#person centered practice

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Donate Your Old Magazines

The Person Centered Practice Unit is putting a call out for donations of magazines to use in our People Planning Together workshops.  We are especially in need of men’s, nature, and lifestyle magazines. Please contact DIDD regional staff in your area (contact information below) to drop off your magazines.

West Tennessee Janice Williams [email protected] 901-745-7215 

Middle Tennessee Kate Adams [email protected] 615-884-1922  

East Tennessee Caira Garcia [email protected] 865-594-9336 

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Person Centered Practice Update

Community Network Services (CNS) in Knoxville hosted our most recent People Planning Together (PPT) orientation on Wednesday, April 19.  Five self-advocates along with their support staff and DIDD staff members from both the Central Office and East Regional Office participated in a successful PPT orientation meeting.  Everyone was very excited and participated enthusiastically in the orientation activities.  There was even an opportunity for people to support each other in overcoming difficult memories and moving forward with new goals and optimism.  Some new PPT trainers were identified and will be formally offered training positions in the coming weeks. DIDD is looking forward to working with the new PPT trainers and is thankful to CNS and everyone present for such a successful PPT orientation.  You can learn more about our People Planning Together classes in this video.

CORE Services in Johnson City held its third leaders and coaches meeting on April 20.  CORE is in the final stages of becoming a Person Centered Organization.  We heard from coaches and leaders on progress made since the last meeting, developed action plans for Level 2 and Level 3 changes identified by CORE, and determined what needs to be accomplished between now and the final meeting on May 25th.  Accomplishments include: A DSP training on rights curriculum that was developed and is being used at orientation; a fast fact sheet on rights that has been added to all medical encounter forms; a personal business card for all persons supported that includes a Healthcare Bill of Rights on the back; the Rights Assessment Book becoming a well-established process 90 days pre-ISP; an agency vision board that was developed; a medical encounter satisfaction survey, along with a spreadsheet to track data; quarterly focus groups being held every other quarter, alternating DSP and persons supported; exit interviews being conducted with employees ending employment; bi-annual employee satisfaction surveys with results tracked ongoing, and; persons supported and DSP’s consistently participating in applicant interviews.  CORE has its final meeting on May 25.

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Person Centered Practice Success Story

Sandra is 52 years of age. She has been receiving waiver services since 1992 with support from a corporate conservator.  Sandra is bright, funny and very much in control of her life, and her conservator respects her decision making abilities.  Her conservator only makes decisions when absolutely needed. In the past 15 years, Sandra’s cerebral palsy has progressively taken away her mobility and verbal communication. She has chronic pain due to her muscle contractions.   A few years ago it was determined that an iPad would help to reopen her world of communication and bring back a quality of life, as Sandra was somewhat socially isolated, by her inability to communicate.  She is able to read and spell and previously used an alphabet card for very tedious communication.  Having an iPad with voice output meant that she now could have real conversations.  

After receiving her iPad, Sandra began emailing and looking for friends. Most importantly, she told everyone that she wanted to go to college and get a degree.  Although she said that she received a regular high school diploma from another state, it could not be located.  She then decided that she would get a GED so that she could attend college as a degree seeking student.  Some people were skeptical but with her CoS on board, she began to make her dream come true.   Sandra quickly surprised everyone, passing her tests and earning her GED.  Together with a supportive CoS, she applied to Walters State in Morristown, Tennessee and was accepted.  Sandra wanted to study criminal justice, but when the time came, she surprised everyone by choosing to work towards an associate degree in business which would make her more employable.  There is a satellite campus close to Sandra's home that some felt would meet her needs.  Sandra, however, wanted a college experience and insisted on attending the main campus 25 miles away.  Sandra registered for her classes and set up her appointments with the disability office to determine reasonable accommodations that she would need to be successful.  Sandra is now a student at the main campus of Walters State, with a scribe to assist her in classes.  She has already successfully completed several essays and tests.  A professor has complimented her determined ability and work ethic.  Sandra has had substantial changes in her life especially socially.  She is on her way to making friends at school, and she is always on the go.  

For Sandra, the iPad has enriched her life.  Without it, Sandra may not have been able to achieve her goal of attending college.  Each time there was a barrier, Sandra and her CoS worked through it together and made things happen.  Sandra is a sincere and focused self-advocate.

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DIDD Job Opening

The Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) is seeking candidates for the Deputy Director of Person Centered Practice position.  The qualified candidate will possess a Bachelor’s Degree (years of relevant experience can be used in place of a degree), professional experience working with individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and knowledge of Person Centered Practices.  The ideal candidate will have experience in program coordination or program management, has the ability to interpret and implement Person Centered philosophies, manage multiple projects in a timely manner, work independently, and possesses excellent verbal and written skills.  Commitment to organizational growth and continuous improvement is a must. This position is located in the DIDD Central Office, in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.  For more information, visit this link on our website.

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What is People Planning Together?

People Planning Together (PPT) is a successful self-advocacy initiative, launched in 2011.  The two day workshop provides training and support for self-advocates with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are working towards a good community life.  Self-advocates learn how to develop and write their own support plan.  This class is recommended for self-advocates with an Individual Support Plan (ISP) who can tolerate an interactive, two-day class.  At this link, you can watch a video from a class in Memphis to get an idea of what it’s like.  Special thanks and recognition to Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities.  This workshop would not be possible without their support.  The council provides funding for the self-advocates’ stipend and travel expenses each year.

We are currently looking for PPT trainers for this workshop.  This opportunity is for self-advocates only, people receiving services.

Criteria for trainers:

Must submit a One Page Profile with Name, Photo (suggested but not required) Qualities (what others like and admire about me), ‘How to Best Support Me’.  Deadline for One Page Profile, October 3, 2016.

Must have the support of your provider agency

A genuine desire to train and motivate other self-advocates

Currently advocating for your life.  You have an active life in the community or are currently working to achieve personal goals.

Have the ability to facilitate two-day training with dependable staff support

Comfortable with written PowerPoint material.  Facilitators will help you with the technology requirements for this class.

Must be dedicated and dependable

If you do not use words to communicate, you will need a communication device.  If you have another effective way to communicate please include the details with your One Page Profile in the “How to Best Support Me” section.

For questions or more details about becoming a PPT trainer or hosting a People Planning Together workshop, please e-mail or call [email protected] [phone].  

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New Person-Centered Practices Mentor Trainers in East TN

The Learning Community of Person-Centered Practices has added two new mentor trainers in East Tennessee: Caira Garcia and Alice Taylor.  Caira has been a Person Centered Thinking Trainer since 2011, and Alice achieved trainer status in 2009.  As mentor trainers, they will be helping to build capacity by training new Person Centered Thinking Trainers.  Caira currently serves as DIDD’s Director of Operations in ETRO, and Alice is currently working with D&S Community Services after retiring from state government with 30 years of service.

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Person Centered Practice

This month we celebrated ‘Kick-off’ festivities for our 3 newest Person Centered Organizations.  Core Services of Northeast Tennessee (East), Volunteers of America (West) and Waves Inc. (Middle) all learned about expectations for the upcoming months ahead. All organizations learned the historical and foundational information to ensure this initiative is a success for the people who use/receive services, employees and the organization.

Each organization had the support of the people they support, an variety of agency staff –ranging from direct support professional to the Executive Directors’, board of directors, family members, ISCs and DIDD personnel.

During the kick-off meetings, we evaluated what was working and not working from different perspectives.  Using this information, we developed 1 to 2 clear outcome statements for each organization to develop goals focused on implementing more person-centered practices. All organizations are scheduled to complete this work in December of this year.