The learner runs off toward a road, a car park, or water

• Leaving into danger

The situation

The learner has left the room, building or yard and is heading toward traffic, a car park, a pool or open water, or anywhere else where they could be seriously hurt. You may or may not be able to see them.

Contact now

• Immediate: Emergency services (911)
• Your site supervisor
• Your supervising BCBA
• Parent or guardian

Right now

Keep the learner in sight if you can, and call out for another adult immediately so that someone is with the learner and someone is calling for help. Your site's elopement procedure and the learner's own plan say what you may do next; those, not this app, are the instructions.

Write down

• Record the time you noticed the learner was gone and the time they were safe.
• Record who you contacted, when, and what each person did.
• Record what happened immediately before the learner left.
• Complete your organization's incident report before leaving for the day, and report to your supervisor the same day.

What staff may physically do to stop a person leaving is governed by your employer's policy, your certified training and state law, and it differs between a school, a clinic and a home. Those rules override any general guidance.

Terms used here

• Function of Behavior
• Antecedent Intervention