8:00-9:45am EST/7:00 CT/6:00 MT/5:00 PDT
Networking & Board of Directors Meet-Up

10:00-11:00am EST/9:00 CT/8:00 MT/7:00 PDT
Four Concurrent Sessions

1. Using Person Centered Approach Towards Better Health Outcomes for Adults with IDD
It is estimated that people with IDD experience premature death and live an average of 20 fewer years than those without disabilities. This startling statistic is compounded by the estimation that nearly 40% of the deaths are caused from preventable illnesses, such as dehydration, constipation or aspiration. This presentation will focus on targeting person centered approaches to help people with IDD become better advocates for their own healthcare and become more informed about making decisions regarding healthcare. Participants will receive a workbook that is designed to foster conversations regarding health priorities, making decisions about how to communicate with healthcare professionals, and how supporters should be involved in medical visits. Participants will also receive a template to use the information from the workbook to develop a one-page health profile that may be shared with medical professionals. This session features a presenter will lived experience and a co-trainer who is certified in teaching Person Centered Thinking. Molly Dellinger-Wray & Taylor Thomas-Harris

2. Self-Advocacy: Using everyday person-centered skills to empower people living in Long-Term Care
Minnesota continues to move toward person-centered practices in all areas of service delivery. The Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care, a program under the Minnesota Board on Aging promotes person-centered living that respects people’s values and choices. The Minnesota Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care has partnered with Moving Home Minnesota (a Money Follows the Person project) to develop a training curriculum for people who receive long-term services and support in both the Skilled Nursing Setting and Licensed Assisted Living Setting. These self-advocacy training’s focuses on; Resident and Family Council Development and include topics such as: the history of self-advocacy, resident rights, one-page descriptions, person centered care planning, how to be your own best self-advocate, voicing grievances and understanding retaliation. Emma Shepard & Tammy Hollingsworth

3. What’s Data Got To Do With It: A Data-Based Approach to Person-Centeredness
As the work towards HCBS compliance continues across the entire country, person-centeredness continues to be the focal point. As certified trainers and person-centered planning workshop facilitators, we know the benefits of effective person-centered practices; however, without “data”, it becomes difficult to prove the efficacy and effectiveness of such practices to legislation as a means of sustainable funding. In this interactive workshop, we will explore how to collect, synthesize, and use data to drive decisions made at the individual, organizational and systemic levels. Participants can expect to walk away with the working knowledge to showcase data that make a difference. Fruc Menchavez & Alva Gardner-Bolsieri

4. Spanish Trainers Workgroup

11:15am-12:45pm EST/10:15 CT/9:15 MT/8:15 PDT
Keynote Speaker: Fletcher Cleaves
The Importance of Never Giving Up

1:00-2:00pm EST/12:00 CT/11:00 MT/10:00 PDT
Lunch

2:15-3:15pm EST/1:15 CT/12:15 MT/11:15 PDT
Annual Meeting

3:30-4:30pm EST/2:30 CT/1:30 MT/12:30 PDT
Four Concurrent Sessions

1. Love and Friendship in the 21st Century
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges we face when supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is the epidemic of loneliness. This is an issue tha tmust be focused on and there are solutions. One possible solution is the dating app called Hello its me, another is training the DSPs to be social coaches. Yet another is to create singles groups for friendship and dating. Stories and strategies will be shared. Karyn Harvey, Kevin Drumheller & Vik Aurora

2. Learning Marketplace: Time for Change: Addressing Trauma from the Person to Orgnization
This will be a first look at a comprehensive Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) framework being developed as part of a doctoral culminating project to decrease barriers to care. Although it has been recognized as a best practice, people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) are often not included in the research and implementation of TIC. This session will guide participants through the design of this groundbreaking approach aimed at enhancing the support for people with I/DD who have experienced trauma, fostering a truly transformative and forward thinking approach to care. Michelle Stroebel

3. Learning Marketplace: Measuring a Person Centered Culture In Vivo
Michael Smull challenged us in the early days of PCT to help “create better lives, not better paper”. Since “better living” is notoriously hard to measure, this session will introduce a scale of 10 person-centered elements used to observe/assess staff performance, in vivo, regarding “person-centeredness” in any service setting. The 10 elements…Interaction Tone, Coaching, Engagement, Enthusiasm, and Accessibility, to name a few, are discussed in the session, along with observable identifiers that define ratings on a scale of 1 – 5. When implemented, this tool can provide staff with teachable moments and immediate feedback, with the aim of making the staff member’s interactions more person-centered at that moment in time. This scale was not intended for formal statistical purposes, but it can be used to evaluate and measure performance of the organization’s person-centered practices over time. Menorca Collazo

4. Mentor Meeting

4:30-5:00pm EST/3:30 CT/2:30 MT/1:30 PDT
Closing Session/Wrap Up the Day

6:30-10:30pm EST
Banquet Dinner & Auction

Click Here to learn more about this year’s auction!

8:00-9:45am EST/7:00 CT/6:00 MT/5:00 PDT
Networking Time

10:00-11:00am EST/9:00 CT/8:00 MT/7:00 PDT
Four Learning Marketplace

11:15am-12:45pm EST/10:15 CT/9:15 MT/8:15 PDT
Keynote Speaker: Kitty Norton
Flop. Fail. Flourish: A dementia family caregiver’s journey to Person Centered Care
Tossed into the fray of dementia family caregiving with no inkling of the challenges that awaited, Kitty Norton found her way to person centered care for her mother, Gloria, through trial and error, error, error…

Join us for an opportunity for networking, a cash bar, and a viewing of Wine, Women, and Dementia, the documentary directed by Kitty Norton on Tuesday, July 16 at 7:00pm.

1:00-2:00pm EST/12:00 CT/11:00 MT/10:00 PDT
Lunch

2:15-3:15pm EST/1:15 CT/12:15 MT/11:15 PDT
Four Concurrent Sessions

1. Risk and Supported Decision-Making
An interactive discussion introducing the concept of risk and how supported decision-making and person-centered skills can be utilized to assist someone with making informed decisions for any activities that involve risk. Additionally, learn about the concept of dignity of failure, in addition to dignity of risk using best practices. The audience will have an opportunity to think more critically about their own perceptions of risk through activities. Sara Thompson & Dr. Jan Nelson

2. Empowering Choice through Dignity of Risk: How to Navigate Safety in a Self-Determined Life
To inform individuals with ID/DD, their families, providers, legal representatives, and others that a self-determined life is a fundamental human right and dignity in taking safe risks should be respected, even for those with disabilities. This presentation discusses three major life risks (finances, health & safety, and citizenship) that cause the most concern from a person and those who care about them. Our presentation explains legal rights and protections, the perspective of adult advocates with disabilities, and guidance for providers and other support team members on how to create a respectful and encouraging environment for individuals with ID/DD to express self-determination through informed choices and dignity of risk. Victoria Arvizu & Jesse Monroe

3. Burnout vs Compassion Fatigue: Person Centered Approaches to Supporting Staff
Burnout is a state of exhaustion that causes poor motivation and a lack of interest in work. It is caused by work-related attributes such as the job, coworkers, one’s supervisor and poor work culture. Compassion fatigue is a specific type of burnout that refers to the negative emotions and loss of empathy people experience after being exposed to other people’s trauma, pain, and suffering. It is caused by the exposure to traumatic events (even in a vicarious way). This training focuses on providing accurate information about trauma and how It impacts people, especially the workforce. This assists teams to work together, using person centered skills to collect, synthesize, and organize information for trauma-informed person centered planning and support of the workforce. This series builds on the skills learned in PCT Training and provides a practical applications for immediate use. Tanya Richmond

4. People Planning Together

3:30-4:30pm EST/2:30 CT/1:30 MT/12:30 PDT
Four Concurrent Sessions

1. Self-Advocacy is for Everyone!
Since 2015, Core Services of Northeast Tennessee has been on a journey to live the ideals of the HCBS Setting Rules with rewarding results. Lives began to improve as we listened and acted in more thoughtful and deliberate ways. This created an “ah-ha” moment for agency leaders. What if the same person-centered practices that are producing such amazing results with people supported were applied to agency employees? This turned out to be the answer to the DSP staffing shortage as well as being vital to the reduction in vacancies and turnover. DSP vacancy rates fell and stayed at 4%.

One definition of self-advocacy is “the action of representing oneself or one’s views or interests”. Listen to agency leaders as they talk about how agency transformation created a unique opportunity to make sure everyone in the agency has the support to represent themselves and their views or interests. This included career advancement opportunities for DSPs, the formation of councils to provide input into the agency mission and self-advocacy opportunities at all levels of the organization. Attendees will receive practical ideas and practices that can be replicated. Susan Arwood & Nick Filarelli

2. Creating an Equitable Learning Environment Using PCT
In this engaging session, you will discover the power of Person-Centered Thinking (PCT) in building empathetic relationships with families. By implementing PCT strategies, you will create a warm and welcoming environment that empowers families, ultimately leading to improved student outcomes. Join us to unlock the potential of PCT and transform your approach to family and community engagement. Angela Menchaca

3. How to Succeed
Self advocay. Self determinat. Finding your village. This is my story and where it has led me to where I am today. Shelbi Davenport 

4. Let’s talk about Death – The importance of end-of-life discussions and planning
Ensuring a positive death is like advocating for quality of life. Everyone has the right to decide how they want their end-of-life to look. Come discover the Death Positive Movement; the importance of talking about death with family and friends; and important planning tools. We will explore advanced care directives; comfort care plans; celebration-of-life events; home funerals; and alternative burial options. Learn how to embrace end-of-life planning for yourself and how to share it with those you support, care for and love. Rebecca Jones

4:30-5:00pm EST/3:30 CT/2:30 MT/1:30 PDT
Closing Session/Wrap Up the Event