14.2 Promoting Positive Behaviour

This chapter was added to the manual in October 2024.

Policy
Encouraging and rewarding Children
Minimum House Rules
Sanctions
Physical Searching of Children & Young People
Serious Incidents and use of Physical Intervention

1. Policy

The Family Placement Service ensures that carers are able to set and maintain safe, consistent and understandable boundaries for acceptable behaviour in children and that they receive training in the positive care and control of children.

The Family Placement Service makes it clear within the written information provided to the foster carers that corporal punishment is not acceptable. This includes smacking, shaking and all other humiliating forms of treatment or punishment.

Manx Care have child protection policies and procedures which are shared with the foster carer(s) and which make clear the duties and responsibilities of the Family Support Service under the Isle of Man Child Protection Agency Procedures.

The Isle of Man’s Fostering Minimum Standards require that the Family Placement Service has and implements a written policy that clarifies the duties and responsibilities for the behaviour management of children and young people in foster care.

This policy sets out our expectations in relation to the behaviour management of Looked After children on the Isle of Man.

2. Encouraging and rewarding Children

Caring for children involves setting expectations and boundaries. The growing personality of all children leads to behaviour which can test out relationships and acceptable standards of behaviour. Foster carers play a key role in influencing children.

The culture of the home, generated by the Foster Carers, is crucial. Foster Carers are expected to understand, manage and deal with young people's behaviour including encouraging children to take responsibility for their behaviour and help them to learn how to resolve conflict. A restrictive, unsupportive, discouraging and punishing culture will result in instability, hostility and possibly severe disruption. Manx Care encourage a trauma informed approach.

All foster placements should have clear, fair boundaries, where children feel safe, encouraged and appropriately rewarded, so that they will thrive and do well. Foster Carers who adopt this approach may also experience less instability and disruption.

Foster Carers should at all times endeavour to:

Listen to and empathise with children, respect their thoughts and feelings and take their wishes into consideration;
Look for things that are going well or any step in the right direction, and appropriately reward it;
Use rewards in a creative and diverse way, specific to children's needs, capabilities and interests. This may mean that children are rewarded with “time in,” rather than exclusion. It is important for the foster carer to be supported in using a therapeutic, trauma informed parenting approach.

Children and young people also need encouragement through emotional warmth. For example, praise, smiling and safe touch. Please see Safer Caring Policy.

Children who have few social or life skills and whose self-esteem and confidence is low may require forms of encouragement and reward which are intensive, frequent or even excessive in order to help/remind them that they are doing well and appreciated.

A child who has previously been unable to get up for school may be offered an incentive for getting up on time for a few days.

However, it should also be borne in mind that some children cannot tolerate praise as it undermines the low perception they have of themselves. For these children smaller more specific praise is needed. Responses should always be individual to the child.

3. Minimum House Rules

Supervising Social Workers must ensure that foster carers have a safe caring plan for their own household. This should be explained to children, with the reasons for the rules and they should also know that there are rules for everyone. They should not feel that they are being treated with less regard than other members of the household. Ideally these expectations should be known to children before they are placed.

No smoking;
Keep own bedroom clean and tidy;
Do not go into any other bedroom;
Be dressed all the time;
If you have gone out, return home at the time your Foster Carer has suggested;
Always be where you say you will be;
If you want to change your plans when you are out ask permission from your foster carer first;
Do not hurt purposely any member of your foster family or any other children or young people living in the same place as you;
Do not purposely hurt any pet of the foster family;
The child/young person will be supported to complete homework;
School work be completed at home, where necessary;
When you use the bathroom or toilet always close the door;
If you have any problems try and talk to your Foster Carer.

4. Sanction

Guidance on use of Sanctions

Before imposing sanctions, Foster Carers should do all they can to support and encourage children to do well. If children do not behave acceptably, strategies should be adopted that are encouraging and rewarding.

Rather than noticing and sanctioning misbehaviour, it is always better to notice and reward good behaviour - or any step in the right direction. For example, it may be more effective to allow a child to have use of a video or TV at bedtime for getting up on time; rather than taking the TV away for getting up late.

The former is discouraging and causes resentment; the latter is encouraging, can improve self-esteem and relationships between children and carers.

If children continue to behave in unacceptable ways, they should be reminded about what is expected and given further encouragement and support to change their behaviour.

Where sanctions are used they must be reasonable and the minimum necessary to achieve the objective. Also, there should be a belief that the sanction will have the desired outcome - increasing the possibility that acceptable behaviour will follow.

If sanctions are imposed, carers should apply the following principles:

Sanctions must be the exception, not the rule;
Sanctions must not be imposed as acts of revenge or retaliation;
Think before imposing the sanctions; don't apply it in the heat of the moment;
Sanctions may only be imposed upon children for persistent or serious behaviour; where reminders and reprimands have already failed or are likely to fail;
Sanctions should only be used if there is a reasonable chance they will have the desired effect of making the point and in reducing or preventing further unacceptable behaviour;
Before applying any sanction, the foster carer should make sure the child is aware that his/her behaviour is unacceptable and, if possible, warn him/her that sanctions will be applied if the unacceptable behaviour continues;
Sanctions should only last as long as they need to and allow the child the opportunity to make a fresh start as quickly as possible.

Non Approved Sanctions

The following sanctions are non-approved, which means they may never be imposed upon children:

Any form of corporal punishment; i.e. any intentional application of force as punishment, including slapping, punching, rough handling or throwing objects;
Any sanction relating to the consumption or deprivation of food or drink;
Any restriction on a child's contact with his or her parents, relatives or friends; visits to the child by his or her parents, relatives or friends; or his or her access to any telephone helpline providing counselling or advice for children;
Any requirement that a child wear distinctive or inappropriate clothes;
The use or withholding of medication or medical or dental treatment;
The intentional deprivation of sleep;
The modification of a child's behaviour through bribery or the use of threats;
Any sanction used intentionally or unintentionally which may humiliate a child or could cause them to be ridiculed;
The imposition of any fine or financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum by way of reparation;
Any intimate physical examination of a child;
The withholding of aids/equipment needed by a disabled child;
Any measure which involves a child in the imposition of any measure against any other child; or the sanction of a group of children for the behaviour of an individual child;
Swearing at or the use of foul, demeaning or humiliating language or measures.

Approved Sanctions

The following sanctions may be used to support the carer and provide appropriate response to the child:

Confiscation or withdrawal of a telephone or mobile phone in order to protect a child or another person from harm, injury or to protect property from being damaged;
Restriction on sending or receiving letters or other correspondence (including the use of electronic or internet correspondence) in order to protect a child or another person from harm, injury from being damaged;
Reparation, involving the child doing something to put right the wrong they have done; e.g. repairing damage or returning stolen property;
Restitution, involving the child paying for all or part of damage caused or the replacement of misappropriated monies or goods. No more than two thirds of a child's pocket money may be taken in these circumstances if the payment is small and withdrawn in a single weekly amount. Larger amounts may be paid in restitution but must be of a fixed amount with a clear start and end period. If the damage is serious or the size of payment particularly large then the child's social worker should be informed of the matter and the foster carer should make a claim via their house/building insurance;
Curtailment of leisure activities, involving a child being prevented from participating in such activities;
Additional chores, involving a child undertaking additional chores over and above those they would normally be expected to do;
Early bedtimes, by up to half an hour or as agreed with the child's Social Worker;
Removal of equipment, for example the use of a TV or video/DVD player;
Loss of privileges, for example the withdrawal of the privilege of staying up late;
Suspension of pocket money for short periods;
Restorative - supporting the child/young person to apologise.

Recording of Sanctions

All sanctions must be recorded in the Log Book. Please see Foster Carer Recording Policy.

This will identify the name of the child, the inappropriate behaviour, the date and nature of the sanction and be signed by the person applying the sanction.

A sanction is a permitted (i.e. listed) corrective measure imposed on a child to help towards self-discipline and a sense of responsibility towards others.

5. Physical Searching of Children & Young People

Carers are not permitted to conduct body searches, or searches of clothing worn by children.

Bedroom searches are not to be confused with every day checks, i.e. collecting pots, laundry, checking electrical appliances have been switched off. These are activities that are part of everyday household routines.

Should Foster Carers suspect that a child is carrying or has concealed an item which may place the child or another person at risk, they should try to obtain the item by co-operation/negotiation.

If carers suspect that a child is concealing an item which may place themselves or another person at risk, they must notify the agency or, in an emergency, the Police.

6. Serious Incidents and use of Physical Intervention

In the event of any serious incident (e.g. accident, violence or assault, damage to property), carers should take what actions they deem to be necessary to protect children/themselves from immediate harm or injury; and then notify the agency immediately.

At no time should carer(s) act unless they are confident of managing the situation safely, without escalation or further injury.

The carers should endeavour to deal with as many of the challenges that are involved in caring for children without recourse to the involvement of the Police, who should only be involved in two circumstances:

An emergency necessitating their immediate involvement to protect the child or others;
When a Looked After Child goes Missing From Care.

If any serious incident occurs or the Police are called, the child's Social Worker must be notified without delay and will then notify the Family Placement Service and arrange for a full report to be made of the incident and actions taken. The Family Placement Service must inform the Registration & Inspection Unit with 24 hours of the incident.

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