'My Plan' is a personalised plan for a child’s life and aspirations built around the nine dimensions of care, and created and maintained by their Care Team.
My Plan replaces the Therapeutic Care Plan as the central planning document for each child and young person Parkerville Children and Youth Care works with.
The My Plan document, when it is developed with children and their families, can guide the work of the Care Team to achieve positive outcomes for children both now and when they are no longer in the care system.
My Plan is an integral part of Parkerville’s radically personalised approach to care. The voice of the child must be a central input into their My Plan document, and wherever possible, the voice of the child’s family should also be incorporated. My Plan uses these two important voices to inform a set of goals and actionable strategies for each dimension of care, and the Care Team use My Plan to keep track of progress made in the child’s life under each dimension.
Just as we do with our own children, it's important to acknowledge the small wins along the way as a child develops, not just the 'outcomes' at the end of a journey. My Plan is not just about keeping track of big goals - it’s about celebrating a child’s journey towards the life they want.
Using My Plan
The My Plan document has one page for each of the 9 dimensions of care, each page beginning with the voice of the child and their family (see an example page below). The child’s voice is the most important element of the plan and forms the basis for how the rest of the plan is made.
The goals captured here should reflect the child’s aspirations for their life in the short and long term, and the corresponding strategies should be practical and actionable next steps that can be taken to realise each goal. The Care Team can then capture updates and progress made in the child’s life at the bottom of the page; celebrating the developmental journey each child embarks on rather than just their destination or outcomes.
You can find out more about My Plan and how it can practically be used in the Making ‘My Plan’ Practice Guide.
The voice of the child
The voice of the child is the most important input for creating a My Plan document. This document should reflect the child’s own goals and aspirations for their future, both in the short term and for when they’re no longer in the care system. Below are three sets of tools or strategies carers and other members of the Parkerville team can use to understand the goals and aspirations of a child they’re working with, and to capture the child’s voice in their My Plan document.
The voice of the family
We know that incorporating the voice of family in care planning is a powerful way to improve outcomes for young people. Wherever it’s possible and safe to do so, the Care Team should facilitate family input into the My Plan document, either directly or indirectly. Below are three contexts where carers and other members of the Parkerville team might be able to talk to a child’s family to better understand what they want for the child’s future, to feed into My Plan.
Our commitment to child-centred care planning
My Plan is a ‘living, breathing’ tool, intended to grow and change as young people make progress towards and succeed in their goals, and when they develop new goals too. It should facilitate conversations between young people, their families, and communities, and those at Parkerville who are responsible for their care, to ensure that children and young people are supported to achieve their aspirations.
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