The History of Person Centered Practices at TCRC

Starting in 2004 TCRC’s leadership in the use of Person Centered Practices has resulted in real and acknowledged momentum.

Organizational cultural change initiatives such as developing and leading the effort for alternatives to day services locally and in Sacramento, as well as communicating with colleagues state-wide about these efforts, have resulted in a vibrant and progressive environment at TCRC.

Early in the initiative, we designated a core group of staff and service provider partners to serve on a PCT Task Force.  The purpose of this group was to recommend a strategy to embed person centered practices across the organization.  What started with a pilot group gradually expanded to agency wide implementation through the support of various sub committees, the work of the TCRC leadership team and a dedicated PCT coordinator position.  Ongoing collaboration with partner agencies has contributed greatly to the success of the initiative.

This focus on person centered practices resulted in a few key organizational changes:

• Adopting a guiding principle to be “Person Centered in All We Do” has kept us focused on our goals.
• We made a commitment to use “People First Language”.  This contributes to a more respectful environment, helping us focus on individuals, rather than disabilities.
• We changed the format of our IPP (Individualized Program Plan) to mirror some of the PCT tools.
• PCT tools helped create an environment in which issues are discussed openly and differing views are respected.
• We have adopted Positive and Productive Meetings principles and applied PCT tools in a variety of organizational settings; allowing participants to be heard and valued, resulting in a more efficient approach to planning and problem solving.
• Periodic reviews and revisions of strategic objectives to support this initiative were put in place to ensure we continue to strive for improvement.

TCRC’s commitment to person centered practice is evidenced by ongoing work toward a broad training initiative, allocation of staff time for this work, deep organizational change and collaboration with partner agencies.

Over the past decade TCRC has continued work on a broad training initiative to build capacity for person centered practices.  This multi-year plan includes training staff, service providers, families and adults served and other interested community members.  An introduction to Person Centered Thinking is required of all new staff and reinforced through modeling and coaching support from managers.  Communities of Practice is offered in each regional location to augment training and build confidence in using the tools.  Additional training opportunities are available to all stakeholders to embed person centered skills and practices in daily work and life.  The commitment to further these practices is reflected in our Training & Development plan.