Positive Behaviour Support for teenagers in Shellharbour.
NDIS behaviour support for young people aged 12 to 20 across the Shellharbour area, including Warilla, Oak Flats, Albion Park, Blackbutt and Shell Cove. We come to you.
Same-day acknowledgment on every referral. Free 15-minute chat before anything is signed.
Behaviour support for young people in Shellharbour
Shellharbour is a young, growing community on the shores of Lake Illawarra. At the 2021 Census, about 13% of the 76,271 people living in the Shellharbour local government area were aged 10 to 19, above the NSW average.
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) helps young people whose behaviour is making life harder for them, their family or their school. Rather than focusing on stopping the behaviour, we work out what it is doing for the young person. Then we teach new skills, adjust routines and environments, and coach the adults around them to respond in ways that help.
Built for teenagers
We only work with young people aged 12 to 20. That means our plans fit the realities of adolescence: high school, friendships, independence, and the move towards adult life. Young people help shape their own plan, through conversation, drawing and story, alongside a standard functional behaviour assessment.
Working with Shellharbour schools
Young people across the area attend schools such as Warilla High School, Lake Illawarra High School, Oak Flats High School and Albion Park High School. Some attend Peterborough School in Warilla, a School for Specific Purposes for students from Kindergarten to Year 12.
With consent, we work with whichever school your young person attends. We meet the school team, explain strategies in plain language, and coach staff so the plan holds at school as well as at home.
Where sessions happen
We come to the young person. That might be at home, at school, or in community places such as Shellharbour City Library inside the Shellharbour Civic Centre, or around Stockland Shellharbour. Shellharbour City Council’s youth services also run spaces for young people aged 12 to 24, such as the Blackbutt Youth Centre and the Albion Park Youth Space.
Local supports alongside PBS
headspace Shellharbour supports young people aged 12 to 25 with mental health, and Council’s youth services offer drop-in spaces and programs. Behaviour support can work alongside these. With consent, we coordinate with the rest of your young person’s support team.
Getting around
Shellharbour Junction, Oak Flats and Albion Park stations are on the South Coast Line, and local buses connect Stockland Shellharbour with the suburbs around it. Because our practitioner travels to you, you do not need to get anywhere for sessions.
We also support young people in Wollongong and Dapto. Behaviour support in Shellharbour is led by Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas, an NDIS behaviour support practitioner with eight-plus years of frontline experience with young people, families and carers.
From first call to a plan that holds.
Referral and getting to know the young person
What's being asked, how it's funded, consent, and time to understand the young person: their strengths, what a good day looks like, how they communicate, their health and sensory needs. Rapport comes first.
Functional behaviour assessment
Conversations with the young person, family, school and support team, records, observation and simple data, to understand what the behaviour is doing for them.
Interim plan, if needed
Within one month when there is an immediate need: safety, changes to the environment, and calm ways for adults to respond.
Comprehensive behaviour support plan
Within six months: the full picture, skills to teach with clear steps, proactive and response strategies, and a data plan a real team can keep up with.
Coaching and review
We model and coach the plan with family, carers, school and support workers until it holds, and review it at least every 12 months, or sooner if things change.
Also supporting young people around Shellharbour.
We also work in Blackbutt, Flinders, Warilla, Barrack Heights, Oak Flats, Shell Cove, Albion Park, and across the Illawarra. See our Illawarra location page for every service we offer locally.
Related: our Positive Behaviour Support service, NDIS youth mentoring, positive behaviour support explained, and how PBS is delivered and registered.
Common questions about PBS in Shellharbour.
Do you provide behaviour support in Shellharbour?
Yes. We provide NDIS Positive Behaviour Support for young people aged 12 to 20 across the Shellharbour local government area. Sessions happen at home, at school and in the community.
Which schools can you work with?
With consent, any school your young person attends, including Warilla High School, Lake Illawarra High School, Oak Flats High School, Albion Park High School, or a School for Specific Purposes such as Peterborough School in Warilla.
My young person goes to the Blackbutt Youth Centre. Can sessions happen nearby?
Sessions can happen wherever the young person feels comfortable, including community places close to where they already spend time. We plan this with the young person and family.
Can behaviour support work alongside headspace Shellharbour?
Yes. headspace Shellharbour supports young people aged 12 to 25 with mental health. With consent, we coordinate so the young person gets a consistent approach from everyone involved.
How do I make a referral?
Use the referral form, call 0480 800 521, or book a free 15-minute chat. Every referral gets same-day acknowledgment.
How is behaviour support funded by the NDIS?
It is paid from the Behaviour Support budget in the young person's NDIS plan (called Improved Relationships on older plans). If it is not in the plan yet, we can help you ask for it at plan review.
Who delivers behaviour support at SCA?
Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas, an NDIS behaviour support practitioner who works only with young people aged 12 to 20. She does the functional behaviour assessment, writes the plan and coaches the family, school and support workers who use it.
Refer a young person for PBS in Shellharbour.
Free 15-minute chat. Same-day acknowledgment. No commitment.