Enhancing Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavioral Consultation Through Collaborative & Proactive Solutions

This paper invites consultants to reflect on best practices for assessing and intervening with children who exhibit concerning behaviors. It further examines the extent to which collaborative problem-solving approaches with students are emphasized within current school-based consultation practices. We describe the traditional functional behavior assessment (FBA) model for addressing problematic behaviors, an approach with strong empirical support in school settings that may nonetheless present implementation challenges and opportunities to deepen collaborative understanding of students’ unmet needs. Consistent with recent scholarship calling for complementary approaches that strengthen rather than replace traditional FBA processes, we examine the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions model (CPS) as one research-informed framework for supporting collaborative discussions, problem identification, and problem analysis within existing FBA practices. Finally, we highlight the similarities and differences between traditional and CPS-informed approaches and discuss how integrating complementary processes within FBAs can strengthen assessment-driven intervention planning.