What Are Behavior Support Services?
Behavior support services help individuals with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disabilities, and other developmental disabilities when behavior is getting in the way of the life they want. That might look like aggression, self-injury, property destruction, elopement, severe anxiety, refusal, or difficulty with transitions and change.
The starting point of good behavior support is not the behavior itself — it is the reason behind it. Nearly all challenging behavior is communication. It is a person telling us that something is too hard, too loud, too fast, too confusing, too painful, or that a need is going unmet and they do not have another reliable way to say so. Our job is to understand that message and then build a plan that teaches a better way to send it.
At We Care Support Services, our behavior specialists conduct a formal functional behavioral assessment, develop a written positive behavior support plan, train the people who provide day-to-day support, and stay involved as the plan is implemented and refined. We do not hand a family a binder and disappear.
A behavior support plan is only as good as the people carrying it out. That is why a large share of our work is training and coaching families, direct support professionals, and program staff — not just writing the document.
Who Behavior Support Services Are For
We provide behavior supports across the lifespan, in whatever setting the person actually lives their life.
Children and Teens
Young people with autism or intellectual disability whose behavior is affecting home life, school participation, or community access.
Adults with IDD
Adults living at home, in supported living, or in licensed settings who need a formal plan to remain safe and stable.
Families in Crisis
Households where behavior has escalated to the point of risk, placement concern, or caregiver burnout.
Provider Agencies
Organizations needing clinical consultation, plan development, or staff training for the people they serve.
Dual Diagnosis
Individuals with both a developmental disability and a co-occurring mental health diagnosis needing coordinated support.
Transition-Age Youth
Young adults moving from school-based services into adult systems, where old supports fall away quickly.
What Is Included in Our Behavior Support Services
Every plan is individualized, but our behavior support work typically includes the following components.
Our Approach: Positive Behavior Support
We practice positive behavior support (PBS) — a framework grounded in applied behavior analysis but explicitly organized around dignity, choice, and quality of life. In practice, that means several commitments.
We assess before we intervene
No plan is written until we understand the function of the behavior. Two people can hit for entirely different reasons — one to escape a demand, one to gain attention, one because of undiagnosed pain. The same intervention applied to both will help one and harm the other.
We teach replacement skills, not just restrictions
A plan that only tells everyone what to stop doing will fail. If we are asking a person to give up a behavior that has worked for them, we owe them a better tool that works faster and more reliably. Communication training is often the single highest-leverage intervention we provide.
We rule out medical and sensory causes
Sudden behavior change in a person with limited communication is a medical question until proven otherwise. Dental pain, constipation, reflux, ear infection, medication side effects, and sleep disruption are among the most commonly missed drivers of behavior in people with intellectual disabilities. We ask these questions early and coordinate with medical providers.
We use the least intrusive effective approach
Restrictive procedures are a last resort, used only when clinically justified, documented, reviewed, and consistent with Pennsylvania regulations and the individual's rights. Our default is prevention, teaching, and environmental change.
We measure whether it is working
Plans are built with measurable targets and reviewed against real data. If the data does not move, the plan changes. Sticking with an intervention because it is familiar rather than because it works is one of the most common failures in this field.
How the Process Works
Families often tell us they do not know what to expect from behavior support. Here is the path from first call to ongoing support.
Intake and Referral
We talk with you about what is happening, review funding and eligibility, and gather existing documentation including any prior evaluations, ISP, and current plans.
Assessment
Our behavior specialist observes across relevant settings, interviews the people who know the individual best, and collects baseline data on the behaviors of concern.
Functional Analysis
We identify what typically happens before the behavior, what maintains it, and what the person is likely communicating through it.
Plan Development
We write a positive behavior support plan with specific prevention strategies, teaching targets, response protocols, and measurable outcomes — in plain language the team can actually use.
Team Training
We train everyone who implements the plan: family members, direct support professionals, and program staff. Training is hands-on, not a slideshow.
Implementation Support
We stay involved while the plan is put into practice, troubleshooting in real conditions rather than in theory.
Monitoring and Revision
We review data on an ongoing basis, report progress to the team, and revise the plan as circumstances change.
Funding and Eligibility in Pennsylvania
Behavior support is a funded service under several Pennsylvania programs administered through the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and county administrative entities. Depending on the individual's situation, behavior support may be authorized through a home and community-based waiver, base funding, or another payer.
If you already work with a Supports Coordinator, they are usually the fastest route to getting behavior support added to a service plan. If you do not, or you are not sure whether the person you care about is enrolled in anything, that is one of the first things we will help you sort out.
Not sure what funding you have or whether you qualify? Call us. A significant part of our intake work is simply helping families figure out which door they are standing in front of — and we do that whether or not you end up becoming a client.
Why Families and Teams Choose We Care
We Care Support Services was founded by two Master Clinicians who spent years doing this work directly before building an agency around it. That background shapes how we operate: our behavior support is clinically led, not administratively led.
Families consistently tell us the difference is responsiveness and follow-through. A plan that arrives three months after the crisis is not support. We aim to move quickly at intake, communicate clearly about timelines, and stay reachable once services begin.
We also work hard to be honest about what behavior support can and cannot do. It is not a fast fix, and progress is rarely a straight line. What a well-built plan does reliably is give a team a shared understanding, a consistent response, and a way to measure whether things are getting better.