Focus Article

The CREDO Project is a 2-year project aimed at supporting young people between the ages of 13 and 19 who are perceived as having profound and complex impairments.  The National Lottery Charities Board have funded Circles Network to run 2 projects, one in England and the other in Northern Ireland, both projects focus particularly on the move from childhood on to adulthood.

Circles of Support

Each young person involved in the project is supported by a circle of support that is made up from those people in their life who know them the best and who care for them. When a young person or their family express an interest in developing a circle of support, the first step is usually to ‘map out’ all of the people who the young person is in relationship with. From this, people are chosen to be invited in to somebody’s circle of support. 

The circle meets with the sole intention of supporting the young person (the focus person) to become more included within society, the group listen deeply to them, assisting with the realization of dreams and ambitions. Parents, brothers, sisters, friends and committed support workers all work together to draw out the information that will give the person a ‘voice’ and will represent their contribution towards the planning of their life. The circle assists with the making of decisions and stands with the young person during times of challenge and times of success.

‘Transition’

For many of us the time in our lives known commonly as ‘transition’ is full of feelings of uncertainty, risk taking, making choices and experimentation. It is a time to plan and look forward with some excitement to our adult lives and to growing up. We are encouraged to dream and to open our minds looking into a whole range of possibilities and options that will fulfil our wishes and help us find out who we are.  

However, for those young people who are perceived as having profound and complex impairments, the situation is often very different. Feelings of worry, fear, apprehension, uncertainty and guilt dominate the young person and their family. Support in finding out the different options available e.g. further education, day services or supported employment opportunities is often not well organised and left far too late. In addition, there are commonly limited services that are available, resulting in a lack of choice and creativity for the young person and a continuation of dependence on systems and families. There is much information that tells us that this is often a time that families find themselves pressurized often against their wishes, into using residential services – due mainly to a lack of adequate available resources available to the family as a whole.

 The CREDO Project does involve other professionals from; education, social services, health and voluntary agencies, however it is the young person and their circle of support that the project is in direct collaboration with rather than with other organisations. The ideal situation is then to work ‘alongside’ agencies and providers – with the young person remaining in complete control of the planning process.

Obviously the earlier a circle is developed around a young person, the more forward thinking the group of people around them can be, considering the best possible life for the person and the fulfilment of their dreams. 

James is 17 years old and his long-term carers are very pleased to have found out about the CREDO Project because of the anxieties that times of transition can bring. James’s circle meetings are proving to be of focus to those people who are involved in James’s life and who individually would find it hard to know how to continue from now. Although the planning process is in it’s early stages, James is already inviting his peers to his circle meetings and working on how to be more independent and having more life choices. James’s school have been enthusiastic in their approach to the project and will welcome James’s contribution i.e. his Person Centred Plan, to his next review as a valid and extremely important document.

Person Centred Planning...

Is an active process that is alive and that enables the young person to be central in the planning of their lives. With the CREDO Project it is the young person with profound and complex impairments who owns and controls the process with the assistance of those people in their life who know them best i.e. their circle of support.

With person centred planning, the young person is encouraged to dream and to look widely at what they want to experience through life and how they want to spend their time. As this is a way of viewing things that not only considers existing service provision, the situation may be that the young person – with support from their circle- may push the boundaries of what services are currently available for young people with profound and complex impairments. The plan guides the young person towards their future with the ultimate aim that they are contributing citizens who participate in community life. For too long families have been expected to accept whatever resources are available, often to the detriment of their own family life. With a little careful thought, commitment and redirection of resources, it is possible to design and create a responsive support system that ensures that the young person can move forward to a positive future. 

There are a number of planning tools that may be used but the most commonly used tools that require assistance from the young person’s circle of support are PATH and MAPS. With both of these, the young person and their circle get together with 2 facilitators and focus on the dreams of the focus person. One facilitator guides the process and the other graphically records the time spent and the ideas that arise. This method of recording aids understanding for the group (in particular the focus person) and is an effective way of keeping people focussed and making the process more fun!

 With PATH, after a dreaming session takes place, the group come up with a number of goals that are to be achieved by a certain time and then the following steps involve comparing the goals to the current situation, who to ask to help with achieving the desired outcomes and how to stay strong during the process. The progression to the main goals is then broken down into smaller timescales and individuals then commit to taking particular responsibilities to aid the focus person to achieve their goals. PATH is a working action plan that is revisited often and that clearly demonstrates the direction in that the young person wants to live their life. 

MAPS also results in an action plan for a young person but it also spends time building up a picture of who the person is. Their life story is recorded and the group spend a substantial amount of time acknowledging who the person is and what their individual gifts and talents are. This is a very empowering process for all concerned, primarily for the focus person, as so often in more traditional assessments the focus is on those things that somebody cannot do. The group again dream for the young person and also consider what the nightmares are. These are the situations in life that are not good for the focus person and that need to be avoided.   

Personal Futures Planning is also an interactive tool that invites people to dream about a different future using 6 windows that explore and open up the capacities of the young person. Using information collected about the gifts the young person brings to the world enables the circle to plan a positive direction for them. 

At times, people ask how it is that they can possibly know what the young person’s dreams are when they have their own unique ways of communicating. This is why it is essential that those people who contribute to the young person’s plan and who assist with the direction of their life, are those people who know the person best and who care about them. They are the ones who spend time deeply listening to the young person and valuing the unique ways in which they communicate. Yes, sometimes we do have to ‘best guess’ for somebody but surely this is best done by those people who have ‘tuned in’ to the young person and who know how they express their preferences and their dislikes.

 Often, in more traditional styles of assessment the comments and views of a young disabled person and their family come after all other professionals involved and feature less in regards to content and more importantly, value. By using person centred planning techniques, the young person and their family, are empowered to dream and to make life choices with the support of those who love and care for them.

Some social services departments are now beginning to value the importance of person centred planning.

 Paul is 19 and lives at home with his family. He had a plan facilitated that reflected who he is as a young man and what his ideal support would look like for his future. This includes, having a team of people who will support Paul from his home daily, to access facilities in his local community e.g. meeting up with friends down the local pub, using the gym and eating out in good restaurants. Paul’s plan was passed on to his social worker who considered it to be Paul and his family’s wishes and as a result Paul is currently assisting with the recruitment of a team of people who will support him from his home. This is the way in which he wants to spend his time and as one of Paul’s ‘nightmares’ would be to attend a day centre, is the ideal outcome for him and his family.

Aims of the CREDO Project

The Project aims to give young people who are perceived as having profound and complex impairments a voice. This will be achieved by sharing stories of success and challenge at regional awareness events and also by the production of a video – that will also highlight good practice. The video is planned for late 2000 / early 2001 and there will be a national conference held in Spring 2001. Individual stories will celebrate the gifts and differences that each young person possesses and will demonstrate how and where inclusion into community has been achieved.

If you know of any young disabled person who could benefit from the CREDO Project or if you would like further information on the project then please contact: Nadine Jay on 01733 551253 or by post to the CREDO Project England, 8 St Johns Road, Fletton, Peterborough, PE2 8BN.

Email : nadine.jay@circlesnetwork.org.uk
 

Send mail to: information@circlesnetwork.org.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2008 Circles Network
Last modified: February 08, 2008