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

An Opportunity to Provide Feedback on California’s Quality Incentive Program 

Now Accepting Public Comments: Quality Incentive Program DDS is posting proposed quality measures and incentives for service providers for public comment. These measures were developed over several months with input from stakeholders through workgroup meetings. The measures align with implementation of the Quality Incentive Program, which is designed to support and incentivize a person-centered, statewide service system that provides high-quality, … Read more

Listen to Me! (fillable pdf version)

Listen to Me! was developed at a time when Essential Lifestyle Planning (ELP) was one of the gold standards of person-centered planning. While it still sets a high standard, since that time, many other methods of planning with individuals for the lives they want to lead have been developed. Please make sure that you understand … Read more

Measure for Measure: person-centered quality assurance

In the summer of 2000, representatives of nine national developmental disabilities organizations joined together to launch theDevelopmental Disabilities Quality Coalition (DDQC). The purpose of the DDQC is to prospectively address the public issues surrounding the quality and availability of community services for persons with developmental disabilities. The Wingspread Conference was organized around a series of … Read more

Using person-centered practices within organisations and teams

by Helen Sanderson, Mary Beth Lepkowsky with Michelle Livesley and Ruth Gorman Shifting the way we think about people supported by the organisation and people employed by the organisation can be accomplished through using person-centred thinking practices, to create a person-centred culture. At their heart, person-centred thinking tools are simply a different way to have … Read more