Kansas Institute for Positive Behavior Support

About KIPBS

The Kansas Institute for Positive Behavior Support (KIPBS) at the University of Kansas was established November, 2001 in collaboration with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) to create statewide training for PBS and PCP. This system will allow professionals in the fields of developmental disabilities, mental health, and child welfare to bill Medicaid for PBS and PCP services. All Kansas agencies will be able to obtain access to online instructional materials that can be embedded within their own ongoing in-service training efforts.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Kansas Institute for Positive Behavior Support is to:

Train professionals who will facilitate individual PBS and PCP planning within their regions;
Create a unified network of professionals who use systems change strategies to embed PBS and PCP processes into their organizations;
Provide Kansans with access to a variety of online resources and materials free of charge; and
Facilitate state-wide and organization-wide planning processes to increase the effectiveness of individual PBS and PCP plans.

What is PBS and PCP

Positive Behavior Support (PBS) refers to a set of research-based strategies that are intended to decrease problem behaviors by designing effective environments and teaching individuals appropriate social and communication skills. PBS is defined as an integration of:

Valued outcomes;
Behavioral and biomedical science;
Validated procedures; and
Systems change to enhance an individual's quality of life.

The goal of PBS is to improve quality of life, not only for a child or adult with a disability, but for all of the individuals within a social network. PBS is now used in many different situations and contexts and with different types of problem behavior such as aggression, property destruction, and self injury. Children with and without disabilities can benefit from the PBS process across home, school, and community settings.

Person-centered planning (PCP) is a process for learning about an individual's preferred lifestyle. It involves creating goals that will assist individuals in achieving their preferred lifestyle within a collaborative team context. Most PCP plans are created with the goal of:

Increasing participation and presence in the community;
Gaining and maintaining significant relationships;
Expressing and making choices;
Experiencing respect and living a dignified life; and
Developing personal skills and areas of expertise.

Person-centered planning (PCP) forms the overall context within which positive behavior support (PBS) is implemented. Both PBS and PCP are focused on identifying the contextual and environmental variables that improve the quality of life for a person who is receiving services. PCP is not an intervention. It is a process that puts a person in control of his or her planning of services and supports.

Why PBS and PCP?

A combination of PBS and PCP provides a comprehensive and multicomponent approach for reducing problem behavior while improving the quality of an individual's life. Positive behavior support (PBS) relies on the use of validated procedures and recognizes the importance of behavioral and biomedical science. In a 1999 review of published research studies, it was found that in cases where PBS strategies were used, there had been as much as an 80% reduction in challenging behavior for approximately two-thirds of the behavioral outcomes that were studied. (Carr et al., 1999). In addition, these practices have been demonstrated to be effective with individuals with a wide range of problem behavior and disability labels. More recently, these practices have been used successfully with classrooms and whole schools.

Person-centered planning, because it focuses on improving the quality of life and experiences for persons, is considered an integral component of positive behavior support. Implementing high quality person-centered planning can reduce problem behavior and avoid the need for more intensive.