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Skill ArticleThe Circles Network CREDO Project The CREDO Project
endeavours to give young disabled people who are perceived as having profound
and complex impairments a ‘voice’. This is exceptionally important as so
often these young people; are not listened to, are not involved in the planning
of their own lives, are not encouraged to have aspirations or to achieve and in
the worst case scenarios -are not deemed worthy of any of the above. We all have a collective
responsibility to ensure that these things take place for all young people and
the CREDO Project has focused on supporting young people between the ages of 13
and 19 in having meaningful and satisfying lives. CREDO stands for Creating
Real and Equal Development Opportunities and is a project funded by the
Community Fund and run through Circles Network – the leading national voluntary
organisation that facilitates and teaches others to build Circles of Support
around any person who is isolated or is in danger of becoming socially excluded. Circles of Support are a
relatively simple concept that can lead to very powerful changes in somebody’s
life. A Circle is owned by the individual who wants one (the focus person) and
is not dominated or controlled by service providers. Rather, it is made up of a
group of identified people who are deeply committed to the person and who truly
care for them. It is the well-being and happiness of the focus person that is
the reason to get together, to form a circle and to meet regularly. Circle members can be
parents, friends, neighbours, local community members and committed support
workers (although they need to be chosen carefully and appreciate that it is the
person that controls the circle) all who want to make a difference in a
person’s life. By bringing people together, the group usually gets to know
each other as well as the focus person better and as a result there is an
interdependency that develops. This relying on each other and ‘doing each
other favours’ is what builds inclusive communities – the overriding
objective of Circles Network as an organisation. Very often young people
with more complex needs have very unique, individual ways of communicating their
thoughts, moods and wishes. The CREDO Project is often asked the question,
“but how do we know what she wants from life and how do we know what her
dreams are?” The answer is that often we will not know completely and so we
either; ‘best guess’ what the answers may be or we dream on their behalf.
Every person has dreams, it is no different for any young person who has been
labelled as having complex needs – it is our responsibility to best find out
what they are and to respond to them. The ideal group of people
to do this are those who care and are committed i.e. their Circle of Support.
These are the people who are there ‘for the long run’ not a group of
professionals who have their own worthwhile contributions to make but who are
supporting in a paid capacity. The CREDO Project has found
that very often there are limited options for teenagers who are perceived as
being ‘complex’. Sometimes there are opportunities to attend a day centre or a
day service and to move into a residential or supported living facility.
Traditional methods of assessment and planning ‘match’ or ‘fit’ young disabled
people to services that are currently available and that are established in
providing support to that group of people e.g. a day service for people with
profound learning difficulties. Person Centred
Planning is a way of working that opens up new possibilities and gives hope to
ensuring that a person lives their life more meaningfully and how they want.
With the CREDO Project, this planning is undertaken with the young person always
being at the centre of the process (as opposed to being assessed or planned for)
and with the help of their Circle of Support. There are a number of tools that
can be used to draw out the information that builds up a picture of; who is this
person? Who are we in their lives? And how can we make their life more
meaningful? By getting together a group
of people who are committed to this form of planning, many thoughts, ideas and
experiences are shared and positive solutions are formed to aspire to. The
process is guided by a trained facilitator who ensures that the pace and style
of the meeting is comfortable for the focus person. Sometimes the very bringing
together of a group of people can feel too much for a young person: Kerry
had a PATH facilitated which is a person centred planning tool that focuses on
where somebody would like to be in the future and how they are going to be
supported to get there. Kerry’s Circle is made up of her Mum, Dad, brother,
brother’s girlfriend and 2 committed key-workers from Kerry’s day service.
Initially a dreaming session took place and then those dreams that were seen as
positive and possible were set and an action plan made. Kerry was present for
about half of the sessions, on the other occasions she chose not to come in as
she often feels uncomfortable and gets upset if all of her family are present
around her. On the occasions that she was not there, the facilitator made it
clear to Kerry’s Circle that the session was based on Kerry’s PATH and so
was able to continue to guide the process. Also, to encourage Kerry’s
involvement, the facilitator met with Kerry’s brother separately, explaining
the process and gaining his views. There are a number of young
people who are involved with the CREDO Project who dream / aspire to receiving
direct payments and in receiving individualised support. They do not want to fit
into traditional services and they want choices over how they spend their time
and who supports them in doing the things that they want to do. Having a label
does not have to determine where somebody lives, who they live with or how they
spend their days. Circles of Support are being used to help individuals to
receive and manage their direct payments. With the CREDO Project the
main reasons for a young person to have a Circle of Support is to plan for adult
life and to develop and maintain friendships. Commonly young people with
profound and complex impairments do not have many friends of their own or social
relationships with people are not paid to support them. Very often when mapping
out all of those people in a child or a young person’s life, the map is
dominated by paid support workers and professionals. A Circle of Support aims to
bring in more people who want to share time with the young person because of who
they are and what their gifts are. The result is that the young person has an
informal support network who they know they can rely on and who will be there to
support them come what may. Nadine Jay Please click here for
further information on the CREDO East project.
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