Tri-Counties Regional Center empowers those with disabilities
Introducing the concept of Person-Centered Thinking
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers READY WORKER- David Pisciotto, second from left, is a man with developmental disabilities who receives employment and independent living services coordinated through the Tri-Counties Regional Center, one of several such agencies throughout the state. The center collaborates and plans the needed services along with the person in need.

Life for David Pisciotto changed for the better four years ago when he walked into Villa Esperanza's Westlake Village office looking for job training and help to live independently.

Pisciotto, who is developmentally disabled, had been on psychotropic medication for depression and was living with his parents. A lot has changed since then.

He no longer takes the medication; he moved out of his parents' Moorpark home and into an apartment in Simi Valley. And he has an active social life that includes a girlfriend and country line dancing with friends several times a week.

"Yes, I am happy," said Pisciotto, 33, wearing a black Keith Urban Tshirt. "I'm actually getting real independent now. I probably couldn't say that three years ago."

A quiet revolution

Villa Esperanza Services began in 1961 as a day school for special needs children. The Pasadena-based nonprofit has grown into an agency, with program sites in Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Oxnard and Canoga Park, that provides a range of services that include residential, job training and independent living skills for people of all ages with all types of developmental disabilities.

When Villa was founded, it was common to identify people who had developmental disabilities with words now considered too ignominious to use. Villa's founders, mothers of special needs children, originally named the school Pasadena Retarded Children's Foundation. The name was changed to Villa Esperanza, Spanish for "House of Hope," a few years later.

People with developmental disabilities are no longer indiscriminately segregated from the general population in state mental hospitals or isolated schools. Public schools often combine special and general education classes for portions of the school day.

A 40-year-old bureaucracy is also changing. The Santa Barbarabased TriCounties Regional Center- one of 21 private, nonprofit agencies contracted with the state to meet the needs of people with developmental disabilities- is working to revamp language and methods that are used inside and outside of the agency by focusing on person-centered thinking (PCT).

The regional center coordinates and often pays for services rendered by providers, such as Villa Esperanza, to nearly 10,000 people with developmental disabilities living in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. TriCounties has offices in and Simi Valley.

Person-centered thinking is not a new concept. Tri-Counties has been using it for a dozen years but in a limited scope. By taking the lead in changing its culture, the agency hopes to reduce the stigma society attaches to people with developmental disabilities.

The PCT concept is difficult to describe in a few words. It's so fundamental to general social interactions that most people don't give it a second thought, but it's a revolutionary way for people with developmental disabilities to be treated, said Tina CalderaroMendoza, coordinator of the person-centered thinking project at Tri-Counties.

Using PCT, a Tri-Counties' service coordinator asks the person with the disability what their aspirations and dreams are for the future. The coordinator also collects input from people close to the individual- their family and friends- and puts together a plan to help the person achieve their goals to whatever extent is possible. The service coordinator then brings in organizations and agencies that provide those services and monitors the success of the plan

The individual may want to have an apartment, hold down a job, obtain more education or participate in community activities, for example.

"We're digging deeper, and we're really making sure that we listen to the persons we serve," said Calderaro-Mendoza, who was a service coordinator for several years before accepting her new position in February.

TriCounties created the position after receiving a $400,000 grant from the Weingart Foundation to expand the personcentered thinking concept beyond the agency's walls, even internationally.

The common practice of speaking to the companion of a person with a physical or developmental disability instead of directly to the person is considered passé, as is referring to the individual in the third person when they are present.

Infusing the strategies of PCT throughout the agency's culture has changed the way Tri-Counties does business. All of its employees will be trained on the concept and all internal and external literature changed to reflect it. The agency's service coordinators refer to a written formula when establishing a service plan that balances what's important for and to the person with the disability.

"It's really important to have balance," said CalderaroMendoza.

Clinical information is exchanged between Tri-Counties and the service providers before any meetings. Therefore, when service coordinators convene with a developmentally disabled person, their family and the service providers, the tenor of the meeting is informal and the person with the disability is included in the discussion. The meetings can be anywhere a client chooses, such as at a pizza parlor.

Some Tri-Counties employees are members of a PCT task force that includes service providers, other interested parties and members of Area Board IX, one of 13 regional boards across the state that protect and advocate for the rights of people with developmental disabilities. Task force members share best practices with each other and with national and international organizations that work with this segment of the population.

"We are finding some real nice success in doing this work," Calderaro-Mendoza said.

Successful strategies

Though the approach generally goes unnoticed by the person with the disability, those who work with them say the strategies are successful.

Jonnie Turnure, a 15year employee of Villa Esperanza and its independent living services coordinator, said it's been "inspiring" to see people with developmental disabilities being treated in a more respectful and thoughtful manner and to watch them succeed.

Rolland Klimek, Villa Esperanza assistant director, said he asked David Pisciotto what skills he wanted to learn or improve and has been helping him improve in public speaking, social skills and table etiquette. Pisciotto said he also wants to become a better self-advocate.

"I listen to them," Klimek said.

Klimek, who left a lucrative landscaping career two years ago to work at Villa Esperanza, said he's been rewarded by watching the people the agency serves emulate his example and treat other people with disabilities with consideration.

"It's not about the money," Klimek said. "Here, it's giving back to people."

Pisciotto said his life has been on track since coming to Villa but he still has goals to achieve. He plans to start a part-time job at an office supply store in Simi Valley this week but eventually wants to land a full-time job and buy a new car.

"Everything else is pretty much there," Pisciotto said.