Functional Behavior Assessments in New Hampshire: What They Are and When to Demand One

Your child is being sent home repeatedly for behavior. The school says they're "working on it." But if no one has sat down and systematically figured out why the behavior is happening, everything else they're doing is guesswork. A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is the tool that changes guesswork into a documented, enforceable plan.

What a Functional Behavior Assessment Actually Is

An FBA is a structured assessment process designed to identify the specific function or purpose a particular behavior serves for a student. Behaviors don't happen randomly—they serve a function. The most common functions are:

• Escape or avoidance (getting out of a demanding task, a noisy environment, or a social interaction)
• Attention (positive or negative attention from adults or peers)
• Access to preferred items or activities
• Sensory input or stimulation

An FBA uses multiple data-gathering methods:

• Direct observation of the student in the environments where the behavior occurs
• Interviews with teachers, parents, and the student
• Review of behavioral records and incident reports
• Indirect assessment tools (behavioral rating scales, ABC data forms)

The output of an FBA is a hypothesis statement: "When X condition exists, the student engages in Y behavior, in order to Z." A hypothesis statement that is specific and data-supported becomes the foundation for a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) that actually addresses the cause of the behavior—not just the symptom.

When New Hampshire Schools Are Required to Conduct an FBA

Under New Hampshire's Ed 1113 and Ed 1124 discipline rules, an FBA is mandatory in specific circumstances:

After a manifestation determination finding: When the IEP team determines that a student's behavior was a manifestation of their disability (or a result of IEP implementation failure), the team must either conduct an FBA (if one has not already been done) or review and modify an existing BIP. This is not optional.

As part of a comprehensive evaluation: If a student's evaluation includes assessment of behavioral or social-emotional functioning—which should be routine for students with autism, ADHD, or emotional disturbance—the FBA should be part of that evaluation package.

Proactively, before behaviors escalate: Although proactive FBAs are not always legally required, they are legally defensible and often produce better outcomes. An FBA conducted before a suspension pattern develops gives the team data to adjust the IEP and avoid triggering the discipline provisions entirely.

When You Should Request an FBA

Even when the school hasn't proposed one, you have the right to request a functional behavior assessment as part of a comprehensive evaluation or as a separate assessment. Put the request in writing to the Special Education Director.

Request an FBA when:

• Your child is being sent home, suspended, or physically removed from the classroom on a recurring basis
• School staff have attributed the behavior to "defiance" or "choice" without examining environmental triggers
• The existing BIP isn't working and no one has re-examined the function of the behavior
• Your child received a short suspension (in New Hampshire, the state's binding case law requires an MDR for any suspension of a student with a disability—the FBA review should accompany this)
• Behavior incidents are happening in specific settings or at specific times, suggesting environmental factors
• The IEP team is discussing a more restrictive placement based on behavior, without having conducted an FBA to determine whether the current environment is causing or contributing to the behavior

Who Conducts an FBA in New Hampshire

An FBA should be conducted by someone with training in behavioral assessment—typically a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), a school psychologist with behavioral training, or in some cases a licensed counselor with behavioral expertise. In larger SAUs with dedicated behavior support teams, this is manageable. In smaller and rural SAUs, finding a qualified FBA assessor is a genuine challenge.

If your SAU cannot provide a qualified FBA assessor in a reasonable timeframe, this is grounds for requesting that the district contract with an outside behavioral consultant—or for requesting an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) of the behavioral assessment at public expense, if you disagree with the district's existing FBA findings.

What a Behavior Intervention Plan Should Contain

The BIP that follows from an FBA should include:

Target behavior definition: A precise, observable, measurable description of the behavior being addressed. "Aggression" is not a definition. "Student hits peers with an open or closed hand when directed to transition from preferred activity to non-preferred activity" is.

Hypothesis statement: The documented function of the behavior based on FBA data.

Antecedent interventions: Changes to the environment, schedule, or task structure that reduce the likelihood the trigger condition occurs (or help the student tolerate it better).

Replacement behavior: A socially appropriate behavior that serves the same function. If the student escapes work demands by hitting, the replacement behavior teaches an acceptable escape request ("Can I take a break?").

Reinforcement plan: How and when the replacement behavior will be reinforced, and by whom.

Crisis procedures: What staff will do if the behavior occurs, to keep the student and others safe.

Data collection plan: How behavior frequency, duration, or intensity will be measured, how often, and by whom.

Responsible parties: Which staff members implement each part of the plan.

A BIP without all of these elements is not a functional plan—it's a list of strategies with no mechanism for verifying whether it's working.

New Hampshire's Staffing Shortage and FBA Quality

New Hampshire's special education landscape has a documented statewide shortage of related service providers, including behavioral specialists. In small SAUs, an FBA may be conducted by a school psychologist who is also managing a caseload of 60 students, evaluating new referrals, and attending IEP meetings. This is not a recipe for a thorough, individualized FBA.

If the FBA your district produced seems superficial—a brief checklist completed without classroom observation, or a generic behavior plan that doesn't reflect your child's actual behavioral patterns—you have the right to request an IEE of the behavioral assessment. An independent BCBA with no stake in the district's resource constraints will conduct a more rigorous assessment.

The New Hampshire IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a guide to evaluating whether your child's FBA and BIP meet New Hampshire's legal standards, templates for requesting a behavioral assessment as part of a comprehensive evaluation, and strategies for challenging inadequate behavior plans at the IEP table.

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