Behavior Management - Green Chimneys

When partnering with families, Green Chimneys uses a team approach

Student Benefits from Team Approach

April 17, 2019

Behavior Management

The practice of a fair and therapeutic application of behavioral support interventions assures the delivery of a high quality service to our children and their families. Green Chimneys School students are provided with a treatment setting in which all interactions with staff and the environment have a potentially therapeutic value.

Behavioral Support at Green Chimneys

We employ a trauma-informed approach to create and maintain an optimal environment for safety and recovery and staff is fully trained to develop a strong understanding and working knowledge of behavior management protocol. A variety of behavior support techniques, along with tools to make informed decisions in crisis situations, are provided for all direct care staff based on the Cornell University Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Curriculum, 6th edition. Staff also receives extensive training and refresher sessions in effective de-escalation techniques that are our preferred methods of management.

Green Chimneys is committed to becoming a restraint-free environment and employs a behavior management system that promotes safety and healing by developing techniques and incentives for rewarding desirable behavior. This system is designed to not just prevent children from engaging in destructive or unsafe behaviors but to teach them effective alternative behaviors when faced with difficulties.

Treatment team members develop an Individual Crisis Management Plan for each student as a means of coordinating behavior management techniques across the various program areas in a consistent manner. This plan considers the child’s particular history, alerts, age, cognitive functioning and emotional development; provides a guide for crisis intervention that includes preventive measures and physical interventions (if and when necessary); and is designed for all staff working with that child to understand:

Specific warnings about particular safety concerns:

Potential triggers

High risk behaviors

Specific intervention strategies

Their role in providing a unified approach in meeting each child’s needs

Staff members at Green Chimneys also employ the Safety Level System, an agency-wide assessment tool inspired by the Sanctuary Model® which is intended to promote an environment for positive growth and change.

The Level System is designed to:

Motivate children to behave safely

Identify the individual progress each child has made in maintaining safety

Provide a consistent assessment tool that is coupled with the granting of specific privileges and rewards

Brook Lyn the Sheep

Found abandoned in a box with her brother in Brooklyn, NY, this sheep was rescued as a newborn. After she was stabilized by a wildlife rehabilitator, she was driven up to Green Chimneys Farm where the children hand fed her with bottles of warm milk. The responsibility of becoming a caretaker for a little animal like Brook Lyn gives students a chance to recognize their own ability to make a contribution. Many of the children have been “taken care” of all of their lives by caring parents, concerned teachers and mental health staff, but stepping up and holding a bottle for this little orphan lamb transforms them from service receivers to service providers.