A SUPPORTbroker is someone you hire to find supports you need to help you at home, school, your job, and community. Most people who use support brokers are persons with disabilities and/or families supporting someone who uses support.

SUPPORTbrokers know how to get different kinds of help and support. They can help you find transportation, a place to live, someone to help you with daily living skills, a job counselor, link you with your community, help with social security or health insurance, and many more things.

A SUPPORTbroker will spend time with you to learn about your needs and goals. The Broker will help you write a plan to get the supports you need. First, the broker helps you describe the supports you decide you need. Then, the broker helps you find those supports and put them into place.

Some people hire SUPPORTbrokers to help them with a change in their life situation. For example:

• Help in becoming a good self-advocate
• Assistance in creating a circle of friends and supporters
• Transitioning from school to adult life.
• Help getting and keeping a job.
• Loss of an important support person (your parent, spouse, sibling, partner, friend).
• To conduct a person-centered plan.

Some people hire a SUPPORTbroker to be their advisor and advocate when designing, or redesigning, a support plan based on publicly-funded supports. For example:

• Developing a Transition Plan (from school to work, from children to adult services)
• Developing a Person-centered Plan for Self-directed Supports (when switching from traditional supports)

A Broker can do any of the following:

• Help you gather information on your options.
• Help you describe your goals, the changes you want to make in your life, and the support you need to get there.
• Help you hold a planning session with people who support you — friends, family, neighbors, and support workers. You choose the people to invite.
• Help you write a plan that describes the supports you need to meet your goals.
• Help you develop a budget to pay for your supports and personal expenses.
• Help you find the supports and services you have in your plan.
• Help you put supports in place and come up with a plan to manage your supports

A SUPPORTbroker is any person with the skills to help you choose the best supports and find those supports. A SUPPORTbroker should have the following skills and qualities:

• A SUPPORTbroker should believe in your right to plan and direct your own supports. That’s called self-determination — your right to make choices.
• A SUPPORTbroker is someone who works for you and answers to you.
• A SUPPORTbroker helps you decide what is most important to you. A Broker helps you handle tough decisions.
• A SUPPORTbroker listens to what you want. The Broker helps you describe the unique and creative combination of supports that will work for you.
• A Broker helps you work with your friends, family, and professionals to get the support you need. A Broker helps resolve conflict and supports your point of view.

If you are paying the Broker yourself, the choice is yours.

Most Brokers are professionals. This is their job. They have special training and experience. A Broker will help you make life decisions. Shop around for someone you can work with. A professional Broker is someone who:

• Has experience helping people develop plans and knows the requirements for a “person-centered plan.”
• Knows local and state services. A professional Broker knows what is available to you from your community, school, and state disability agency. A professional Broker knows the service system rules.
• Knows how to develop a personal budget. A professional Broker knows the rules about what you should pay for supports and knows how to fill out the paperwork.

SUPPORTbrokers offers you a list of qualified brokers with a wide range of experience supporting persons of all ages and disabilities. Each Broker affiliated with SUPPORTbrokers receives training and supervision.

Unsure what to do before your son or daughter reaches age 22? Let us help you with your child’s journey.

Transition is about planning for life. The transition your son or daughter will make from school to adult life in the community is a long journey beginning at age 14 through 22 years. Transitional services include post secondary education, vocational education, integrated (and supported) employment, continuing adult education, adult services, and independent living or community participation.

If you want one-on-one help from a transition expert, sign up for a problem solving session provided by SUPPORTbrokers of The Arc of Massachusetts. A broker will help you tackle problems and propose solutions by brainstorming ideas and giving you options, guidance, and resources geared toward your child’s needs, strengths, preferences, and interests.

Person-Centered Planning is a vision-building and future planning tool which discovers the kind of life a person desires, creates a plan for how it may be achieved, and ensures access to needed supports and services. The focus is always on the vision of what the person would like to be and do. The planning focuses on the strengths of the person rather than his/her weaknesses.

The process brings together the people who are committed to helping the person articulate his/her future vision. The people who care most deeply about this individual are called together to form a team to contribute ideas, solutions, connections and action steps to achieve goals. The kinds of people to bring together are parents, siblings, friends, school mates, relatives, community friends from church, clubs, work, educators, business people, human service representatives, etc = anyone who can make a difference in the person’s life.

Planning can happen at any time. It is especially helpful when one is about to make a major life transition such as entering the adult world. It is important to note, that this is not a one-time only meeting but an ongoing process. The values that underlie any person-centered planning are the same values that underlie transition planning processes: supporting people with disabilities in learning, loving and living in their communities.

A facilitator is chosen. This should be someone who is a good listener, is creative, and a community builder. A space to hold the meeting is selected; usually where the person is most comfortable. Invitations should be sent out to prospective participants explaining the purpose of the meeting. Two to three hours, usually of an evening, should be put aside for the session. It’s always a good idea to serve food.

Person-centered planning is a way to identify a student’s individual goals and to help students, families, and professionals craft plans that will support students as they strive to achieve their dreams.

Example: Ted is an 18 year old young man. While participating in a person-centered planning session, one particular focus was on supported employment, Ted mentioned that he would like to work in a restaurant one day. He loves to cook and helps his mom in the kitchen and his dad at the grill. At an IEP meeting following the person-centered planning session, Ted, his mom, dad, and 2 sisters along with other advocates met with his high school staff, a representative from Mass. Rehabilitation Commission and a DMR transition person. They decided that he should gain work experience in kitchens. This then became a goal on his IEP. Ted, along with a job coach, now works 3 afternoons a week in the kitchen of a local nursing home. He also volunteers one day a week in the cafe of a local gym. His family is looking into local cooking schools for additional training.

Here are some commonly used tools to conduct person-centered planning: MAPS, PATH, Essential Lifestyle Plans, Whole Life Planning, and Personal Futures Planning.