Person-Centered Planning: Practices, Promises, and Provisos.

The purpose of this article is to synthesize the current information in the area of person-centered planning. The article investigates issues in the areas of analyses of various approaches, similarities and differences of approaches, implementation of person-centered planning processes, and advantages and limitations of person-centered planning. The implementation of person-centered planning requires change and flexibility among state educational planners, local and regional school officials, teachers and ancillary personnel, community support agencies and their personnel, and parents from the traditional manner in conducting the planning process for people with disabilities. Person-Centered Planning: Practices, Promises, and Provisos Person-centered planning began almost 20 years ago as a systematic approach to identify new concepts through which to understand the experience of people with developmental disabilities and to work with them and their allies to better their experiences in life (O’Brien, O’Brien, & Mount, 1997). Person-centered planning represents a 180-degree turn away from the system-centered process, and has been called the “antithesis” of this more traditional method of planning (Holburn, Jacobson, & Vietze, 2000). “According to recent reports person-centered planning approaches are important new tools which challenge the way service providers interact with individuals with disabilities and their families, conduct assessments, develop individualized plans, and deliver and evaluate services for individuals with disabilities” (Everson & Zhang, 2000, p. 36). Person-Centered Planning is a way of listening to and learning from individuals what they would like to have or see in their lives, it assists people to think about what types of things they would like to have now as well as in the future, and it places the individual’s family and friends at the forefront of helping to make those plans come into existence (O’Brien, 2004). It is one of the newer and more innovative mediums to bring about positive changes in the lives of individuals especially those with disabilities. Many service delivery systems hold fast to the traditional system centered focus for various reasons. Although some progress has been made in the implementation of person-centered planning, most states still face the difficult task of trying to implement an individually-oriented, time-intensive planning process with funding structures that are limiting their flexibility, caseloads that are prohibitively high, and case management structures in which there are inherent conflicts of interest (Anderson & Factor, 1993). Currently, very little research investigating personcentered planning practices and outcomes has been published (Everson & Zhang, 2000; Reid, Everson, & Green, 1999). What has been written has been almost solely focused on the practices, benefits, and outcomes associated with personcentered planning but minimal research efforts have been directed towards exploring the characteristics, inhibitors, and supports that lead to successful outcomes due to person-centered planning (Everson & Zhang, 2000; Whitney-Thomas, Shaw, Honey, & Butterworth, 1998). To add to this body of knowledge, we provide an analysis of the literature in several broad domains: first, we provide an overview of the person-centered process, including analyses of various approaches and steps for implementation of person-centered planning, and an analysis of efficacy studies of person-centered planning. We also discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of person-centered planning and provide a perspective on current practices for future research.