New Jersey

For people with disabilities and families to be empowered to communicate their vision for a good life and for professionals and systems to ask questions, listen, and act on strategies to help us reach this vision.

• Built the foundation for strong agency partnerships in commitment to utilization of the tools and shifting the mindset in how supports are utilized.
• Created a Community of Practice Family Action Group under the Regional Family Support Planning Councils statewide.
• Integrate Charting the LifeCourse principles across the system and focus on cross-system communication.
• Established a Stakeholders Workgroup and an Action Group for CoP activities
• Infused the CoP philosophy into DDD’s practice, especially in the areas of transition, intake, waiting list and support coordination units.
• Currently working on grounding the Charting the LifeCourse principles into Front Door practices.
• Empower families to come to the system with their hopes and dreams for the future so they can be put into action.

• Families have begun to utilize some of the tools such as the integrated supports star and the trajectory in order to bring to the table when they are having initial meetings with professionals.
• Development of a toolkit for transition that supports system navigation and ties to the mission and vision of the Division.
• Creation of a Newsletter that shares success stories across the state and champions people and families are they are achieving individual hopes and dreams.
• Various publications include CoP philosophy and CtLC tools (see below)

Boggs Center’s publications that incorporate CoP philosophy and CtLC tools include:

• “Deciding to Self-Direct: Making Choices, Becoming Empowered” https://boggscenter.rwjms.rutgers.edu/resources/publications/deciding-to-self-direct-making-choices-becoming-empowered
• “Exploring Possibilities & Supports: An Information Gathering Toolkit” https://boggscenter.rwjms.rutgers.edu/resources/publications/exploring-possibilities-and-supports-an-information-gathering-toolkit

• “Developing Effective Person-Centered Planning Tools & NJ Individualized Service Plans” https://boggscenter.rwjms.rutgers.edu/resources/publications/developing-effective-person-centered-plans

• “Planning Ahead for When the “What If” is Now: Emergency Planning for When a Primary Caregiver is Not Able to Provide Support https://boggscenter.rwjms.rutgers.edu/resources/publications/planning-ahead-for-when-the-what-if-is-now

• Team/State DD Agency: https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/ddd/home/index.html
• Team/State DD Council Link: https://njcdd.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/NJCDD/
• The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
  https://rwjms.rutgers.edu/boggscenter/
  https://www.facebook.com/TheBoggsCenteronDevelopmentalDisabilities