Securicare has worked extensively within those sectors responsible for supporting children; The education sector, fostering services, with adoptive parents. We have worked to develop various training solutions including how to manage challenging, disruptive and violent behaviour . We welcome news of a new national clinical trial aimed at reducing behaviour that challenges in very young children with learning disabilities. It is being launched by the charity ‘Contact a Family’ and researchers at UCL .

The intervention, which has shown positive outcomes outside the UK, aims to increase parents’ confidence and skills so they can manage their child’s behaviour effectively. It will be carried out by a research team led by chief investigator, Professor Angela Hassiotis and is the first UK trial specifically addressing behaviour that challenges in pre-school children who are often overlooked and are at an elevated risk of developing mental health problems.

Professor Hassiotis says: "Behaviours that challenge begin in the early years and can lead to worse outcomes later in life and family crisis. Prior research in other countries has found that early intervention can be particularly helpful to improve long term outcomes."

All the families involved in the trial will have children who are aged between 3-5 years, have a moderate to severe, but not profound, learning disability and have displayed challenging behaviour for at least two months. 

Amanda Batten, CEO at Contact a Family, said: "We are delighted to support the UCL investigation into how offering behavioural support for young disabled children early on can help parents develop the right strategies and prevent longer term problems. Contact a Family’s own research showed that over a quarter of families of children aged 0-5 with a disability or additional needs were on a waiting list for behaviour support and a third told us that there is no support in their local area for their child’s needs. We also found that nearly half (48%) of cases the disabled child waited more than a year to access support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)."

"Delays or not having the correct support in place when it's needed can put some children at a developmental disadvantage. It can also lead to a negative impact on family life, with an increased likelihood of sibling and parental emotional distress and mental ill health, family breakdown and expensive residential placements. Given the established importance of the early years, it is disappointing that support needs are not more comprehensively and consistently dealt with for children of this age.”  

SecuriCare offers a range of courses designed to enable support workers, carers and foster families to best respond to any ‘Challenging Behaviour’ that may occur. All programmes are finalised after full training needs analysis and delivered by experienced frontline practitioners. Click to see our ‘Preventing & Managing Challenging Behaviour’ Course which includes ‘Positive Behaviour Management’ techniques designed to minimise the need for any kind of restrictive intervention. You can also take a look at our person centred Behaviour Planning Service.

Contact us for more information and to discuss your needs: E: trainers@securicare.com or T: 01904 492442

More about the trial HERE