessary changes to internal policies, routines and children's Placement Plans to help with reducing or preventing incidents from occurring in the future;
• Discuss with staff how they dealt with the situation and, if required, how they could deal with the situation differently in the future.

Home's managers should collate data emanating from incidents and periodically undertake a review. The home's policies, training strategies, routines and methods for promoting positive behaviour amongst children should be revised as required.

5. Level of Risk

Managers need to ensure that procedures are in place for responding to incidents and that they match the level of risk.

Workers who are exposed to the risk of violence and other challenging behaviour need training on the procedures to follow in the event of an incident. It is important that they are aware of the criteria for initiating procedures and are free to do so when they feel under threat.

If the level of risk is such that the continuing placement of the child is threatened, or may be at risk of coming to an end, the home's manager must draw this to the attention of the child's social worker and Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), who may decide to convene a Looked After Review.

6. Actions for Staff following a Violent Incident

A decision should be made between the staff member, the manager and young person about whether to report matters to the Police, see Offending and Anti-Social Behaviour – guidance on when to involve the Police Procedure.