How to Write a Strong Behavior Plan

By Jazzmyn Mijic, M.S., B.C.B.A.
Posted: July 2026
Category: Behavior Plans

A Strong Behavior Plan Starts With a Strong Background Questionnaire

One of the most important parts of behavior plan development is the information collected before the plan is written.

A detailed background questionnaire helps the BCBA gather information from caregivers, records, direct observation, and the child’s real-life routines. This information can help guide:

• Behavior intervention planning
• Functional behavior assessment interviews
• Skill acquisition programming
• Caregiver training
• RBT training
• Clinical decision-making
• Treatment planning
• Generalization planning
• Safety planning

When the background information is vague, the behavior plan is more likely to become vague too. But when the information is detailed, the plan can become more individualized, more realistic, and easier for the team to implement.

1. Start With the Child’s Home Life and Daily Routines

A behavior plan should reflect the child’s actual life, not just what happens during therapy.

Home life can give us important information about routines, relationships, expectations, and possible setting events. Before writing a plan, it is helpful to know:

• Who lives in the home?
• Does the child have siblings?
• How does the child interact with family members?
• What routines are already in place?
• What routines are difficult?
• Does the child travel between homes or caregivers?
• Does the child share a bedroom or personal space?
• What does the family’s day usually look like?

These details help the BCBA write a plan that fits the family’s real environment. A recommendation may sound good clinically, but if it does not fit the home routine, caregiver availability, or child’s daily schedule, it may not be realistic.

A strong behavior plan should be practical enough to use outside of the therapy room.

2. Look at Attending, Transitions, and Following Instructions

Before labeling behavior as refusal or nonresponsiveness, we need to understand what the child can currently do.

For example:

• Does the child respond to their name?
• Do they need repeated instructions?
• Can they follow basic directions such as “come here,” “stop,” “give me,” or “put down”?
• Can they transition from one activity to another?
• What happens when a routine changes?
• What supports help them move through non-preferred tasks?
• What instructions are already successful?
• What instructions lead to behavior?

This information matters because some behaviors may be connected to skill deficits, unclear expectations, difficult transitions, communication needs, or missing supports.

A strong behavior plan should not just tell staff what to do after behavior occurs. It should also help the team understand how to set the child up for success before behavior occurs.

3. Include Medical History, Medications, Adaptive Living, and Eating

Medical history, adaptive living skills, and eating routines should not be treated as “extra” information. These areas can directly affect behavior, participation, safety, and programming.

A detailed behavior plan background questionnaire may include questions about:

• Diagnosis and age at diagnosis
• Medical concerns
• Medications
• Medication side effects
• Allergies
• Sleep
• Toileting
• Bathing
• Dressing
• Brushing teeth
• Brushing hair
• Feeding or mealtime concerns
• Utensil use
• Drinking method
• Food preferences
• Food refusal or limited food variety
• Mealtime routines

For example, a child who struggles with bathing, dressing, toileting, or hair brushing may not need a generic behavior plan. They may need a plan that includes sensory considerations, shaping steps, communication supports, visual supports, caregiver training, reinforcement strategies, and dignity-centered teaching.

Adaptive living skills are not small goals. They are often deeply connected to comfort, independence, hygiene, family routines, and quality of life.

4. Understand Communication Before Writing the Plan

A behavior plan should always consider how the child communicates.

Before writing replacement skills or functional communication goals, the BCBA should understand:

• How does the child request items or activities?
• How does the child request help?
• How does the child request a break?
• How does the child say “all done”?
• How does the child protest or reject something?
• What happens when the child is not understood?
• Does the child use vocal speech, signs, gestures, PECS, AAC, or a combination?
• Are communication responses spontaneous or mostly prompted?
• Does the child communicate differently with different people?

Functional communication is not just a program to add later. It is often one of the most important parts of a behavior plan.

If a child does not have an effective way to communicate discomfort, frustration, confusion, wanting more time, needing help, or wanting access to something, behavior may become their most effective form of communication.

A strong plan should help the team teach communication that is functional, accessible, and meaningful across settings.

5. Identify Strengths, Interests, and Areas of Need

Behavior plans should not only focus on what is going wrong.

A child’s strengths can help the BCBA build momentum, identify reinforcers, create motivating teaching opportunities, and write goals that feel more successful for the child and team.

Before writing the plan, ask:

• What does the child enjoy?
• What activities are motivating?
• What skills does the child already have?
• What routines are going well?
• What people does the child connect with?
• What teaching formats are successful?
• What does the child do independently?
• What areas are difficult?

Strengths matter because they help us build from what the child can already do.

Areas of need matter because they help us identify what to teach next.

A behavior plan should not be written as a list of problems. It should be written as a clinical roadmap for support, teaching, prevention, communication, and progress.

6. Collect More Than a Behavior Label

A behavior label is not enough.

Writing “aggression,” “tantrum,” “elopement,” or “property destruction” does not tell the team what is actually happening.

A strong behavior plan should include context. The BCBA should know:

• What does the behavior look like?
• Where does it happen?
• Who is usually present?
• What usually happens before the behavior?
• What usually happens after the behavior?
• What time of day does it happen?
• What activities are commonly involved?
• How often does it happen?
• How long does it last?
• How intense is it?
• Has anyone been injured?
• Are there safety concerns?
• What has already been tried?
• What seems to help?
• What seems to make it worse?

The more specific the information is, the more useful the plan becomes.

A strong behavior plan should allow an RBT, caregiver, teacher, or supervising clinician to understand the behavior clearly and respond consistently.

7. Include Community Safety and Real-World Environments

Behavior plans should not only focus on the clinic, table, or therapy room.

Many important behaviors happen in real-world environments. This may include:

• Parking lots
• Stores
• Doctor’s offices
• Parks
• Playgrounds
• Cars
• Waiting rooms
• School settings
• Community outings
• Family events

Community safety information helps the BCBA understand whether the child runs away, drops to the ground, grabs items, climbs, refuses to leave, struggles with waiting, has difficulty staying near an adult, or becomes distressed in public places.

This information is important for writing realistic safety procedures, caregiver training goals, transition supports, and replacement skills.

A strong behavior plan should help the team support the child where life actually happens.

8. Review Records, Outside Services, and School Information

Caregiver interviews are important, but they are not the only source of information.

A strong background questionnaire should also ask about records and outside services, such as:

• Diagnostic reports
• IEPs or IFSPs
• Speech therapy reports
• Occupational therapy reports
• Physical therapy reports
• Psychological evaluations
• Mental health reports
• Medical recommendations
• School placement
• Classroom supports
• Transportation
• Other therapy services
• Coordination of care needs

These records can help the BCBA understand the child’s broader support system and avoid writing goals or recommendations that are disconnected from school, medical, or therapeutic needs.

Behavior plans are stronger when they are informed by the full clinical picture.

9. Ask About Caregiver Priorities

Caregiver concerns should directly shape treatment planning.

Before writing goals, it is important to ask caregivers what matters most to them. This may include questions such as:

• What are three things you would like to see improve?
• What behaviors are most concerning right now?
• What routines are the hardest?
• What safety concerns do you have?
• What skills would make daily life easier?
• What goals feel most important for your family?
• What has been difficult with previous services?
• What do you want the team to understand about your child?

This does not mean the behavior plan becomes only what the caregiver requests. The BCBA still uses clinical judgment, assessment, observation, and ethical decision-making.

But caregiver priorities matter because behavior plans should be meaningful to the people living the routines every day.

10. Include Preference and Reinforcement Information

A behavior plan should include information about what motivates the child.

Preference information can guide pairing, reinforcement, teaching, transitions, and behavior reduction strategies.

Helpful questions may include:

• What toys does the child enjoy?
• What foods or snacks are preferred?
• What activities are motivating?
• What social interactions does the child enjoy?
• What sensory activities does the child seek?
• What places or routines does the child like?
• What does the child dislike?
• What should the team avoid?
• What loses value quickly?
• What works at home but not in therapy?
• What works in therapy but not at home?

Reinforcement is not just about giving a child something after a response. It is about understanding motivation, building relationships, and creating teaching conditions where the child is more likely to participate and learn.

11. Use Direct Observation Before Finalizing the Plan

A strong behavior plan should include what caregivers report, what records show, and what the BCBA observes directly.

Direct observation can help the BCBA notice:

• How the child interacts with adults
• How the child interacts with caregivers
• How the child responds to directions
• How the child plays
• How the child communicates
• How the child transitions
• How the child responds to denied access or waiting
• How the child engages with peers
• What patterns may not appear during an interview

Sometimes what is reported and what is observed match clearly. Other times, direct observation gives the BCBA new information that changes the plan.

Observation helps make the behavior plan more accurate, more individualized, and more useful.

12. Consider the Schedule Before Recommending Services

A child may clinically benefit from support, but the actual schedule still matters.

Before finalizing a behavior plan or treatment recommendation, it is helpful to understand:

• School schedule
• Nap schedule
• Other therapies
• Caregiver availability
• Transportation
• Medical appointments
• Family routines
• After-school fatigue
• Meal times
• Breaks
• Best times of day for learning

A strong plan should consider what can actually be implemented.

Clinical recommendations should be meaningful, but they should also be realistic enough for the team and family to follow.

A Strong Behavior Plan Should Be Individualized, Clear, and Usable

A behavior plan should not be copied and pasted.

It should not be generic.

It should not leave RBTs guessing.

It should not leave caregivers confused.

A strong behavior plan should clearly explain the child’s needs, the behavior being addressed, the replacement skills being taught, the prevention strategies being used, the response procedures, the safety considerations, and the plan for generalization.

Most importantly, it should be written in a way that the team can actually use.

When BCBAs collect detailed background information, they are not just filling out paperwork. They are building the foundation for ethical, individualized, and effective treatment planning.

The better the information, the stronger the plan.

Final Thoughts

Strong behavior plans start before the first strategy is written.

They start with asking better questions, listening to caregivers, reviewing records, observing the child, understanding the environment, and identifying what skills need to be taught.

Behavior plans should be detailed because children are detailed.

They should be individualized because families are individualized.

And they should be clear because RBTs, caregivers, teachers, and future providers need to understand what to do and why it matters.

A strong behavior plan is not just a requirement.

It is one of the most important clinical tools we can create.

The full Behavior Plan Background Questionnaire is available on MrsJazzmyn.com and on Teachers Pay Teachers at Mrs Jazzmyn.

About the Author

Jazzmyn Mijic, M.S., B.C.B.A., also known as Mrs. Jazzmyn BCBA, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who has been in the field of ABA since 2014. She creates practical ABA resources, CEUs, program materials, and clinical tools to support BCBAs, student analysts, RBTs, and ABA teams in building stronger, more individualized clinical systems.

Disclaimer

This blog post is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized assessment, treatment planning, clinical supervision, professional consultation, or clinical judgment. ABA programs and interventions should be individualized based on the client’s needs, caregiver priorities, assessment results, direct observation, medical considerations, and ethical guidelines. Always consult with a qualified professional when developing or implementing behavior plans or clinical recommendations.