New! Person-Centered Planning can be a valuable tool for supporting young adults with disabilities and their families to dream big about possibilities for the future and work together with their circles of support to realize their goals. PEAK was privileged to receive a grant from the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council that engaged over 700 Colorado young adults with disabilities, family members, neighbors, friends and service providers in person-centered activities with positive results! Click here for an article that provides details.
PEAK Parent Center provides person-centered planning services to people with disabilities in Colorado to students and young adults with disabilities. [NOTE: Because person-centered planning services are based on grant funding, some are available free-of-charge and others on a fee-for-services basis.]
What is Person-Centered Planning
Person-centered planning is a family of unique planning processes based on the belief that people are best understood in terms of their contributions, personal interests, and gifts. Person-centered planning facilitates a shift in thinking from relying on systems for guiding a person’s life to focusing on personal control, belonging, and choices. Person-centered planning facilitates the development of personal support circles and positive, proactive life plans to assist young people with disabilities and their families in realizing their goals for the future.
Person-Centered Planning Project Services
1. PATH Planning Sessions
2. Taking Charge Course
3. Circle Support Services
4. Life Building Course
5. Person-Centered Planning Facilitator Training and Certification Institute
Groups or individuals can request services on a fee for service basis. For more information, contact project staff at 1-800-284-0251, ext. 117 or email personcenteredplanning@peakparent.org
PATH Planning Sessions
The PATH planning process helps you build your personal support circle and make a plan for reaching your goals for the future. An assigned facilitator and a recorder guide you, your family, and other people of your choice through a creative, graphic planning process during which you identify your dreams, set goals and plan for how, with help from your circle, you will achieve those goals. The final PATH step is an Action Plan with specific steps that will be taken to move forward on your plan. Spanish-speaking facilitators are available.
For an information sheet about the PATH process, click below: EnglishEspañol
To schedule a PATH, click below for a session request form: EnglishEspañol
[Note: PATHs are currently available free-of-charge to Roaring Fork Valley Taking Charge participants and to others on a fee-for-services basis.]
Taking Charge! Advocacy and Leadership Course
Currently being held in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley!
Taking Charge! is a five-session course that uses a person-centered approach to helping young adults with disabilities develop self-advocacy and leadership skills. This course is recommended for people who have already participated in a person-centered planning activity (like the PATH process or Life Building Course) and who want more information and help to move ahead with their plans. Participants can each invite up to three friends and family members or others to participate with them. Participants gain new ideas, skills and strategies for creating a better life. Taking Charge! gives people tools for turning dreams into reality! Spanish language interpretation is available on request.
What happens at TAKING CHARGE?
Taking Charge! is a highly interactive learning experience that involves brief presentations and large and small group discussions. Every session includes time for participants and their circle members to work on their own plans as well as time to share ideas with members of other circles.
What past participants had to say about the Taking Charge Course:
“I learned how to speak up for myself.”
“Truly one of the finest experiences. My son and I came away with so much energy, hope, vision, and excitement!”
“Many good things have happened for me since Taking Charge!”
To learn more about the Taking Charge Course, check out these video interviews:
Click here to read an article about the Taking Charge course.
Applications are no longer being accepted for the 2011 Taking Charge Course in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley. The course is currently in progress.
Just experiencing a PATH session is often not enough to keep going forward on your life goals. A circle or personal network can be an important support for a person for their whole life.
After making a plan and starting your circle, get support from our project consultants for how to keep your circle strong and take action steps toward your goals. A facilitator from this project can lead your first few circle meetings to help you and your group keep moving on the right path!
In addition to individual circle follow-up support, PEAK offers “Making Your Circle Work for You” workshops which are open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the person-centered planning and circles and provides helpful information for circle members who want to keep their circles strong and active. There are currently no workshops scheduled. Stay tuned for information on future workshops.
Life Building Course
Life Building is a community-based life planning course designed to help young people with disabilities leaving school-based support services and their families who want to get organized and work on goals for the future. The young people with disabilities each attend with people of their choice, including family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors and others. A facilitator guides groups through individual planning time and also provides opportunities for sharing ideas and stories with other groups. In addition, resource people from the local community are invited to serve as mentors for the young people and to help with planning. Participants also each experience their own PATH planning session as part of the Life Building Course. Spanish language interpretation is available.
The 2009-10 Aurora Life Building Course was completed in March of 2010. Future plans include offering the Life Building course in other Colorado communities as requested. Stay tuned for more information!
To view a video interview with a Life Buidling participant and to see information about the 2010 Aurora Life Building Course, click below: EnglishEspañol
Person-Centered Planning Facilitator Training and Certification Institute
This institute is for people who know about person-centered planning and want to learn how to become a facilitator for young people with disabilities in Colorado. During the three days of training, participants learn the values-based principles of person-centered planning, the steps of the PATH process, and practice the skills they need to master to become successful facilitators. At the end of the three days, participants complete a practicum experience, where they each facilitate and record actual PATH planning sessions for young people, under the supervision of skilled facilitation coaches. Successful trainees are then certified as having completed the training and are called upon to work as facilitators for PATH session requests received by PEAK.
The last facilitator institute was held in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, co-sponsored by Mountain Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).
Click here to download the institute flyer. [Note: No applications are being accepted at this time.]
Stay tuned for information about future Facilitator Institutes in Denver and Colorado Springs.
