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Empowering autistic and neurodiverse individuals to thrive with dignity, choice, and independence.

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Positive Behaviour Support

The PBS team was formed in 2009 and currently consists of 9 PBS leads. The team’s ethos and values have been embedded over the years through our continuous reflections on the effectiveness of our work. 

Although we are called the PBS team, we primarily use three components: Person Centred Planning (PCP), Person Centred Active Support (PCAS), Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) to provide high quality outcome driven support  to our service users, frontline staff, families, and other professionals.

At Marcus & Marcus, our Person-Centred Behaviour Support approach is not just a methodology, it is the foundational philosophy that underpins our commitment to improving the lives of Autistic and Neurodiverse individuals. We are dedicated to delivering support that is individualised, ethically grounded, and rigorously effective, resulting in genuine and sustainable improvements in the quality of life for the people we support.

Our Core Values and Principles

Our PBS strategies are built upon a set of deeply held values that guide every aspect of our work:

  • Lead by Example: We believe in demonstrating best practices in all our interactions and support, setting a high standard for our teams and the individuals we support.
  • Implementation Fidelity: We are committed to the precise and consistent application of PBS plans. This ensures that strategies are delivered as intended, maximising their effectiveness and promoting predictable and positive outcomes.
  • Evidence based Practice: Our Approaches are evidence-based and carefully considered, prioritising the safety and well-being of the individual above all else.
  • Tailored approaches: Support provided is  meticulously developed based on each person’s unique goals, aspirations, diagnosis, specific needs, and individual risk profile. 
  • Continuous learning: We view every incident, especially those involving challenging behaviour, as an opportunity for learning, analysis, and refinement of support strategies. This proactive and reflective approach ensures that we continuously improve our service and improve our service user’s quality of life.

Key Work Areas

The PBS team provides a comprehensive set of specialist services, designed to understand, support, and empower positive changes in the person’s life and the skill development:

  • Making Sense of Challenging Behaviour: We analyse to understand the function and context of challenging behaviours and co-create strategies to prevent recurring. These collaboratively developed strategies are continuously monitored through data collection and adjusted periodically to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention. 
  • Functional Behaviour Assessment & PBS Plan Development: Our team conducts in-depth FBAs to identify the underlying reasons for challenging behaviour. From this, we develop bespoke PBS plans that are practical, proactive, and focus on teaching new skills and improving the overall quality of life.
  • Data Collection & Analysis: We implement systematic data collection methods to monitor the effectiveness of interventions, allowing for evidence-based decision-making and continuous adaptation of support strategies to ensure optimal outcomes.
  • Service Users Needs Specific Training: We deliver tailored training to our frontline colleagues. This includes specialised training in autism and learning disability, Person-Centred Planning, Introduction to PBS approach, Good Autism Practice, capable environment, etc, ensuring a consistent and informed approach across all environments.
  • Trauma-Informed Support: Recognising the profound impact of trauma, our support is delivered through a trauma-informed lens, prioritising safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural sensitivity.
  • Ensuring Good Autism Practice: We adhere to and promote the highest standards of practice specifically tailored for Autistic individuals, ensuring that support is respectful, enabling, and responsive to neurodiversity.
  • Transitioning service user to our service: We lead and provide expert guidance during transitions, i.e. moving out of homes, or from other services to our service, to minimise stress and ensure continuity of care and successful settling in. We build a a support team during the transition by training, role modelling, inducting and facilitating reflective workshops. 
  • National Autistic Society Accreditation Review: We regularly review and align our practices with the National Autistic Society standards, preparing for and maintaining their accreditation to ensure the highest quality of autism-specific support.
  • Creating a Capable Environment: We collaborate with individuals and their support networks to design and adapt physical and social environments that proactively reduce triggers for challenging behaviour and promote engagement and general well-being.

What Makes Our Approach Unique and Effective?

Our PBS approach stands apart due to its profound and measurable impact on the lives of those we support. Its uniqueness derives from:

  • Genuine Improvement of Quality of Life: Our primary focus is not just on behaviour reduction, but on improving the overall quality of life for autistic individuals and learning disabilities, promoting independence, choice, and inclusion.
  • Zero Placement Breakdown: We are incredibly proud of our record of no placement breakdowns. This exceptional achievement is a direct result of our highly effective, responsive, and person-centred support, which stabilises individuals in their living environments and avoids disruptive moves.
  • Service user’s Needs Specific Training: We do not just train our staff, we ensure that all training, whether for internal teams or external stakeholders, is directly relevant to the specific needs and goals of the individual being supported, ensuring truly effective and personalised support.
  • Systemic Work with Stakeholders: Our success is built on robust collaboration. We engage in comprehensive systemic work with all involved stakeholders, including families, other professionals, and community services, creating a unified and supportive network around each individual.

Achievements

Our unwavering commitment to excellence in PBS is consistently validated by external recognition and the significant, positive outcomes experienced by those we support:

  • Advanced NAS Accreditation: We have proudly maintained our National Autistic Society accreditation since 2011 and were thrilled more recently to be awarded the advanced NAS accreditation and are proud to be one of only 36 providers nationally to have achieved this. This significant milestone highlights our continuous strong commitment to providing the highest quality of support for autistic individuals.
  • CQC Outstanding Report (2023 Inspection): Our most recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission in 2023 resulted in an ‘Outstanding’ rating, a testament to the exceptional quality, safety, effectiveness, responsiveness, and leadership of our services.
  • Significant Reductions in Incidents: Through our proactive and skilled interventions, we consistently achieve a marked reduction in the frequency and severity of challenging incidents, creating safer and more stable environments.
  • Reduced PRN Intake: Our PBS approach lead to a decrease in the reliance on PRN medication, indicating improved well-being and a reduced need for reactive chemical restraint.

Reducing Restrictions: By empowering individuals and proactively addressing the causes of challenging behaviour, we are able to significantly reduce the need for restrictive practices, promoting greater autonomy, dignity, and freedom for those in our care.