Behavior Intervention Plan in Maine: What It Must Include and How to Request One

Your child's school has told you they have a "behavior plan." Maybe it arrived as a one-page document attached to the IEP. Maybe it was mentioned verbally without any written document at all. What it probably does not include is the one thing that makes a behavior plan legally and clinically meaningful: a clear identification of why the behavior is happening, and a proactive strategy to address that function.

A Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is not a list of consequences for misbehavior. A BIP built primarily on consequences — lose privileges, receive time-outs, get sent to the office — is not actually a behavior intervention plan at all. It is a punishment schedule. The distinction matters enormously under Maine's MUSER, and it determines whether your child receives meaningful support or just more of the same management strategies that already aren't working.

When a BIP Is Required Under MUSER

Under MUSER IX.3.D, when a child exhibits behavior that impedes their learning or the learning of others, the IEP Team is required to consider positive behavioral interventions and supports, and strategies to address that behavior. When behavior is chronic or severe, best practice and legal requirement converge: the team should conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) before developing the BIP.

Federal IDEA creates specific BIP requirements when disciplinary actions are involved:

• When a student with a disability is suspended for more than 10 school days cumulatively in a year and the behavior is found to be a manifestation of the disability, the district must conduct an FBA and implement a BIP (or revise an existing one)
• When a student is removed to an interim alternative educational setting for weapons, drugs, or substantial injury to self or others, the district must assess the behavior and implement a BIP within 10 business days

Parents do not have to wait for a disciplinary crisis. If your child's behavior is already disrupting their learning or the learning of their classmates, you can request a BIP in writing at any time. Cite MUSER IX.3.D in your request.

What a Legally Adequate BIP Must Include

An adequate BIP under MUSER and IDEA best practice should contain:

1. Target Behavior Definition The behavior being addressed must be described in objective, observable, measurable terms. "Is disruptive" is not adequate. "Leaves assigned seat without teacher permission, screams loudly when given a non-preferred task, and throws materials" is specific enough to measure and track.

2. Functional Hypothesis The BIP must state the function of the behavior — why the child engages in it. This should come directly from an FBA. If the function is escape from non-preferred tasks, a plan that focuses on reinforcing compliant behavior without modifying the task demands will fail, because the child's behavioral strategy is working.

3. Antecedent Modifications Proactive changes to the environment or instruction that reduce the likelihood the behavior will occur. If the function is escape from difficult reading tasks, antecedent modifications might include pre-teaching vocabulary, breaking reading into smaller chunks, providing a choice of reading materials, or checking in at the start of independent work to reduce anxiety.

4. Replacement Behavior The specific, functionally equivalent behavior the child will learn instead. If the behavior functions to get a break from an overwhelming task, the replacement behavior is requesting a break appropriately (using a card, a signal, or a verbal phrase). The replacement behavior must serve the same function as the problem behavior to actually compete with it.

5. Reinforcement Strategy How the replacement behavior will be reinforced. The reinforcement must be compelling enough to motivate the child to use the new behavior consistently. A list of consequences for the problem behavior without reinforcement for the replacement behavior will not produce lasting change.

6. Crisis/De-escalation Procedures For students with significant behavioral profiles, the BIP must include procedures for when the student is already in a state of escalation — what staff will do, what language they will use, what the physical environment will look like. This section is particularly important in light of Maine's documented history of inappropriate restraint and seclusion practices.

7. Implementation Responsibilities The BIP must name specific people responsible for implementing each component. A plan that says "all staff will use consistent strategies" is unenforceable. The plan should name the classroom teacher, special education teacher, paraprofessionals, and any other team members with defined roles.

8. Progress Monitoring How often data will be collected, who will collect it, and what tool will be used. A BIP without a data collection system cannot tell you whether the plan is working.

The Restraint and Seclusion Problem in Maine

Maine has a documented history of inappropriate use of restraint and seclusion in schools, particularly for students with behavioral profiles. Disability Rights Maine (DRM) has engaged in systemic advocacy on this issue, and the Maine DOE has faced federal scrutiny over practices in specific SAUs.

A well-constructed BIP with proactive supports and a crisis de-escalation protocol significantly reduces the risk that a student will be restrained or secluded. If your child has been restrained or secluded at school, you have the right to documentation of each incident — including the behavior that preceded it, the specific physical or seclusion technique used, the duration, and the staff involved. Maine law requires written notification to parents of restraint and seclusion incidents.

If a student is being restrained repeatedly, the question the IEP Team should be asking is whether the BIP is addressing the function of the behavior. Repeated restraint is a signal that the behavioral support system is failing, not that the student is simply choosing not to comply.

Abbreviated School Days as a BIP Failure

Maine has a specific and documented problem with abbreviated school days being used when behavior management strategies fail. MUSER VI.2.L makes clear that reduced school days can only be authorized by the IEP Team for individual educational or medical needs — not as a behavioral management strategy or convenience for the district.

If your child is being sent home early because of behavior, and there is no FBA-backed BIP in place addressing the function of that behavior, you have grounds to challenge this as both a MUSER violation and a failure to provide FAPE. Contact the Maine DOE's OSSIE to file a state complaint if the abbreviated day practice continues without proper IEP Team authorization and documentation.

Requesting a BIP Revision

If a BIP is in place and not working — if the behavior is not improving or is getting worse — parents can request an IEP Team meeting at any time to review and revise it. You do not have to wait for the annual review. Under the Endrew F. standard, an IEP (including its behavioral components) must be reasonably calculated to provide meaningful benefit. A BIP that is not producing change is not meeting this standard.

Bring your own data to the meeting if you can. Frequency counts of incidents at home, notes from teachers, or disciplinary records from the school give the team concrete information to work from rather than impressions.

The Maine IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a BIP review checklist and guidance for requesting FBAs and BIP revisions under MUSER, along with templates for the written requests that initiate these processes. Getting the behavioral support structure right is one of the highest-leverage interventions in the IEP process.

See more United States homeschool guides →