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The article contains brief annotations and links to Czech translations of texts on Human Centered Planning. You can download e.g. Tools of Common Sense: MAPS and Circles by Marsha Forest and Jack Pearpoint, an article on rituals by Michael Smull, or an account of the history of Person-Centered Planning by John and Connie Lyle O’Brien.

The article published on the Social Work portal focuses on a critical evaluation of traditional approaches to mapping the needs of disadvantaged people based on competency assessment and presents the advantages of the method of mapping the support needed. As an illustration of more effective approaches, the Scale of Support tool is presented.

The document focuses on providing support to people with intellectual disabilities in exercising their right to vote. It contains a set of practical recommendations for social services and other support persons on how to effectively help voters understand the electoral process, prepare for the elections and participate in the polling station. It also deals with legal aspects, including the issue of restriction of the right to vote by the courts, and stresses the importance of preventing manipulation. The document is based on the practical experience of organisations that provided support to voters with disabilities during the 2017 parliamentary elections and the 2018 presidential elections.

The text summarizes the Department of Justice’s data on disenfranchisement of people with disabilities in 2017. It highlights significant variations across courts and regions and examines the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s opinion allowing disenfranchisement restrictions. The paper critically assesses this approach in light of international human rights obligations, in particular the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and points to the lack of objective criteria for limiting the right to vote.

This article focuses on the importance and methods of enhancing natural supports for people with disabilities. Natural support is defined as informal help provided free of charge on the basis of normal relationships between people such as family, friends, neighbours or colleagues, and is used to involve disadvantaged people in normal community activities. The article highlights the difference between natural support and volunteering, with the volunteer being seen as a type of professional with a formal commitment. In the Czech context, the concept of natural support first appeared in the field of supported employment and is gradually beginning to appear in person-centred planning. To build networks of relationships for natural support, the article recommends techniques from person-centered planning and community work, such as mapping a network of relationships using a “circle of relationships” and identifying an individual’s gifts and talents.

The article focuses on ways to enable people with disabilities to exercise their right to freely choose their place, way and conditions of life. This freedom is crucial for the process of deinstitutionalisation, i.e. the transition from institutional care to community-based services. The text is based on the long experience of the Quip’s socio-legal team, summarised in a 2017 analysis.