Person Centered Planning

Life Plan of Possibilities & Discoveries

for Those Who are Disabled.

Person Centered Planning has the goal of allowing a person to move away from a number of obstacles and challenges to participation. It is hoped that PCP can move a person from

• isolation and seclusion to a community presence
• loneliness and rejection to working, shopping, playing, worshiping
• labels and bad stories of otherness to dignity and respect
• powerlessness and voicelessness to self determination and choice
• unproductive with no resources to a sense of purpose and the ability to make a difference.

Obviously in order to accomplish the above  Person-Centered Planning is going to be highly individualized. It will also bring a person’s community together so that everyone (not just service providers) become involved in making things better for that person. By definition, each person centered plan is going to be different and needs to have a trained plan facilitator.

Person-centered planning includes the person’s community or circles:

o Person who has disabilities;
o Their family, friends
o Advocates

o Any person, group, agency or organization involved in helping put the plan into action;

o The providers of specialist and more general services
o The community members
o Circle or network of support /Circles of influence for that person

• The circle can be individuals and groups of people who know, work with and like the service user

o Policy-makers and funders.

Person-centered planning is a way of helping individuals with disabilities, their parents, or families, or significant others to think about possibilities. It is a process of discovery where a plan is developed around:

o What are their wishes for their life
o What kinds of supports do they want
o What kinds of supports do they need
o What kinds of supports do they like or not like
o Have services suit what the people using the services wants
o What services are needed for helping them to lead their own lives the way they want to
o How would they develop a better life
o How they want to live their lives – self-determination

o Identifying what might be possible for them
o Address every area of their lives – not just services
o Assist moving their life in the direction they want to                                 Of building their place in the community
o Of assisting the community to welcome, appreciate and value them
o Of what would be a good future for an individual
o Find out what is good
o Find out what is not so good in their life now and working out what to   do about it
o Understand what things are most important to them
o Find out about what their hopes and dreams are for the future

o Develop and support their abilities and gifts
o Address their concerns and fears
o Offer all the choices available to them now
o Identify more choices that will be available in the future

Person-centered planning is not an assessment or individual program planning. Those processes are disability case management and help someone get the most out of the services that are available to them.

Person-centered planning is a record of all of the decisions and arrangements  that are made. It includes getting everyone together regularly to review progress. It can be updated from time to time if there are big changes in their lives.

Person-centered planning requires a trained plan facilitator to develop a person-centered plan because it isn’t easy and people don’t get it right all the time. This person:

o Keeps the focus on the service user
o Helps discover what will make their life better
o Will then help implement a plan to make their life better
o Makes sure that the group is not just developing another support plan.

Person-centered planning tools

Person-centered planning tools that can be used are:
o Making Action Plans for normalization (or MAPs)
o Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH) and

Essential Lifestyle Planning (ELP)

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 AUTHORS

Marie Lewis is an author, consultant, and national speaker on best practices in education advocacy. She is a parent of 3 children and a Disability Case Manager, Board Certified Education Advocate, and Behavior Specialist Consultant. She has assisted in the development of thousands of IEPs nationally and consults on developing appropriately individualized IEPs that are outcome based vs just legally sufficient. She brings a great depth of expertise, practical experience, and compassion to her work as well as expert insight, vision, and systemic thinking. She is passionate and funny and she always inspires and informs.

MJ Gore has an MEd in counseling and a degree in elementary education and natural sciences. She worked as a life-skills and learning support teacher She has been honored with the receipt of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. She is the Director and on the faculty at the National Special Education Advocacy Institute. Her passion is social justice, especially in the area of education. She is a Board Certified Education Advocate who teaches professional advocates, educators, and clinicians the best practices in education advocacy.