Person Centered Planning

1. Person Centered Planning From Ideals to Implementation By Steve Valente, Senior Director Dungarvin Colorado June 20, 2014

2. Oh, The Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss

3. “The best advice you can give you children is to find out what they want to do, and then advise them how to do it.” • Lyndon B. Johnson • It is so wonderful that we in the middle of a culture change in Colorado toward changing the way that we think about how services should be provided here. It’s a very welcome, but overdue change. • However, if simply changing the way we think about something doesn’t actually bring about change. I think I’m going to exercise more and eat better all the time, but…

4. But it’s only when we stop thinking and talking about it and start doing it. • This is where were at in CO right now. We’re changing the culture. We’re changing how we think about it, but we aren’t doing it. • And we can’t do it correctly until we change our service plans from being system centered to person centered. • We can talk, and think, and believe, and preach all we want about PC planning, but we it doesn’t really matter because we lack the tools to actual put PC SPs into action.

5. As Mike Mayer said, “unless you’re asking the right questions, you’ll never get it right.” Ask the wrong question you’ll get the wrong answer. We’re asking the wrong questions. • It’s like running good, clean water through a contaminated filter; the water on the other end will be contaminated. In case I was too subtle, the SP is the contaminated filter. If we put our great thoughts and ideas about a PCP into our existing SP documents the outcome will not be person centered. The outcome will be system centered.

6. Therefore, we need to change whatever we need to change to make it so we can get rid of our current SP and replace with a PCP or an Essential Lifestyle Plan. • It can be done. It’s done in many other states. In fact, If I’m reading it correctly, the new CMS definition community not only allows it, but requires it. • Because then and only then will the people that we support begin actually LIVE lives of self-determination. • Pass around Bodacious B’s Lifestyle plan. For more examples go to www.learningcommunity.us. Note that B’s medical info, personal care info, and action plan are all at the END of the document…not the beginning.

7. Side by side comparison • Just take our SP and compare side by side with any ELP. The differences are glaring. You’ll easily see that ours is system centered while ELPs are truly person centered. • PC change challenges us to discover and invent a personal dream for people, to craft a pattern of living that increase people’s participation and belonging in community life.

8. System Centered Vs. Person Centered System Centered • Plan a lifetime of programs • Offer a limited number of usually segregated program options • Base options on stereotypes about persons with disabilities • Focus on filling slots, beds, placements, closures • Overemphasize technologies, medications, and clinical strategies • Organize to please funders, boards, regulators, and rules Person Centered • Craft a desirable lifestyle • Design and unlimited number of desirable experiences • Find new possibilities for each person • Focus on quality of life • Emphasize dreams, desires, and meaningful experience • Organize to respond to people

9. Contrasting Images of the Future Traditional program plans • Goals focus on specific negative behaviors of the focus person to change or decrease • The plan identifies program categories and service options that are often segregated • Many goals and objectives reflect potentially minor accomplishments that can be attained within the existing programs without making any changes • These plans will probably not even mention personal relationships or community life Positive future worth working for • Images of the future contain specific concrete examples of positive activities, experiences, and life situations to increase. • Ideas and possibilities reflect specific community sites and settings and valued roles within those settings. • Some ideas will see far out, unrealistic, and impractical, and will require major change in existing patterns such as: funding categories, service options, how people and staff spend their time, shared decision making, where people live, work, etc. • These plans will really reflect the unique interests, gifts, and qualities of the person, and the unique characteristics, settings, and life of the local community • These ideas will emphasize creative ways to focus on the development and deepening of personal relationships and community life.

10. Why this comparison? As you can see by this quick comparison that our system is still very system centered and it will remain so as long as we are using our current SP documents.

11. Next Steps • What are our next steps? • How do we make this happen? • How can we assure that ELPs are in compliance with the waivers? • How do get out of “The Waiting Place” to make this happen. That poem was used to illustrate SD services, but it works equally as well for each of us who are working hard to make change. • Who do we need to contact to get this done?