Can a Behaviour Support Plan Be Changed? Understanding BSP Reviews and Updates
A Behaviour Support Plan is often described as a living document, but for many families and Support Coordinators the practical question comes up quickly: what happens when the plan is no longer working, or when the participant's life changes? Can the BSP actually be updated, or does the family have to wait for the next formal review?
The short answer is yes. A Behaviour Support Plan can be reviewed and updated whenever it needs to be. This blog explains the formal Behaviour Support Plan review process, when an interim update is appropriate, and who can request a change.
How Often Is a BSP Formally Reviewed?
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission sets clear expectations for how often a BSP must be formally reviewed. Under the current framework:
- An interim Behaviour Support Plan must be reviewed at least every six months.
- A comprehensive Behaviour Support Plan must be reviewed at least every twelve months.
These are minimums, not ceilings. A plan should be reviewed more frequently if the participant's situation changes significantly, if the strategies are not working, or if restrictive practices are in place and the reduction plan requires close monitoring.
When an Early BSP Review Makes Sense
Although formal review timelines provides a theoretical guide, in practice, a Behaviour Support Plan often needs to be updated between scheduled reviews. Common triggers for an early BSP review include:
- A significant change in the participant's living arrangement, such as moving into SIL or leaving the family home.
- A new medication being introduced, or a change in existing medication.
- A new diagnosis or a change in the participant's medical picture.
- A significant life event: a bereavement, a family change, a school or day program transition.
- A change in the participant's support team, such as new support workers or a new Support Coordinator.
- Behaviours of concern escalating, changing shape, or new behaviours emerging.
- Restrictive practices being introduced, changed, or a reduction plan not tracking as expected.
- The strategies in the current plan clearly not working.
A good PBS Practitioner does not wait for the six or twelve month mark if something material has changed. Waiting can mean months of strategies being applied that no longer fit the participant.
Who Can Request a BSP Review?
Any party involved in the participant's care can raise a concern that leads to a review. This includes:
- The participant themselves, where they can communicate their needs.
- The participant's family, guardian or nominee.
- The Support Coordinator.
- Support workers implementing the plan.
- A SIL provider or day program.
- The participant's GP, psychologist, occupational therapist or other clinicians.
- The PBS Practitioner themselves, based on their own clinical observations.
Raising a concern does not automatically trigger a full new plan. It triggers a conversation with the PBS Practitioner, who then makes a clinical judgment about what level of update is required.
What Happens During a BSP Update
A Behaviour Support Plan review can range from a light-touch amendment to a full re-assessment. Typical updates include:
- Minor amendments to strategies, such as adjusting how a particular trigger is managed.
- Adding new strategies where the participant's needs have evolved.
- Removing strategies that are no longer relevant.
- Updating the restrictive practice reduction plan where restrictive practices have changed.
- Re-training family, support workers and other implementers on any changes.
- A full re-assessment where the participant's situation has changed significantly. This may involve a new Functional Behaviour Assessment.
The update is documented, dated, and shared with everyone implementing the plan so that the strategies being applied are always current.
What This Means for Participants and Families
If a Behaviour Support Plan is not working for a participant, families do not have to wait until the next scheduled review. Raise it with the PBS Practitioner. A plan that does not fit into the participant's actual life is not doing its job, and every good PBS Practitioner would rather know about it sooner rather than later.
At Allied Health 2U, our Positive Behaviour Support team treats every BSP as a living document that adjusts as the participant's life changes.
Concerned that a Behaviour Support Plan is no longer working for a participant? Get in touch with Allied Health 2U on 1300 24 2428.
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