National Supporting Families Community of Practice Holds Annual Meeting
The first day of the CoP Annual Meeting was spent with each state giving a presentation of their accomplishments and then conversations moved into a more specific discussion about tools that can be used with families and how Person-Centered Thinking and LifeCourse tools can work together to help discuss these shared values and principles.Strategies for helping organizations embed the LifeCourse tools and Person Centered Thinking into their policies and practices, as well as build the capacity of staff to apply the use the tools in their daily work were explored. The CoP is learning together on how i to make the most impact with families.
Nancy Thaler, National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS), kicked of the 2nd day of the meeting talking about the critical aspect of demographic, how they relate to quality of life, and that supporting families is the key to a sustainable future.
Updates and reflections on the discussions that occurred were also provided by several key federal partners including Dr. Pat Nobbie, Administration on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (AIDD). Pat noted the themes that stood out to her and commended the states for their work in changing perceptions, as getting people to change the way they think is very challenging. She also highlighted the tremendous outreach efforts that have taken place over the course of the project that will support sustainability by increasing community supports and connecting with families who aren’t involved in the system to tap into their creativity and innovation.
FMI: For a summary of the activities that took place on the first day of the meeting, and to view the presentations of all speakers on the second day go to http://supportstofamilies.org/community-of-practice-2015-annual-meeting-recap/.