Community of Practice Supporting Families- Charting the LifeCourse

Five members of the Maryland Community of Practice (CoP), Mary Anne Kane Breschi, Nichole Drummond, Jamie Stoner, Sarah Thornton, and Kathleen Walker – are attending the The National Supporting Families Community of Practice 2019 Annual Meeting on April 30, in conjunction with the Charting the LifeCourse Showcase on May 1 and 2 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Annual CoP Meeting is an opportunity for all CoP state teams to attend, network, learn, and share best practices on supporting families from around the nation. The Showcase is open to the public and is an opportunity for states to highlight their work using the Charting the LifeCourse (CtLC) to enhance person centered planning, education, transition and employment planning, self-advocate and family networks, and long term service and support providers and systems.

The Maryland CoP has established a strong foundation for supporting families across the lifespan through its statewide leadership team and nine local CoP. Through the CoPs and informed by the principles and tools of CtLC framework, significant changes have occurred across Maryland related to policy, regulation, services and practices on state and local levels, within organizations and for families and their family members with developmental disabilities. For example, the DDA developed two new waivers – the Family Support, and the Community Support Waivers – aligned with the principles of CtLC framework to get people off the waiting list and into services and better support families. Provider organizations are utilizing the principles of CtLC framework to reframe its structures to become person and family centered. This allows people with developmental disabilities and their families to develop specific visions for their “Good Lives” and create them utilizing integrated supports and services. The Maryland Team is excited to share all of this and more including the work of The Arc of the Northern Chesapeake Region in partnership with the Arc Maryland at the National Meeting and Showcase. The Arc NCR has embedded CtLC throughout its programs to better support people with disabilities, their families and staff. Please check out the Arc’s website at https://arcncr.org/programs-services/family-support-services-home/ to see CtLC in action!

To learn more, please contact Mary Anne Kane Breschi at mary.kane-breschi@maryland.gov or via phone at 410-767-8880.

Maryland’s local CoPs are meeting on the following dates in May: