Person-centered Planning
One of the most significant developments in our field in recent years is the idea that the
contracts we execute with people served (“ISPs”) should fully, respectfully and
creatively represent the hopes and dreams of that person. Various terms have arisen to
describe the process of learning about those goals – “person-centered planning”;”
person-centered thinking”; “ futures planning”– and Havar has been lucky to participate
in two dynamic pilots. The Imagine Project (Washington County) and The Waiver Pilot
(Athens County) have highlighted the importance of:
1. Full participation in planning by the focus individual and persons important in
his/her life;
2. Teamwork and excellent communication between Havar staff and our County
Board counterparts;
3. A product that is balanced between goals “important to” and “important for”; and
4. A product that is completely accessible and meaningful to the person who owns
it; which often means a good deal of graphic facilitation (pictures) is involved.
We are learning every day how powerful this process can be in individuals’ lives, and
how we had unwittingly allowed a regulatory atmosphere to invade the product. It is
beyond exciting that awareness is growing within our organization; our state trade
associations, in the state legislature and governor’s office, and at the federal level.