Person-Centered Planning Resource Library

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​Consider the connections people make and how those ties make a better community. We deepen our understanding of having a growth mindset that expands the possibilities around community building and shapes the kind of culture we all would want to live in.

Danyetta Najoli is a Senior Community Builder at Starfire Council. She trained Direct Support Professionals and supervisors for 20 years while working directly with people with disabilities for three provider agencies, in TN and OH. 

Danyetta has supported people to attain long-term, valued roles in their community, engaging several approaches including person-centered, citizen advocacy, and asset-based community development.​

Video links and handouts below description.

​Most of us have heard about 'circles of support' and sense that a strong circle might help us make progress towards a good life. We wonder if a circle could begin to answer the question, "Who will look after my loved one after I'm gone?" The Star Raft is an easy-to-follow method for building and sustaining personal support circles, one step at a time. 

Each session focuses on a different topic and contains specific action steps for building a circle. If you do a little homework between sessions, you can get your own circle started in 28 days!

David Wetherow has been involved in the evaluation, design and development of innovative human services for over forty years. He has worked in the fields of mental health, substance abuse recovery, child welfare, and developmental disabilities. He served as Director of Program Evaluation in Manitoba's Mental Health and Child Welfare directorates before becoming the Executive Director of the Association for Community Living in Winnipeg. He created the Star Raft circle-building method and serves a US-based nonprofit whose mission to give people with disabilities and families the tools and supports they need to build their own circles 'for free, forever.' David and his wife Faye created the Microboard model, which is working for nearly 1,500 people worldwide. They developed the first inclusive housing cooperative and the first person- and family-directed service cooperative in North America. David and Faye are seasoned trainers in qualitative program evaluation and person-centered planning. They shared their lives with a beloved, adopted daughter who lived with significant health, mobility and communication challenges until her passing in 2004.

• Week 1 Video: Gathering Your Circle
  
• Handout: Invitation to Plan
  
• Week 2 Video: Setting a Good Direction
  
• Week 3 Video: Taking the Helm
  
• Handout: Star Raft Card Deck
  
• Week 4 Video: Staying the Course
  
• Handout: Key Circle Questions​

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​Beth Mount has worked for more than 40 years toward the ideal that every person with a disability can be a valued member of community life. Dr. Mount is the originator of Personal Futures Planning, which increases the possibilities that people will work, volunteer, and contribute in civic life.

Beth has collaborated on countless change initiatives particularly those that engage young people in transition from high school. For 18 years, Beth was a Person-Centered Planning consultant to New York State's Office of People with Developmental Disabilities. She developed initiatives to support innovation in individualized services including 30 learning institutes that strengthen innovative design teams. She is a Senior Practitioner affiliated with the Presenci​ng Institute.

Beth is a 2020 recipient of the National Historic Recognition Project and has received excellence awards from virtually every prominent national and New York State disability organization. She uses creativity and the arts as another way to help people express their dreams and tell stories.​

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​Person-Centered Planning and the use of the Discovery Process together can help anyone who is seeking meaningful, valued employment in ordinary community settings based on one's unique skills, capacities and interests. This advanced training provides interactive opportunities to expand expectations of who can work and strategies for supporting individuals with disabilities in Supported and Customized Employment

Dr. Ruthie-Marie Beckwith is the former Executive Director of TASH and has helped people with disabilities find employment and create microbusinesses in ten states across the United States.​

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​This webinar discusses the connection between the Discovery process and the concept of Customized Employment. Too often, people with disabilities settle for the most basic and tedious jobs in the workforce. Customized Employment seeks to have employment fit with the job seeker's conditions for success, intrinsic interests, and best contributions while meeting specific needs of employers. This webinar explores individual discovery, the concept of Customized Employment, and examples of successful outcomes for job seekers.

Michael Callahan has consulted throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand in the areas of employment and transition.

Originally trained as a special educator, he worked with Marc Gold & Associates (MG&A) for 40 years and served as president of the organization since 1982. MG&A is a network of consultants that provides training, technical assistance and content certification to systems, agencies and families interested in insuring the complete community participation of persons with significant disabilities. MG&A offers certification in Discovery, Job Development and Systematic Instruction for Customized, Supported Employment​.

Michael is a co-author of two "how-to" books on employment for persons with significant disabilities, Getting Employed, Staying Employed and Keys to the Work Place. He has written numerous articles, chapters, manuals and curriculums pertaining to employment. He is a former national board member for TASH and was a founding board member of APSE. His work focuses on Customized Employment and Discovery as an extension of the concept of supported employment for persons with significant disabilities. He has provided training and technical assistance to Source America's Pathways to Careers Initiative since 2011. ​

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​Person-Centered Planning is a great way to support someone's personal goals and objectives. It is a powerful tool for generating commitments from families, friends and community partners and expanding companionships, connection, and contributions in ordinary community life.

By 'following the threads' of a person's interests and dreams toward the community spaces where their interests are 'mirrored', we can encourage the person and the family to think about whom they might want to invite, including people who have standing in places where those interests are reflected. 

Micro-inquiries can be built into conversation that give participants opportunities to make commitments 'on the spot' and keep commitments going forward. We share real-life examples where strategies worked and are still working in people's lives decades later.

David Wetherow has been involved in the evaluation, design and development of innovative human services for over forty years. He has worked in the fields of mental health, substance abuse recovery, child welfare, and developmental disabilities. He served as Director of Program Evaluation in Manitoba's Mental Health and Child Welfare directorates before becoming the Executive Director of the Association for Community Living in Winnipeg. He created the Star Raft circle-building method and serves a US-based nonprofit whose mission to give people with disabilities and families the tools and supports they need to build their own circles 'for free, forever.' David and his wife Faye created the Microboard model, which is working for nearly 1,500 people worldwide. They developed the first inclusive housing cooperative and the first person- and family-directed service cooperative in North America. David and Faye are seasoned trainers in qualitative program evaluation and person-centered planning. They shared their lives with a beloved, adopted daughter who lived with significant health, mobility and communication challenges until her passing in 2004​.​

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​Families, people with disabilities, service recipients, and supporters have learned that an essential tool in bringing about a full, meaningful, inclusive life is having a well-defined and articulated vision. A vision will focus, guide, and inspire action in the face of attitudinal obstacles and other set-backs. This webinar will help participants clearly conceptualize a vision and to encourage everyone to "keep their eyes on the prize." 

Darcy Elks is an educator, parent, and advocate of people who are societally devalued. She is an international consultant and has traveled to many countries to advocate for full meaningful inclusive lifestyles for marginalized people. Darcy's work encourages attitudes and structures to promote social value and inclusion for people who have been devalued and excluded. Darcy's passion is to help create inclusive communities where all welcome and can use gifts for the good of one another.​

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​Person-Centered Planning often sounds daunting or confusing to families with young children who have disabilities or additional support needs. It is important to understand how today's actions and decisions can impact current plans and the future lives of children and families.  

This session discusses the unique challenges facing families who have young children and want to know how to successfully move toward identified goals and visions. How can families successfully overcome obstacles they face on an everyday basis? How can we clarify problems facing us? How do we create strategies to continue toward our future vision? What do we do when we are impacted by naysayers and feel like we're on a battlefield? This session looks at using person-centered planning to achieve a life of self-determination, inclusion, and community living.

Kathy Brill is mom to three daughters. She has helped the youngest use numerous personal and technology supports to achieve full community inclusion. Kathy's daughter lives in her own home, has a job she loves, and is a full part of her community. The process of working toward living independently started from the moment her daughter was born. Kathy believe in the need to think about the future when kids are young, and then envision, plan for, and problem-solve for real and potential barriers before they occur. 

Kathy co-founded and was the first director for Parent to Parent USA, and the first director for Parent to Parent of Pennsylvania. Brill Consulting LLC has the mission to strengthen and support the goals of full inclusion, community living, and self-determination in early childhood, school, and adulthood. Kathy currently serves on the National Advisory Board on Improving Health Care Services for Seniors and People with Disabilities (NAB) and as Board President to MCIE (Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education). She was also on boards for the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, PA TASH, and National Coalition on Self-Determination. She chaired PA's State Interagency Coordinating Council for Early Intervention, served on the Planning and Advisory Council for PA's Department of Public Welfare, and held additional disability and healthcare related positions, including special education teacher, adjunct professor, and consultant. Kathy received the National Council on Disability 2006 Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to the improvement of disability policy in the US.  Ms. Brill has a master's in education, and a master's in political management, with a concentration in grassroots advocacy.

• Handout: Family Priority Setting Worksheet
  
• Handout in Spanish​

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​The way we interact with and engage older adults in our community is deep-rooted in our cultures. Person-centered practices give us another chance to honor the experiences, beliefs, relationships, options, and decisions made by older adults. We see how conversations on goals may be different with people who are "post-retirement" age, but the importance of their goals still remains core to person-centered practices. 

Ms. Pearl Barnett has been the Director of Operations at the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD). She worked nine years at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, where she served as the Administrator for the Advantage 1915(c) HCBS Medicaid Waiver and Medicaid State Plan Personal Care Programs. Ms. Barnett implemented statewide training programs in person-centered thinking, planning, and practices through service planning and service delivery, training state staff, providers, and advocates.​

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​How do we put person-centered thinking and planning into practice to support people to move toward their vision of a good life? How can integrating supports within the context of a person's family, friends, and community enhance life experiences that will impact a person's goals and outcomes? Learn about the Charting the LifeCourse framework.

Michelle “Sheli" Reynolds, PhD is the Associate Director at UMKC Institute for Human Development, where she has worked for over 20 years focusing on research, demonstrations and implementation of evidence-based practices that enhance person- and family-centered organizational, policy and systems change. She is the key developer of the Charting the LifeCourse framework. Her passion, knowledge, and experience are enhanced by growing up as a sibling of a brother with developmental disabilities.​

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​Guardianship has long been seen as a “protective" safeguard, when in fact it may neither protect nor safeguard vulnerable people. Rather, it deprives them of their rights and personal autonomy when much less restrictive alternatives such as supported decision making actually preserves and strengthens people's rights and autonomy. This session will clarify why this is so.

Michael Kendrick has been involved in various forms of values-based leadership in multiple countries over the last half-century.

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​​​Person-centered planning is a collection of methods. Each can make a positive difference. None is magic. We'll think about the conditions that influence the benefits people can experience from good planning.

John O'Brien is a leading thinker who has written widely in the field of disability. He is a pioneer and lifelong advocate of person-centered planning. He was co-developer of two models for person-centered planning: McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) and Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH).

John's values-based approach emphasizes learning with each person about the direction their lives could take, challenging and overcoming practices, structures and values that lead to segregation and underestimation rather than inclusion. His thinking is based on Social Role Valorization.​

Recorded at the end of the PCP Training, this eight-minute video celebrates those who participated.

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