Promising Practices for Person-Centered Plans

What exactly does a “good”person-centered plan include or look like? What are some outcomes we might anticipate for the person? This resource outlines promising practices for person-centered plan documentation anddescribes indicators of truly person-centered plans for quality monitoring purposes.

Full Circle End of Journey

In the early1980s, I was working at a Regional Center in Northern California. Regional Centers provide funding for and coordinate services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities. At that time, individuals weren’t very involved in any aspects of directing their own lives. As an advocate for person-centered practices, I started collecting and writing plain … Read more

Getting from Where I Am to Where I Want to Be! A Transition Workbook (fillable version)

What’s this all about? Your answers to these questions can help you put together a transition plan. A plan to help you reach the best possible future. The questions are written in the first person, so that the focus is always on you, the person in transition. You can use this in several ways: (1) … Read more

The Importance of Environment: From Toxic to Healing

by Michael Smull and Mary Lou Bourne All people respond to their environment. Whether we are happy or miserable is largely determined by what surrounds us. For happiness or even simply contentment to exist, certain things must be present and other things must be absent. What happens when we don’t have control over what is present or absent? … Read more

Where’s the Jello?

The Saga of One Home’s Experience with the ICF/MR (Small) Program This is a re-print with some updating of an article originally written in the summer of 1985 by John R. Shea, Ph.D., a few days after a licensing and certification visit from California Health Services Licensing. At the time, John was executive director of … Read more

A Guide for Developing Strategic Objectives to Expand Self-Direction

June 2023By Valerie J. Bradley Self-direction gives people with disabilities and older adults the ability to manage the long-term services and supports that they need to live lives of their choosing. Over the past more than 25 years, the option to self-direct has become an increasing component of human services systems. The virtue of self- … Read more

Foundational Writings

Michael Smull, Susan Burke Harrison, John and Connie Lyle O’Brien , Beth Mount, Marsha and Jack Pearpoint and others have written about person-centered thinking, planning, and services and supports for some time. We consider their work from the 1980s to today to be foundational and want to make sure that they’re not lost. We have … Read more