Person Centered Planning

1. Person Centered Planning AndrzejWalz-Chojnacki MaceyChovaz Laura Owens

2. Person-centered planning is a process that uses creative facilitation tools to assist a young adult in developing a plan on how they want to live in the future.

3. What is Person-Centered Planning? • Person-Centered Planning is a way for diverse people, who share a common need to align their…. • Vision, purposes, and goals. • Understanding of their situation and its possibilities for hopeful action. • Actions for change, mutual support, personal and team development and learning. John O’Brien and Connie Lyle, 2000

4. What Person-Centered Planning is NOT… • A one-shot meeting • A form to complete • A quick fix solution to all problems • A guarantee for success • A mandate

5. Planning • Traditional Planning • Formal assessments • Deficiencies & needs • Professional Teams • Person-Centered Planning • Discovering the person • Uncovering capacities and gifts • Identifying supports and current relationships

6. Who makes the decision?Beth Mount, 2000 • Systems centered approach Spends lots of time planning with little time to take action. • Person-Centered Spends lots of time taking action, with regular times to reflect.

7. Moving away from: Isolation, separation, activities and schedules. Rejection, loneliness, ignored. Negative reputations, negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Lack of representation, no power. Underproductive, ignored, no resources, low expectations Toward daily experiences which lead to: Community presence Community participation Encouraging valued social roles. Promoting choice Supporting contribution Values that guide personal futures planning Beth Mount, 2000

8. John O’Brien on Person Centered planning • “Person-centered planning did not ignore disability, it simply shifted the emphasis to a search for capacity in the person, among the person’s friends and family, in the person’s community, and among service workers.”

9. “Planning alone does not change people's lives.” John O’Brien & Connie Lyle O’Brien • Person-centered planning offers people a forum for: • Discovering a desirable future • Negotiating conflicts • Creative problem solving • Defining and redefining direction • Mutual support. A little book about Person Centered Planning, 2000

10. Benefits of Person Centered planning • Driven by the individual • Empowers the focus person • Creates opportunities for the focus person to become more involved in their communities • Focuses on the persons needs and wants and not what systems can provide ~ Mount, 1994.

11. Limitations of Person Centered Planning • Systems limit teams & time • Should not be used for everyone • Will not automatically create inclusion into the community • If done incorrectly can lead to false hopes

12. How does the process work? • The young adult and facilitator invite people who are involved in his/her life or who want to be involved in their life to their future’s planning meeting. • People attending the meeting should come with the understanding that they are committing to assist the young adult in long term planning of their life.

13. Creating the team • Teams should be created with input from the focus person • Committed to the process- don’t do it to fulfill a requirement • Know the young adult • Be willing to step outside their current role

14. Person-Centered Planning Team • Make a commitment and take action to ensure that changes will be accomplished for the focus person. • Coordinate support around the life of the individual rather than around the needs of staff and existing services.

15. Strength based….. • Person centered planning looks at a person’s strengths and gifts. • The “dream” should be used as the guide for the team and focus person to establish goals. • Goals should be “positive and possible”. • Using futures planning allows individuals to create ways to meet their needs- one size does not fit all. • Person centered planning gives the focus person a voice. How do you make the system meet the focus person’s needs instead of how do we make the person fit into the system.

16. Learning to listen… • Listen to the person. • Accommodations need to be made according to the person’s style of communication. • Asking for details gives a better understanding of a persons desires. • Listen with care not pity.

17. How Do You Feel When… • You have no control over your life • You have no voice • You feel powerless • You have no choices

18. Accommodations for Communication • Know the young adult’s form of communication • P.E.C.S • Pictures • Close friend/staff • Yes and No questions • Non-verbal communication • Behavior that demonstrates preferences and choices

19. Look at things differently… • “There is a story of a man who left seventeen camels to his three sons. He left half the camels to his eldest son, a third to his middle son, and a ninth to his youngest. The three started dividing up their inheritance but soon despaired of their ability to find a solution-because seventeen could not be divided by two or three or nine. The sons approached a wise old women. After pondering the problem the old woman said, “See what happens if you take my camel.” So then the sons had eighteen camels. The eldest son took his half-that was nine. The middle son took his third-that was six. And the youngest son took his ninth- that was two. Nine and six and two made seventeen. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.” William Ury

20. “Like the seventeen camels, problems, like the ones we are facing now, often seem impossible to solve. Like the wise old woman you will often need to step back, look at the situation from a fresh angle, and find an eighteenth camel.” • Adapted from: Getting to Yes, William Ury

21. Everyone has the right to dream… • It is important to ask questions to fully understand a person’s dream. • How can we develop a plan that will support the focus person in reaching a portion of their dream? • Listen to the dream. • What does the dream mean to the focus person?

22. Getting to know the young individual… • “I like to spend time with… • Teams should include members who want to be there and members who the focus person feels are important in their lives. • Person is more likely to achieve their goals when supported by those that care about them.

23. Getting to know the individual… • “What I did last year..” • Sometimes we get too involved in looking at what did not work to see what was accomplished. • Sometimes little things that are important to the focus person go unnoticed to the team members.

24. Getting to know the individual… • During my spare time I like to… • Figuring out what a person likes to do can be key to developing new skills. • Everyone needs leisure time…how we spend the time is a matter of choice.

25. Getting to know the individual… • Things that I am good at… • Everyone has a gift. • Sometimes we need to explore what the person’s gift is. • Designing services around the person’s strengths allows the person to find success in the things they choose to do.

26. Getting to know the young adult… • “Things that are extremely important to me…” • Ask what is important, this gives the focus person a voice in the planning process. • Sometimes teams focus on what is “billable” as opposed to what is important to the individual.

27. Getting to know the young adult… • “Things I never want in my life…” • Asking people what they never want in their lives is like asking them what their nightmare is… • By avoiding a persons nightmare we can get closer to meeting their needs.

28. Getting to know the young adult… • My long-term goals for the future are: • Setting long term goals helps the focus person look towards the future. • Establishing goals assists the focus person in reaching their dreams. • The focus person’s long term goal should be carried over into the IPP. • IPP can assist in monitoring the focus person’s progress towards achieving their dreams.

29. Getting to know the young adult… • “People who support me…” • Creating and sustaining relationships allows for a person to have real inclusion into their communities. • Person needs to create relationships with those who want to be involved in their lives. • Paid personnel tend not to stay in a person with disabilities life for the long term

30. Getting to know the young adult… • “What I want to do in the next year and who I would like to help me.” • By breaking down a person’s dreams into short term goals allows the focus person to develop clear plans for them to touch their dreams and avoid their nightmares. • Person centered planning allows the focus person to guide the planning process. • Do assume everyone desires to help. Be sure to ask who is willing to help.

31. Getting to know the young adult… • “If I could change things in my life, what would I change?” • Persons with disabilities have a right to make choices about their lives. • Listening to what the focus person desires to change about their lives will allow for supports to be developed that may improve the focus persons quality of life.

32. Getting to know the young adult… • “What community activities will enable me to pursue interest in a positive way? • Information should be used to assist the focus person in becoming part of their communities. • Everyone has different interests and planning must be individualized. • Person will exhibit less challenging behaviors when they are participating in activities that they find pleasurable.

34. Choice… • “ Preferences reflect what people want, while opportunities reflect what is available.” • “Control is the authority to make use of an opportunity to satisfy a preference.” • Michael W. Small Revisiting Choice, A little book about Person Centered Planning, Inclusion Press, 2000

35. Exercise: How do you make choices about your life? • Take a few minutes to think about a choice you have made in your life? • How did you make a major decision in your life? • Did you make a good choice? • Did you hear bad advice? • Who helped you make your decision?

36. Teams need to recognize the need for balancing safety issues and allowing the focus person to make a choice. • Teams have an ethical responsibility to assure the focus person does not harm themselves or others.

37. Good support teams assist the focus person in touching their dreams.

39. Facilitating Person Centered Planning • The Facilitator believes the planning process belongs to the focus person • “The process and content belongs to the person and those who are committed to accompany the person along the journey the plan outlines” ~ Marsha Forest, Jack Pearpoint and John o’Brien, 2003

41. Facilitating the Person Center Process • Must be willing to not pass judgment • Must not be pushy or fall into the role of “therapist” or “social worker” • Must listen to the focus person • Must believe in the process • Must be willing to commit to working together to make changes

42. Essential Lifestyle Planning • What are your “non negotiables”? • What are your “strong preferences”? • What are your “highly desireables”? • People who know & care about me say… • To be successful in supporting me, we must… • My reputation says… • If this is going to happen, we must… Adapted from Michael Smull, 1991

43. Components of PCP/PFP • Personal profile • Personal futures statement • Strategies to achieve vision • Menu of specific activities, services, and personal commitments • Current and needed supports/services • Statement of LR and HQ environments • Develop action plan

44. 10 conditions that increase the likelihood of implementation. • When the person wants life to be different somehow. • When the person and team keep focused on capacities. • When the person has a specific personal vision. • When people are willing to meet on a regular basis to solve problems and are willing to do so over time. • When a skilled facilitator is available to support the group over time. • When the team includes someone who as a strong commitment to act on behalf of the person. • When someone works at building connections to the community. • When the person is connected to another person facing similar obstacles. • When one human service agency is willing to change. • When the person or team has access to people who make decisions about resources. Beth Mount, 2000

45. Five Essential Outcomes of Person-Centered Planning • Being present and participating in community life • Gaining and maintaining satisfying relationships • Expressing preferences and making choices in everyday life • Having opportunities to fulfill respected roles and to live with dignity • Continuing to develop personal competencies ~ Kincaid, 1996