Using Staff Training to Decrease the Use of Restrictive Procedures at Two Facilities for Foster Care Children

Objective: Use of some restrictive procedures, including physical restraint, has been controversial. For children within the foster care system, who have already suffered various degrees of abuse and neglect, restrictive procedures could add to their emotional and behavioral problems. The current study was conducted to determine whether a behavioral staff training program would help reduce the use of restrictive procedures at two group facilities housing children in the foster care system. Method: Pre- and posttraining measures (incident reports) were obtained within a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design to document the use of restrictive procedures. Results: The data revealed decreases in reports of several restrictive procedures (e.g., take downs, physical holds, and physical and pharmacological restraints) at both facilities. Conclusions: The results suggest that training direct care staff personnel, including social workers, in positive behavioral strategies might reduce staff use of restrictive procedures and result in fewer injuries to both children and staff.