RIDDC FOCUS ON STATEWIDE PERSON-CENTERED PLANNING PROCESS WITHIN SPANISH COMMUNITY–INVOLVING INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES IN BUILDING THEIR OWN FUTURES
The RI Developmental Disabilities Council (RIDDC) advocates for Person Centered Planning (PCP), focusing on the importance of building a community. Building a Person-Centered Community to support the futures of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) demands that the children be fully and directly involved. In fact, they are central to the process that is designed to create the best possible future for them, while the family and the professions are also engaged. This outreach effort supports 160 Spanish speaking families across the state.
Recently, the RIDDC enlisted Ken Renaud, founder of IN2U, to connect with Spanish Speaking families. He offers sixteen years of experience with a dynamic, vetted, and proven 3-tiered PCP process by “training staff, teaching families and connecting with the children within this untapped community.”
In Tier 1, a staff of twenty-six from Lazo, RI will learn how the plan works with the help of an interpreter, and by having all the materials translated into Spanish. Renaud refers to the importance of the tools on which he was trained by the program’s author, and describes them as, “colorful and engaging.”
Critical conversations with families are the focus of Tier 2, where an open discussion identifies issues and barriers. That collected data leads to the positive and possible solutions in very specific terms, shared among the participants in breakout sessions by topic. Transportation, for example, may be an issue shared by several families. Recording and publishing data is an ongoing routine.
There is context, and there is the focus on the children. Renaud refers to the middle school age children at a developmental age where they are trying to figure out who they are, their talents and even their contributions. He asks, “ How do they state a vision? They sit and tell us a story,” which helps determine where there is energy or opportunity within the community to bring their gifts to share. Fear within families is also shared, as well as addressed.
Making Action Plans (MAP) requires this input. The MAP includes “what to do? By when? And, who’s going to do it? ” Details form the plan that is shared. Two facilitators, a graphic recorder and a facilitator collaborate in the work sessions, setting common goals for the conversations, where asking and framing questions help lead the family forward.
“Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope” is a phrase used to describe the transitioning kids’ PATH, according to Renaud. It’s an active process. “Don’t just sit there, do something,” is a familiar quote Renaud cites from the program’s author. It starts with a vision to build a future with things that they want. “We spend a lot of time there. It really helps with the planning process, allowing us to explore what’s positive and possible within a year’s time.”
He frames the story as the person’s newsletter, identifying the headlines. From there, the process manages the realities, where the processes are meant to be asset-based rather than deficit-based. This means looking at an individual’s capacity and seeing what is possible, more like a holistic model. In contrast, deficit-based is looking at a person as someone who is broken or needs to be fixed, resembling a medical model.
Perhaps this may translate into enrolling an individual in an organization, helping them get there within a year.
Wellness is a key component in building the best possible future for the individual. The concept is made concrete during discussions about how to take good care of yourself, how to nurture yourself, make friends, eat well and even how to be “mindful”.
There is a session “moment” where the trusted people in the room realize that there is a good idea, identify the first step, and can visualize where the individual would be in six months.
Aware that “Trusted people” are those who the individual goes to for guidance and advice, Renaud makes the distinction that Families know who they trust and state it is a relief that there does not have to be people attending the meeting who they do not know well or might be unsure of their intentions, such as those who might come to the meeting with their own agenda.
The distinction of person-centered planning is that the focus is on the person’s wants and goals versus what the family or what the organization providing services might want. “The concern is that while some families are well-connected and know what this concept means, and some provider agencies may be connected and knowing, many within the community do not know, especially within the Spanish community.”
Together, the RIDDC, along with Ken Renaud of IN2U and Iraida Williams, the executive director of Lazo, RI., which now has a trained, Spanish speaking staff, are now underway. According to RIDDC executive director, Kevin Nerney, “the plan is ambitious, but so are those who are working on this effort this year.”
In either the English or the Spanish language, Renaud speaks an important truth, “Once someone finds their voice, no one can take it away.”