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Step 1. Futures Planning Decisions should be made for the person's future regarding alternative living arrangements, medical care, employment or meaningful day activities, social and recreational activities, religious needs, personal needs assistance, advocates or/and guardians, financial management, final arrangements, and more. A list of options should be developed for each category listed above. We have forms to make this step easy for our clients. Your options should be prioritzed and agreeable to all parties, in order to avoid, or at least minimize, family conflict. Once the decisions have been made, you should review again the advocate or/and guardian category and make it as deep as possible, as these are the people who will help carry out your future wishes for your son or daughter. If families do not plan, they leave the decision making responsibility for the future of their family member who has a disability, in the hands of agency staff personnel who may not know what it is that you want for your child's future. Your goals and wishes should be crystallized in a written format that I refer to as a 'Letter of Intent.' We help families with each step to make it as easy as possible.
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