A Service Plan is a formal, compiled document that contains all of the important and relevant information about a person. It is an all-encompassing document that contains detailed information about a person, their history, strengths and weakness, goals and dreams. Service Plans typically address the anticipated needs and goals of an Individual over a 5 year period. It is a planning document and an information resource for those working with an Individual.

What kind of information is contained in a Lifestyle / Service Plan?

There are many aspects of a person’s life that are important to be aware of and so a comprehensive list will not be presented here. A finished Service Plan is often 35 pages long. However a few areas are:
• Medical consideration
• Spiritual considerations
• Recreational preferences and abilities
• Eating, transportation, safety
• Living environment
• and so much more!

Who can benefit from a Lifestyle / Service Plan?

The person who the Plan is about is the first beneficiary of a current Service Plan by allowing their desires and preferences to be known. As well, parents, teachers, professionals and agency staff benefit by having a wide range of information readily available to them. They can also easily share their knowledge and experience with others on the “team”.

Who Creates the Lifestyle / Service Plan?

Normally a number of people work together to ensure the information contained in the plan is complete, and accurate. Parents, teachers, school councilors, psychiatrists, psychologists, medical doctors and physiotherapists are a few of the people who are commonly team members. They all add the knowledge and experience they have to ensure the Plan is comprehensive.

What do I do with a Lifestyle / Service Plan?

You should give a copy to all team members first of all. They are the ones who should be working together to help the Individual achieve the best life they can. Agencies can use a Service Plan to organize and structure a day program to meet the goals and objectives outlined in the Plan. Parents can use the Plan to do their part to maintain a common approach to reaching goals.

At the back of each Transitions For You Service Plan is a signature page where agency staff, parents and others can sign in agreement that they will utilize the Plan document to guide them in making decisions for the benefit of the Individual. The Service Plan also lends itself to accountability which helps all team members to assist each other in doing their part.

Why use Transitions For You ?

In the past (and today by those poor souls who don’t know about Transitions For You yet) Service Plans were created through many hours of typing and editing by a single person. Special consultants were often hired for up to $2000 to create a comprehensive Service Plan which would be out-of-date as soon as the Individual experienced a change. How often do changes happen in your life? Naturally, paper Service Plans have had a useful life of only a few weeks. Service Plans, being created by one person also had other limitations. They reflected the point of view of a very few people and were often more subjective than objective.

Transitions For You has made Service Planning easier, and better. Using our web site you can easily answer questions and fill in blanks to create a professional looking, comprehensive document that can be changed at any time. All team members can connect using an internet accessible computer and add, or edit information. New paper copies, with clear date stamps on them, can be created at any time and distributed either electronically or physically quickly and easily.

Arghhh ! I can’t even use the computer I have! How am I supposed to learn the Transitions For You system?

Transitions For You has taken great pains to ensure their system is easy to learn. One of our biggest problems is that new users often expect difficult steps that never come! Our help screens explain what to do, but in most cases, all you have to do is read the question and type in your information. Much of the site uses drop-down menus so you don’t have to “think stuff up”, but merely select or enter what you already know. Naturally, you probably don’t have every medication or agency address memorized so you’ll have to do some research but when you’ve finished you’ll have a document to be proud of, and one that you can use to ensure that special person you are responsible for gets the best opportunities they can.