Behavior Supports and BIPs in Montana
How do behavior supports work in a Montana IEP?
Montana has distinct regulations governing behavioral supports for students with disabilities under ARM 10.16.3346 (Aversive Treatment Procedures) and the broader behavioral framework through Montana's Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS/MBI). ARM 10.16.3346 requires that positive behavioral interventions based on a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) serve as the foundation for any program that utilizes aversive procedures (authority: MCA §§ 20-7-402, 20-7-403, 20-7-414). Aversive treatment procedures may only be included in an IEP when at least two written positive behavioral intervention strategies were previously implemented (documented in the evaluation record), the IEP team includes a member trained in both positive behavioral interventions and aversive alternatives, and a written behavioral intervention plan (BIP) is incorporated in the IEP. Montana prohibits specific aversive procedures including procedures designed solely to cause physical pain, locked-room or mechanical restraint (except in residential treatment facilities/psychiatric hospitals per MCA § 20-7-436 when prescribed by a physician), withholding meals for more than one hour, aversive mists or noxious odors, and unpleasant tastes. Physical restraint and isolation time-out, when used at a frequency, intensity, or duration warranting classification as aversive, require IEP team approval and parental notification within 24 hours. Montana's statewide Behavioral Intervention (MBI) framework uses a three-tiered Response to Intervention model for behavioral supports at the universal, targeted, and intensive levels.
What Montana Requires
Positive behavioral interventions based on a functional behavioral assessment must be the foundation of any program that uses aversive procedures (ARM 10.16.3346; MCA §§ 20-7-402, 20-7-403, 20-7-414).
Aversive treatment procedures may only be included in an IEP after at least two documented positive intervention strategies have been tried and failed (ARM 10.16.3346).
The IEP team for a student with an aversive BIP must include a member trained in positive behavioral interventions, aversive procedures, and nonaversive de-escalation alternatives (ARM 10.16.3346).
The following are expressly prohibited: procedures designed solely to cause physical pain, locked rooms (except in licensed psychiatric/residential facilities per MCA § 20-7-436), withholding meals >1 hour, aversive mists/noxious odors/unpleasant tastes, and restrictive mechanical restraints (ARM 10.16.3346).
Parents must be notified in writing (or orally if writing is not possible, in their native language) within 24 hours each time an aversive procedure is implemented (ARM 10.16.3346).
Students in isolation time-out must be under constant direct visual observation by a designated staff member throughout the entire isolation period (ARM 10.16.3346).
Key Timelines
Parental notification of each aversive procedure use must occur as soon as possible, but no more than 24 hours after the procedure is used (ARM 10.16.3346).
A written BIP incorporating aversive procedures must be reviewed by the IEP team at least annually or more frequently if the student's behavior warrants (ARM 10.16.3340; 34 CFR 300.324).