What do you need? What do you want? How can we help you get it?
These are essential questions that are answered for each person supported by Community Living Timmins Intégration Communautaire. We use a strategy called, Person Centered Planning (PCP) to help us do it.
The Person Centered Planning process starts by finding out with the person what they need and want. The person’s family and those who know them well also help to tell us about the person and their needs. We come to understand the individual’s personal, educational, vocational, medical, and safety support needs in relation to their wants. Then, we find ways to do it. We talk to others who can provide supports in the community and make a plan. The plan needs to be flexible and allow for change when the change makes sense or just happens because of uncontrollable circumstances. The plan grows and changes as the person grows and changes. It is a lifetime plan.
Person Centred Planning (PCP) is a philosophy intended to change the way we plan, design and deliver supports. Most people have some control over planning for their future, but because people with developmental disabilities rely heavily on services, they often do not have the same freedom as others. Person Centered Planning is an empowering approach to help people make changes in their life, achieve their goals and plan for the future by identifying and organizing the systems and support they need to live a life that makes sense to them. Some people like to take each day as it comes and take opportunities as they arise; others have clear plans and goals of what they would like to achieve by a particular time in their lives. Both approaches can be considered in the plan to reflect the individual personality.
The aim of Person Centred Planning is to always put the person at the centre of the planning process. People who know and care about the individual who they have asked to be involved are important members of the support network. Although other people have input into an individual’s plans, the key focus is on the person and how he/she wants to live. Person Centered Planning seeks to extend the range of options and choices available to individuals, promoting independence and encouraging people with intellectual disabilities to take charge of their own lives by encouraging maximum involvement in planning and decision making.
