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Supported Decision-Making Resources
Supported decision-making (SDM) is an effective alternative to guardianship. SDM allows people to have more control of their lives and to be as independent as possible. The organizations below provide a variety of resources for people with disabilities, family members, policymakers, and others regarding SDM.
National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making
The National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making (NRC-SDM) builds on and extends the work of Quality Trust’s Jenny Hatch Justice Project by bringing together vast and varied partners to ensure that input is obtained from all relevant stakeholder groups including older adults, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), family members, advocates, professionals, and providers. The NRC-SDM partners bring nationally recognized expertise and leadership on SDM, representing the interests of and receiving input from thousands of older adults and people with I/DD. They have applied SDM in groundbreaking legal cases, developed evidence-based outcome measures, successfully advocated for changes in law, policy, and practice to increase self-determination and demonstrated SDM to be a valid, less-restrictive alternative to guardianship.
http://supporteddecisionmaking.org/
Supported Decision-Making by ACTEC Fellows Professor David M. English and Tara Anne Pleat
An alternative to guardianship for individuals with developmental disabilities is supported decision-making. When is supported decision-making appropriate and when is it not? Learn how it works, including an overview of a pilot program in New York, from ACTEC Fellows Professor David M. English and Tara Anne Pleat.
https://www.actec.org/estate-planning/supported-decision-making-sdm/
Center for Public Representation
The Center for Public Representation, a national legal advocacy center for people with disabilities, uses legal strategies, advocacy, and policy to promote the integration and full community participation of people with disabilities and all others who are devalued in today’s society.
https://supporteddecisions.org/
American Bar Association
The PRACTICAL Tool aims to help lawyers identify and implement decision-making options for persons with disabilities that are less restrictive than guardianship. It is a joint product of four American Bar Association entities – the Commission on Law and Aging, Commission on Disability Rights, Section on
Civil Rights and Social Justice, and Section on Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, with assistance from the National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making.
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_aging/resources/guardianship_law_practice/practical_tool/
My Voice Counts: Supported Decision Making, An Alternative to Guardianship by Advocates as Leaders Self Advocacy Speaker’s Network Utah