2.1: Why Person-Centered Practices Matter
- Page ID
- 65715
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The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) explains why person-centered planning matters in self determination. In the SDP FAQ area of the DDS
Person-centered planning is about the individual’s future and reaching their goals. The process should be driven by the individual and reflect what is important to and for that person. Person-centered planning can include other people, such as family or friends, only if the individual chooses to include them in the process. Once the individual has made choices about what he or she wants and needs, an individual program plan (IPP) is written based on the individual’s decisions. The IPP lays out the individual’s goals and what is needed to reach those goals, including necessary services and supports.
Without the SDP participant, there is no self direction. Being self determined is the core of this program. That means that as the independent facilitator, your role is to ensure the voice of the individual served is the focus of everything connected to the SDP planning process.
To be clear, individuals served by the regional center are in charge of their lives, plans, and desires — not their family nor the people who work for them.
This means the voice of the individual served by the regional center is heard and accurately reflected in all SDP planning. The person at the center of the program is the boss. They are the authority on their own lives, and as an independent facilitator, it is an honor and a privilege to support them in the ways they see fit.
Circles of Support
This does not mean that family members are not a part of the circle of support if the SDP participant chooses to include them. An SDP participant can include any person willing to provide support and input on their planning. Using the circle of support tools available through the inclusion.com website, explore the tools available.
If a participant does not wish to invite someone to participate in their circle of support, they should not be compelled to do so. Even if the participant is conserved. This may sound problematic, and it certainly could be. However, the participant's wishes are fundamental to the validity of the Plan. The independent facilitator may need to have some awkward or challenging conversations with people who believe they are integral to the participant's success.
As the parent of a regional center client myself, I cannot imagine how I would react if my daughter did not want me to be part of her planning team. However, if she asked me to step back and not participate, there would be a reason. Everything she does has purpose even when I struggle to see it. Hopefully I will continue to value and respect her autonomy long into the future. Hopefully I will have the confidence in how my husband and I raised her to know she is equipped to choose people she trusts to support her. And hopefully we will maintain a wonderful relationship throughout our lives. If at some point she wants me to step back, I hope I take a deep breath and do as she asks gracefully.
As an independent facilitator and a parent of a minor, this line might be blurred today. However, if in adulthood, a participant does not want their parent to play an active role, it is likely there is a reason why. Successfully navigating these relationship dynamics could be key to understanding why SDP is the best fit for the participant. Listen with more than your ears to these conversations and interactions. Listen to what a parent says when their loved one is not in the room.
Using the PCP to identify services and supports
In conversations with service coordinators, the participant and their circle of support will explain situations and allow the service coordinator to make suggestions of possible services in the traditional system. By describing the goals and what needs to happen to meet the goals, service coordinators can think of traditional system services that would be authorized to meet those goals and needs.
Here are some common traditional system services:
- Adaptive Skills Training
- Independent living skills/supported living skills (depending on where the adult lives)
- Individual training and education
- Parent Education
- Respite
- Social Skills Training
- Social/Recreational Services
There are many more listed on the Regional Centers Services and Descriptions page of the DDS website.
Additionally, California's State Council on Developmental Disabilities recently unveiled a tool to better understand services available through the regional center system. The page, entitled, "Types of Regional Center Services" can help people better understand the role of the regional center system in the lives of people who qualify for services.
Because we strive to ensure person-centered practices are embraced, independent facilitators know that not all participants will have the same services that their friends have. One area of constant struggle in this program is the focus on what others have.
For example, a family served by an IF wants to increase their budget. The parent of a person served by a regional center tells their IF, “My friend’s son got ______________ from her regional center. I want my son to have the same thing.”
When confronted with a “keeping up with the Joneses” request, there are important things to keep in mind:
- Person-centered plans show what the goals are and provide ideas of how to meet those goals.
- No two people served by the regional center system have identical needs.
- Other people served by the regional center system may have different needs than your client.
As a professional in this field, help the people you serve understand the beauty of this program. Choice, freedom, and authority are all key principles of self determination. However, responsibility and support are equally important. We are stewards of an amazing, tax-payer funded program. For it to be sustainable, we must all work together to use these funds wisely. Keeping up with the Joneses is not our mantra. Getting more “stuff” is not our mantra.
Our mantra is “when my needs are met, I am content.” If needs are not met, then the program is not working, yet.
To ensure the needs are met, it is vital to document them in the Individual Program Plan (IPP). Once needs are documented in the IPP within the traditional system, the budget creation process becomes much easier.
Recently, the Department implemented a statewide person-centered IPP template. Consider this new IPP process to be a framework moving towards the ideal of person-centered practice. It is a skeleton. The bones of the plan are present, and there is a huge opportunity to use the framework in positive ways to meet people’s needs.
This change from planning by filling in blanks and checking boxes to open-ended narratives about a person’s life has allowed service coordinators to lead conversations that get to the heart of people’s needs, desires, and hopes for their own futures. Use these opportunities to add information from person-centered planning activities into the official, and legally binding, Individual Program Plan.
One of the regional center’s main jobs is to ask questions about needs, circumstances and possible resources when a participant or an independent facilitator shares needs that are new to the regional center. This is a huge part of case management.
Ideally, the regional center service coordinators you work with are already highly skilled at talking with families about disability, explaining kinds of services regional centers provide, and finding services to support individuals served by regional centers. However, sometimes the participant and their circle of support have no idea what a regional center can or should be providing. At times, the regional center uses specific language, or jargon, focused on the disability-connected supports and services. This creates a wide gap in understanding between the regional center and those they serve.
As an independent facilitator, you have the opportunity to bridge that knowledge gap and help people navigate California’s unnecessarily complicated service-delivery system.
Quick Recap:
Person-Centered Planning matters because:
- It can show what a person wants to be doing in their life.
- It can provide insight about how to work effectively with a person.
- It can elevate and center the voice of the person at the center of the plan.
- It can focus the planning team on aspects of life that might be challenging and provide a starting point for collaboration.