Future Life Planning (FLP) is a CUSP specific process designed to thoughtfully address the post-high school years, and to help create a map for programming to help the focus person (your child) reach the goals agreed upon during the process. Essentially, the goal of FLP is discovering “how a person wants to live and then describing what needs to be done to help the person move toward that life,” (Smull & Harrison, 2005). Future Life Planning is based largely on the concept of Person Centered Planning (O’Brien, 1987; O’Brien & Forest, 1989; O’Brien & Mount, 1991; Smull & Harrison, 2005).

CUSP has developed this process to help the focus person and his/her family begin to think about life beyond high school, which in turn will support CUSP goals and programming as we attempt to provide the focus person with the necessary skills in order to achieve that reality.

Oftentimes, it can feel overwhelming and scary to think about the future and unknown. As difficult as it can be to begin having some of these conversations about our children’s future, we strongly believe that open discourse as early as possible can provide more years with targeted goals and programs to help guide the ABA program for your child.

If you have a child in high school and have not yet discussed the possibility of having an FLP meeting, please reach out to your Case Supervisor to learn more information. Even if your child is in middle school, it may still be beneficial to begin thinking about the direction of the ABA program over the next few years. An FLP meeting does not have to be a one-time meeting with all decisions made, but it can be a multi-step process over the course of years that works to create a fluid plan that can be amended and modified as needed. We look forward to getting the process started so that your child can have the most beneficial goals to help them achieve ultimate success in life.’’

-Carrie Woodward