Community-Based Positive Supports
Why Tier Three Implementation Efforts Help People Transition Into Community Settings
Research addressing the effective use of evidence-based practices supports using a three-tiered model to integrate positive supports is helpful for a number of reasons. For example, it is more difficult to create a successful plan for a person who is transitioning from a hospital setting if the setting they are going to be returning to is unpredictable, includes children or adults who also engage in challenging behaviors, and where people are unable to follow the transition plan that is created to support a person. Tier 1 universal strategies help to create a positive, predictable, and reinforcing setting where it will be easier to make an effective transition. Tier 2 strategies help to include a person in the other types of group and targeted strategies that support other children or adults and is a supplement to the more intensive individual transition plan.
A team approach is recommended for any setting interested in moving forward with a tiered approach to positive supports. More information about this type of team-based effort is available in the Home and Community Based Modules on this website. This overall team addresses tier 1 efforts including the practices, systems needed, and data that will help guide positive support implementation. A Tier 2 and 3 team is often created to monitor and support group interventions and each individual plan. Tier 2 & 3 teams monitor all of the individual positive support plans that are occurring within a setting.
Organizations that are successful in using a team-based approach to put positive supports in place report cost savings because less time is needed to address minor and more serious challenges. The overall goal is to embed positive supports into the every day work of the organization. This means that teams are embedding positive support instruction directly into training for new staff, in ongoing staff meetings, and within accreditation and strategic plans that are already occurring.
Administrators and CEOs are reporting cost savings related to the following outcomes:
- Increases in quality of life and improved climate survey results
- Increases in staff retention
- Decreases in overall number of serious incidents of challenging behavior, injuries, or need for crisis management
- Decreases in workers compensation, staff attrition and sick days
- Provides more time for teams to focus on supporting people who need for intensive supports
- People Supported
- Administrators
- Managers
- Staff Members
- People Supported
- Family Members
- Community Members
- Members of Tier 2 & 3 Team
- Person-Centered Practice Trainers
- Person-Centered Plan Facilitators
- Positive Behavior Support Facilitators
- Leaders of Organizational Workforce/Training Systems
- Other Positive Support Facilitators and Trainers
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy