Visits to British Columbia
25 Jan 2011 5 Comments
Pat Fratangelo had the opportunity to meet with a magnificent agency in Vancouver today called Spectrum Society for Community Living. Spectrum shared it stategic plan with its vision. They believe that together they can create a world where all people are valued, their voices heard, and their choices respected.
Wonderful brainstorming ocurred where we all worked to think more deeply about the roles we each have in the lives of those we support, how we work to manage an agency that listens to its people, and how we work to enable each person to have a more connected life with others in the community.
One of the big questions of the day was what are the hallmarks of true person centered and person directed services? The answers we learned are not all that clear as so much is subtle. We talked about decrease in behavior problems, decrease in incidents, decrease in medications, people being at more peace with themselves and happier with their life. We all agree that personalized budgets are of paramount importance. When all knew that when people have a champion in their life and a good support circle, life is susually more self fullfilled and happy. Everyone agreed that each person needs to be in the pilot seat of their service. And everyone agreed that flexibility was necessary as a person’s needs changes over time.
OCL very much sees those at Spectrum Society as a sister agency sharing the road of moving down new and different paths in the journey of supporting people in the manner that they need and want.
We look forward to having the co directors visiting OCL this summer and will open up a day of their visit to a community presentation.
Jan 25, 2011 @ 07:11:36
I enjoyed the day so much – thanks! as usual, spending time with you led to insights.
Jan 25, 2011 @ 07:51:22
Thanks for a great day, Pat! We always take away new ideas from our conversations with you. We are so grateful to have had this opportunity for more of our team leaders benefit from your insights. It’s inspiring to hear how your organization has successfully navigated the same path we’re heading down now, and to realize that our vision for our own agency is indeed achievable. We can’t wait to visit your organization later this year and meet some of your team. Thanks again!
Jan 25, 2011 @ 15:06:47
Hi!
It’s was really great to have a day to discuss and share things. One of the conversations that came out of Judy’s & Ray’s thoughts was about about how family members come to us look after years of under-service. Pat’s brought some really great ideas about helping people build confidence through asking questions about their life – rather than receivers of funding mechanism.
It was also a great to remember than negativity can be blessing in disguise. Thanks so much for coming Pat.
Best,
– Jules Andre-Brown
Jan 25, 2011 @ 18:11:08
Thanks for coming to talk with us Pat. You have a great energy, one which to me seems to be that of wisdom, and a strength of character which allows you to stick to your values in the face of resistance to outdated ideas and the opinions of those who hold them. I enjoyed hearing the story of Onondaga from you in person, and look forward to hearing how the story unfolds in the future.
Chad
Jan 26, 2011 @ 00:00:54
Thank you for sharing the day with us, Pat. I can see we still have some work to do on that balancing act for those of us as caregivers who think it is our job to provide care for people, minimize risk and fix things, rather than support people and their networks to make a good life for themselves. If we take care of things that could be learning experiences or opportunities for accomplishment and control, then we deprive people of the satisfaction of setting and achieving their own goals. What Michael Kendrick and David Pitonyak keep challenging us to do is figure out what we as an agency can and should do well in support of people, their networks and their good lives in welcoming communities. So, with your help, we’ll keep plugging away at building our understanding of person-centred supports.
Thanks again! See you soon.
Ernie