The Person-Centered Planning
Facilitator’s Institute Reflections on Person-Centered Planning
By Eileen Scott
January 2009
Person-Centered Planning provides an opportunity to develop strategies to enable the individuals being served, their family, organizations and work teams to focus on the individuals’ right to define their own future, so they are no longer subject to someone else’s definition of what is best for them. To help people determine a desirable future and develop action steps to achieve it, Person-Centered Planning uses a constellation of tools, including PATH, MAPS, Essential Lifestyle Planning, Personal Futures Planning and many others.
These tools are not static documents left hidden in a binder or file. They continually change as the life and work events of the focus person, family or team change. When used responsibly, the tools of Person-Centered Planning are bright, energetic, graphic, powerful and intensely individualized, yet interdependent. The process stresses the concept that no one goes through life alone. We all rely on others as we navigate our lives, and the people who support us form the heart of Person-Centered Planning. Sometimes this circle of support starts the growth in a person’s life. Each of the Person-Centered Planning tools provides the opportunity to identify those people that will walk with us on that life or work journey.
To help individuals take advantage of the benefits of Person-Centered Planning, we offer the Facilitator’s Training Series to develop masterful facilitators in the Person-Centered Planning process. Our seven-session series looks at the history and foundation of Person-Centered Planning; examines several commonly used tools; provides individuals with opportunities to play the role of the focus person, the process facilitator and the graphic facilitator of both the MAPS and PATH tools; discusses the key characteristics of a masterful facilitator; and reflects on what the role of a facilitator means to the people we support, their families, our communities, ourselves and the Keystone family of agencies.
As we continue to build a network of masterful facilitators throughout the Keystone family, we improve our ability to walk beside the people we support, allowing us to help them uncover and create a full and meaningful life.
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