What is changing?
Behavior guidance terms defined
Four terms that have been widely used in child care center licensing but not formally defined in statutes now have definitions. The terms are behavior guidance, persistent unacceptable behavior, redirection, and separation. See the Overview of behavior guidance changes for child care centers table below for full definitions of each.
The definition of behavior guidance aims to positively define the purpose of behavior guidance in promoting a child’s development. The definitions of redirection and separation are consistent with current licensing practice and are taken from the existing DCYF Separation Report form.
The definition of persistent unacceptable behavior accounts for times when a child’s behavior presents a serious safety risk to the child or others and the program is not able to reduce or eliminate the safety concern, or when the child significantly disrupts the learning environment and requires an increased amount of staff guidance and time to address the child’s behavior. When a child is presenting persistent unacceptable behavior, a behavior plan must be created for the child.
Behavior plan requirements specified
Behavior plans are now required for children when their actions meet the definition of persistent unacceptable behavior. Plans must include:
- A description of the behavior.
- The planned behavior management method to be used in response to the behavior.
- An area to document the effectiveness of the plan and progress of the child.
Behavior plans must also be:
- Signed and dated by the parent, director, and other involved professionals.
- Reviewed at least twice per calendar year.
- Used to train staff (that is, staff must be trained on the behavior plan before working with the child).
DCYF is developing an optional Behavior Plan template that child care centers can use to create behavior plans. Examples of planned behavior management methods that could be defined in a behavior plan include:
- Additional 1:1 supervision during certain times of the day.
- Creating a picture schedule for reinforcing routines/predictability of expectations during transition times.
- Adjusting activities or schedules, such as building in a planned break before a predictable behavior trigger (for behaviors that escalate after a predictable duration or trigger).
Examples of persistent unacceptable behavior
The two examples below help illustrate how the new definition of persistent unacceptable behavior works in practice, which is the trigger for when a behavior plan must be created. The children’s behavior in each example meets the definition of persistent unacceptable behavior: They are exhibiting behaviors that present a serious safety risk for the child or others and the program cannot reduce or eliminate the safety concern. Additionally, the behavior is disruptive to the learning environment and requires an increased amount of staff guidance and time.
Example 1: A child has bitten another child multiple times over the past few weeks, according to the injury log and daily notes from the classroom. The child is now assigned a staff person to shadow them during certain times of the day.
Example 2: Staff have determined that the child hit another child during free play because they wanted the car that the other child was playing with. According to a classroom notebook, the frequency of this behavior has been 5x per week, and lately it has been more.
List of prohibited behavior guidance actions expanded
Behavior guidance should be based on positive actions. The list of prohibited behavior guidance actions has been expanded to include subjecting a child to spitting, cultural or racial slurs, or yelling; forcing uncomfortable positions or repeated movements; group punishment for individual behavior; denial or forcing of food or drink; use of any substance to subdue or restrict a child; delegating discipline to another child; and punishing a child for a parent’s actions (e.g., unpaid fees).
Changes to child separations
There are also changes to how children may be separated from the group, including:
- Toddlers may not be separated: Children designated as toddlers can no longer be separated from the group. If a child is designated as a toddler, follow that designation for behavior guidance purposes even if outside the typical 16–33 month range.
- Time limit: Children may only be separated for as long as necessary to regain self-control. The current requirement is that they return to the group as soon as the behavior abates or stops.
- Supervision: The requirement that a child must remain within an unenclosed part of the classroom has been removed; instead it is only required that a child be supervised during separation.
Positive behavior as an emphasis
Promoting positive behavior is still a priority, and focuses on six elements: modeling positive behavior; tailoring methods to be age-appropriate; using redirection; teaching acceptable alternatives to reduce conflict; protecting the well-being of children, employees and volunteers; and providing immediate, directly related consequences for a child’s unacceptable behavior.
The table below lists each change to the behavior guidance requirements and provides a side-by-side comparison of the current and revised standards.
