Behavior Intervention Plan in Hawaii: How BIPs Work in HIDOE Schools

A Behavior Intervention Plan is only as good as the Functional Behavior Assessment it's built on — and in Hawaii's under-resourced special education system, both are frequently rushed, superficial, or written after the fact to justify discipline rather than prevent it. Here's what a real BIP looks like and how to evaluate whether the one your school is proposing will actually help your child.

What a Behavior Intervention Plan Must Do

A Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is a written document embedded in or attached to the IEP that describes how the school will respond to specific behaviors — and more importantly, what it will do to prevent those behaviors from occurring in the first place. Under IDEA and HAR Chapter 60, a BIP is required when:

• A student with a disability is removed for more than 10 school days and the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the disability
• An IEP team determines that a student's behavior is impeding their learning or the learning of others

A legally adequate BIP is not a list of consequences for bad behavior. It must include:

• Target behaviors — specifically defined and measurable (not "non-compliant" but "leaves assigned work area more than twice per period")
• Behavior function — the identified purpose of the behavior based on FBA data
• Antecedent strategies — environmental or instructional changes that prevent the behavior from being triggered
• Replacement behaviors — new skills the student will be taught to achieve the same function in an acceptable way
• Reinforcement strategies — what motivates this specific student, based on preference assessments
• Response strategies — how staff will respond when the target behavior occurs, with consistency across all settings
• Data collection — how the behavior is being tracked, who is tracking it, and how often data is reviewed
• Crisis procedures — if applicable, a specific plan for severe escalation

Who Develops and Implements the BIP in Hawaii

In Hawaii's HIDOE, behavior support teams often include the Special Education Teacher (SET), the school counselor, and increasingly, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) or Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). The BCBA is the gold standard for designing complex BIPs, particularly for students with autism, significant emotional disabilities, or severe behaviors.

The problem is that BCBAs are in extremely short supply on neighbor islands. On the Big Island, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai, families frequently report that their child's BIP was written by a school counselor or special education teacher with minimal behavioral training — and it shows. Plans built without solid FBA data or BCBA oversight tend to rely on reactive consequences rather than proactive skill-building.

If your child is on a neighbor island and the school's BIP has no BCBA involvement, ask in writing who conducted the FBA and who designed the behavior support strategies. Request documentation of their qualifications. You can also request that the HIDOE bring in a BCBA from Oahu or authorize telehealth consultation. These are not unreasonable requests — they're part of the school's obligation to provide an appropriate education.

Warning Signs in a BIP

Not all BIPs are created equal. These are signs the plan is inadequate and needs to be challenged:

• Vague behavior definitions — if the behavior isn't defined in a way that three different teachers would describe it the same way, the data collected will be meaningless
• No antecedent strategies — a plan that only describes what happens after a behavior, not what prevents it
• No replacement behavior — teaching students what not to do without teaching an alternative is not behavior intervention, it's punishment
• Heavy reliance on restraint or seclusion — under Hawaii's Act 242, physical interventions are last resort only. A BIP that treats them as a primary strategy is both legally questionable and clinically unsound
• No data system — without ongoing data collection, you have no way to evaluate whether the plan is working

You have the right to receive all BIP data at any time. If the school cannot produce tracking data showing whether behavior is improving, the plan is not being properly implemented.

What to Do When the BIP Isn't Working

The BIP should be reviewed regularly — at minimum annually with the IEP, but also whenever the data shows the plan isn't reducing the target behavior. If the behavior is escalating, occurring more frequently, or leading to repeated suspensions, call for an IEP meeting immediately.

At that meeting, request:

• The current behavior data (frequency, duration, intensity trends)
• A review of whether the behavior function was correctly identified
• A discussion of what antecedent strategies have been tried
• Whether the replacement behavior is being taught with enough intensity and consistency

If the school insists the plan is fine despite evidence to the contrary, you can request an Independent Educational Evaluation to get an independent FBA and BIP recommendations from an outside BCBA.

Document everything. In Hawaii, where the HIDOE is both the SEA and LEA and essentially investigates itself, a clear paper trail of your concerns, the data you've seen, and the responses you've received is critical if you ever need to escalate to the Monitoring and Compliance (MAC) Branch.

Physical Interventions: Hawaii's Rules

If behavioral incidents are resulting in physical restraint, know your rights under Act 242 and HIDOE policy. Restraint and seclusion are strictly prohibited unless there is an imminent threat of physical injury or severe property destruction. They cannot be used as a routine behavioral consequence.

If restraint is used, the school must:

• Notify you verbally the same day
• Provide written notification within 24 hours

If restraint is occurring repeatedly, that's a signal that the BIP isn't working and that the school may not have correctly identified the behavior function. Escalate this in writing and request an emergency IEP meeting.

The Hawaii IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a BIP review checklist and guidance on requesting BCBA involvement in HIDOE schools — particularly useful for neighbor island families navigating provider shortages.

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