NABITA membership has more than doubled over the last year. To help new members implement the NABITA Standards for Behavioral Intervention Teams (BITs), and to provide continuing members with a refresher, NABITA is launching a Tip of the Week series specifically focused on the BIT Standards. Twenty standards, twenty Tips of the Week (maybe more) aimed specifically at the practical application of the BIT Standards (Note: the twenty Tips may not be published consecutively so that NABITA can bring you timely updates regarding other topics). Previous Tips in this series can be found here.
Standard 4. Team Leadership: Team leaders serve to bring the team together and keep discussions productive and focused while maintaining a long-term view of team development and education.
Most often, the BIT chair is the Dean of Students/Assistant Principal, Vice President for Student Affairs/Principal, or Case Manager. Irrespective of position title, it is imperative that the BIT chair have the time and authority to lead the team by fulfilling a host of responsibilities including, but not limited to, facilitating meetings, engaging in ongoing training, ensuring policies and procedures are up to date, supervising members of the BIT in their BIT roles, overseeing the development of educational outreach, and more. The chair must have the charisma and requisite knowledge to garner the respect and confidence of the team and the larger institutional community.
Practical tip – NABITA recommends selecting a single chair for the team. If the team utilizes a co-chair model, it can be unclear who has the decision-making authority for the BIT. Choose one person that can lead the team and lead the team well. Additionally, NABITA recommends having a backup for the chair who can step in and maintain continuity in operations in the event that the chair is unavailable or leaves the institution. For more information about the role of the chair, click here.
Tim Cason, M.Ed.
Consultant, TNG