Parent to Parent USA encourages families to explore alternatives to guardianship. All people have the right to make decisions, and we urge parents to learn and explore options to ensure a person’s wishes are honored.
We have gathered this list of resources on Supported Decision-Making and alternatives to guardianship.
Parent to Parent USA provides external links for their potential educational value, but is not responsible for the contents of linked sites or any external links contained within those sites. Inclusion of any link does not imply P2PUSA endorsement of its content, and P2PUSA assumes no legal liability relevant to its usage. Please send edits or corrections, with the full webpage address, to helpdesk@p2pusa.org.
1. Feedback from Families
During July-August 2019, Parent to Parent USA reached out to families for feedback about Supported Decision-Making. Click here for a summary of what we have learned.
2. A Parent’s Perspective
Janice Fitzgerald, past Executive Director of Parent to Parent of NYS, offers her personal perspective. Click here to read more.
3. Resources for Families
Resources of Specific Interest to Parents
- Does My Child Need Guardianship?
https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/the-voice/does-my-child-need-a-guardianship-2/ - From Michigan: Fact Sheet: Supported Decision Making – Overview
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdhhs/Supported_Decision_Making_-_Overview_602989_7.pdf
Tools and Guides for Supported Decision-Making
- A FREE online course to help guide parents through the Supported Decision Making process
http://www.supporteddecisionmaking.org/sites/default/files/SDM-online-training-Finding-the-Right-Fit.pdf - From Wisconsin: Keeping Aging Adults and Individuals with Disabilities in Charge of Their Lives
https://wi-bpdd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SDM_booklet_0119_Linked.pdf - From Maine: Supported Decision-Making, A User’s Guide for People with Disabilities and Their Supporters
http://supportmydecision.org/assets/tools/DRM-SDM-Handbook-Rev.-7.19.19.pdf - From Missouri: Partnering in Supported Decision-Making
http://mofamilytofamily.org/wp-content/uploads/Partnering-Together-4.4.pdf
https://moguardianship.com/MO%20Guardianship%20RESOURCE%20GUIDE%20rev%20Sept%20%202013.pdf - Supported Decision Making Brainstorming Guide
This tool can help people brainstorm ways that they are already using supported decision-making, and think about new ways supported decision-making could help the person with a disability learn to make their own safe, informed choices.
Published in 2016 by The Quality Trust
http://www.supporteddecisionmaking.org/node/388
http://www.supporteddecisionmaking.org/sites/default/files/sdm-brainstorming-guide.pdf - Toolkit by Autistic Self Advocacy Network
This toolkit is designed to help you access communication evaluations and tools for effective communication for people with communication-related developmental disabilities. These may include autism, apraxia, cerebral palsy, and other developmental disabilities that affect communication.
hhttps://odpc.ucsf.edu/communications-paper/1-introduction-and-how-to-use-this-toolkit - Supported Decision-Making resource library from ACLU
https://www.aclu.org/other/supported-decision-making-resource-library?redirect=supported-decision-making-resource-library
Learn More About Supported Decision-Making
- The National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making has established a library of resources and references on their website:
http://www.supporteddecisionmaking.org - At the NRCSDM – state specific information:
http://www.supporteddecisionmaking.org/States - United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx#12 - Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes that all people with disabilities have the right to make decisions.
https://inclusion-international.org/the-right-to-decide-background-information-on-decision-making/ - American Bar Association – Supported Decision Making
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_aging/resources/guardianship_law_practice/ - The Council on Quality and Leadership – Supported Decision Making in the United States
https://c-q-l.org/resource-library/publications/cql-publications-for-free/data-analysis-briefs/supported-decision-making-in-the-united-states