The resources linked below are presented with a brief summary, an indication of the content areas and links to access the source documents. Inclusion of the resource on this page does not imply a specific endorsement of any one approach to ensure that supports and services are person-centered.
This resource page will be regularly updated. To suggest additional documents, please email NCAPPS@hsri.org
Education and Awareness
Technical Assistance & Training
Policy & Research
Quality & Service Delivery
Despite progress, states continue to grapple with how to effectively implement person-centered planning in a way that aligns with the Home and Community-Based Services Final Rule requirements. Many states continue to seek technical assistance to support maintaining or coming into compliance with the requirements. This environmental scan seeks to understand common themes across those states that continue to need technical assistance around person-centered planning.
To guide the technical assistance provided as part of the National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems (NCAPPS), the Human Services Research Institute prepared a national overview of person-centered principles across aging and disability systems, including mental health systems.
This resource, created as part of NCAPPS technical assistance, provides an annotated summary description of foundational resources and approaches for person-centered thinking, planning, and practice.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe nine components that work in concert to make up a person-centered human services system in a series of blogs:
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe vision, mission, and values as part of a person-centered human services system.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe advocacy as part of a person-centered human services system
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe outcomes as part of a person-centered human services system.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe support as part of a person-centered human services system.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe culture as part of a person-centered human services system.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe trauma as part of a person-centered human services system.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe positive pressure and alignment as part of a person-centered human services system.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe quality management as part of a person-centered human services system.
Michael Smull and his partners at Support Development Associates describe leadership as part of a person-centered human services system.
NCAPPS subject matter experts created a tool – the Health Care Person-Centered Profile – to communicate a person’s wants and needs if they are hospitalized without the direct support of their caregivers, family, neighbors, or friends.
The tool has two pages. The first page can be used to capture brief and vital information about the person’s health status. The second page contains the Person-Centered Profile, a one-page brief description of the things that can assist medical staff in providing more tailored and person-centered care.
You can use the accompanying instructions to fill out the template for yourself, someone you love, or someone you’re caring for.
Examples are also included to show how the tool can be applied to people with different backgrounds and concerns.
Despite consensus regarding the content and conduct of person-centered plans (such as the person-centered planning requirements in the Home and Community-Based Services Final Rule), there has been less promising practice guidance on how to tailor the duration and extent of the planning process to the needs and wishes of the person. To be truly person-centered, the content and extent of the planning process should be tailored to the person's unique life circumstances. The intent of this resource is to reinforce the importance of aligning person-centered planning approaches with the wishes and needs of the person for whom the plan is being developed, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
Self-direction gives people with disabilities and older adults the ability to manage the long-term services and supports that they need to live lives of their choosing. While self-direction is an option in virtually every state, it is still a relatively small component of most public systems. In order to grow the number of people who can take advantage of self-direction, many public managers and advocacy organizations are looking for specific steps they can take to make the option more available and accessible. Developed through the NCAPPS Self-Direction Learning Collaborative, this guide offers a road map to strategic targets that are linked to the key drivers of a robust self-direction option within public programs. It lays out a series of decision points beginning with the selection of overarching goal(s) to pursue, aspects of the goal to tackle, and action steps to pursue. The road map includes a: strategy diagram that identifies strategies that will support the overarching global aim of enhancing the availability and quality of self-direction; descriptions and action steps for each strategy; and resources and examples of best practice.
The person-centered plan is a written individualized plan based on the person’s needs, goals, and preferences that helps them reach their vision of a good life. But what exactly does a “good” person-centered plan include or look like? What are some outcomes we might anticipate for the person? This resource outlines promising practices for person-centered plan documentation and describes indicators of truly person-centered plans for quality monitoring purposes.
Self-Determination is the right of all people to participate in and approve of the design of their personal support systems, to fully engage in their communities, and to make choices in their daily lives. Though the ultimate exercise of self-determination is having people direct their own supports, not every individual receiving Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) may be eligible for or interested in the self-directed services available where they live. Provider-directed services, such as community-based group homes, structured employment, day programs, or shared living will continue to be part of the array of options available to people needing support. Human services providers, however, can infuse self-determination in every aspect of service delivery by helping people exert greater control over their environments and make choices about their everyday lives. Created through NCAPPS technical assistance, this guide contains strategies and resources to assist HCBS providers in championing self-determination among the people they serve.
This resource, which builds from foundational approaches to person-centered planning and the 2020 National Quality Forum Person-Centered Planning and Practice Final Report, describes five skill areas, or domains, that facilitators should possess to support a fully person-centered planning process: A. Strengths-Based, Culturally Informed, Whole Person-Focused; B. Cultivating Connections Inside the System and Out; C. Rights, Choice, and Control; D. Partnership, Teamwork, Communication, and Facilitation; and E. Documentation, Implementation, and Monitoring.
Developed as part of NCAPPS technical assistance, this Self-Assessment is designed to help leadership at human service agencies in States, Tribes, and Territories to measure their progress in developing a more person-centered system. It contains questions about observable practices across eight system domains: Leadership; Person-Centered Culture; Eligibility & Service Access; Person-Centered Service Planning & Monitoring; Finance; Workforce Capacity & Capabilities; Collaboration & Partnership; and Quality & Innovation.