Person-centered planning is a way of writing down support that starts with the person: who they live with, what they want the week to look like, and which risks they are actually willing to trade off. Waiver rules and federal home and community-based policy expect some version of it. The meeting is supposed to drive the individual support plan, not the other way around.
In practice the phrase covers everything from a careful facilitated plan to a case-management appointment that allocates hours because those are the hours the waiver has. Families can tell the difference. So can direct support staff, who either see their shift reflected in the plan or spend the week doing something the plan never mentioned. A plan that only lists services the provider agency already has open is a schedule, even if the form says person-centered at the top.
The supports coordinator usually runs the process in a waiver. Facilitators, family members, and the person themselves may lead a version that is less tied to a funding form. Self-direction makes the distinction sharper, because the person is also the employer. The plan still has to fit the budget the state authorized.
Person-centered planning is related to, and not the same as, a behavior support process. One is about the life the services are for. The other is about what staff do when a specific behavior puts that life at risk. Both can be done to someone instead of with them. The standard the field states is the "with."
This desk uses the term for the planning practice agencies and waivers claim. It is not a script for running a meeting, and it does not say what any one person should choose.