Person Centered Planning

Helping children, young people and the people around them to make positive changes in their life of for their future can be really tricky. Often, young people’s opinions, wants and desires can be lost in professional jargon, adult perception and systems that aren’t always child friendly.

Person Centred Planning provides a way of helping a person plan all aspects of their life by exploring what is important to them as well as what is important for them. It ensures the individual has a choice and as much control as possible in making a plan which will affect their life.

In Person Centred Planning the individual is given choice in who comes to the planning meeting, where and when it is held and, crucially, that the person who the meeting is about, is always present. The most commonly used tools in ‘Person Centred Planning are called MAPS and PATHS, which are ‘big picture’ planning activities that need skilled facilitation to be successfully implemented.

The aim is not to fix anyone but to focus on imagining a desirable future – ‘a good life’ – and beginning to figure out what it will take to make this happen. The aim of Person Centred Planning is inclusion and ensures the commitment of each member of the team to help the individual to move forward in achieving their goals.

SISS staff have been trained in the facilitation of Person Centred Planning meetings, and can assist children and young people in the Stirling area by leading  meetings, giving a child-centred and creative approach to planning meetings.