Positive Behaviour Support, Contact and Restraint

Semi independence placements provide bespoke accommodation to young people living on their own or in a group living settings. Each Care Plan and the package of care should meets the needs of the individuals placed.

The Service fully recognises the contribution it makes to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its young people that it supports.  We recognise that all staff have a full and active part to play in protecting our young people from harm and this includes supporting young people with relationships and helping them to maintain their placements with the Service including supporting them with positive behaviours and making suitable relationships.

Appropriate plans/agreements should be drawn up with the professionals working with the young person if there are issues and clear messages around behaviour and resolutions should be addressed in the plan on how this is achieved.

The aim is always for young people to maintain their tenancies and placements. Good matching is essential to make sure a semi independence supported living placement is the right option for the young person.

If there are issues around relationships and behaviour, then the Service will talk to the young person about their placement and try and make changes within their placement or group setting to iron out any difficulties or issues. However there may be situations where the placement is not right for the young person and notice may need to be given.

However this would only be if

• All solutions had been exhausted by staff;
• Other key professionals have been involved;
• Specialist support has been offered if appropriate such as counselling, medication;
• The reassessment of the young person’s needs indicate a different service is needed;
• The young person wants to look at other options as they do not feel the placement is meeting their needs.

In exceptional circumstances, where there is immediate risk of injury, a member of staff may have to take necessary action.

Before intervening physically, staff should wherever practicable, tell or ask the young person to stop, and what will happen if they do not.

The staff member should continue to attempt to communicate with the young person throughout the incident and should make it clear that physical contact or restraint will stop as soon as it ceases to be necessary.

In such cases only the minimum force necessary will be used whilst maintaining a calm and measured approach.

Staff should not put themselves at risk of injury. In these circumstances, the staff member should remove the young people who may be at risk and seek assistance from a colleague/s and if necessary telephone the police.

Staff should inform the young person that they have sent for help. Until assistance arrives, staff should continue to attempt to defuse the situation orally and try to prevent the situation from escalating or leave until help has arrived.

There are a wide variety of situations in which intervention might be appropriate, or necessary.

They will fall into three broad categories:

• Where action is necessary in self-defence or because there is an imminent risk of injury;
• Where there is a developing risk of injury, or significant damage to property;
• Where a young person is behaving in a way that is compromising the safety of others.

Examples of situations that fall within one of the first two categories are:

• A young person attacks a member of staff or another young person;
• Young people are fighting;
• A young person is engaged in, or is on the verge of committing, deliberate damage or vandalism to property;
• A  young person is causing, or at risk of causing, injury or damage by accident, by rough play, or by misuse of dangerous materials or objects.

In the unlikely event of a staff member needing to use restrictive physical intervention, the following points should be noted:

• Staff members must only use the approved restraint methods that they have been trained to use;
• Restrictive physical intervention must be consistent with the concept of proportionality and reasonable force;
• The circumstances must warrant the use of force;
• The degree of force employed must be in proportion to the circumstances of the incident and the minimum to achieve the desired result;
• Avoid causing pain or injury;
• Do not hold a young person face down on the ground or in any position that might increase the risk of suffocation.

Any member of staff involved in an incident requiring physical intervention must inform their line manager and write a detailed report of the incident to help prevent any misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the situation.

If you are aware that a young person is likely to behave in a way that may require physical control or restraint, there should be a clear plan in place on how to manage this situation.  

• Manage the situation by defusing the situation;
• Involve the social worker/parents so everyone is aware of the plan;
• Brief staff to ensure that they know exactly what action should be taken and where appropriate provide training or guidance;
• Ensure that additional support can be summoned if appropriate.

Physical contact may be misconstrued by  the young person, others or an observer. Touching young people including well-intentioned gestures, can if repeated regularly lead to serious questions being raised.

There are occasions when physical contact with a young people may be necessary, for example when providing first aid. Young people may need prompts or to be shown how to do something.

There may be occasions where a distressed young person needs comfort and reassurance, which may include physical comforting such as a caring parent would give. Staff should use their discretion in such cases to ensure that what is normal and natural does not become unnecessary and unjustified contact, particularly with the same young person over a period of time.

Staff should use their own professional judgement when they feel a young person needs this kind of emotional support. Where a member of staff has a particular concern about the need to provide this type of support and reassurance they should seek the advice and guidance of their line manager.