Supported decision-making
We want our children to be included in education so they can grow up to live enviable lives. We want them to choose where they work, live, and who they live with, who their friends are. In order to live an unrestricted life as an adult, we need their education to include learning how to make decisions. Children need frequent practice in decision-making as a process and the skills to access written and other information.
Despite the passage of AB 1663, Limited Conservatorship is still often regarded as inevitable for adults with intellectual disabilities, autism and multiple disabilities. This belief often limits the adult life skills that teachers and service providers think its important our children to learn. Therefore it is important to share these resources on Supported Decision-Making to educate families, schools and service providers on the potential for adults to live interdependently with support, without the courts.
Resources on Supported Decision-Making
State Council on Developmental Disabilities SDM TAP Library
Regional Centers offering training with Helen Sanderson Associates ( or pay privately)
Disability Voices training - contact Vivian Do
Handbook - With Support and Without the Courts
Manual sobre la toma de decisiones con apoyo
National Center on Supported Decision-making
Supported Decision-Making from Center for Public Representation
Caring Conversations Webinars by Amanda Griffith-Atkins, (How to Handle More Than You Can Handle)
National Down Syndrome Congress
Undivided: Supported Decision-Making 101
Where to find a template for a SDM agreement
You do not need a specific template in California. You can create your own. AB1663 suggests that SDM agreements should be witnessed two or more attesting and disinterested (not supporters or family members) witnesses who are at least 18 years of age, or a notary public.
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A SDM Agreement should contain:
1) A list of the areas in which the adult with a disability requests support.
2) A list of the areas in which the supporter agrees to provide the support.
3) The supporter’s agreement that they meet each of the requirements
4) Information advising the adult with a disability about their right to file a report under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act
5) Information and copies of other supported or substituted decision-making documents:
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Durable powers of attorney - use the same form as for any 18-year-old or find templates in the DVU handbook.
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Authorizations to share medical or educational information - use form from doctor or school or an online template
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Authorized representative forms - use agency form
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Representative payee agreements - use agency form
Disability Voices United SDM Handbook - With Support and Without the Court
The appendix contains an agreement template and Durable Power of Attorney templates.
Wisconsin Template from SCDD TAP Library
Resources on Conservatorship
Why not Conservatorship?
NDSC Policy Statement on Guardianship
TASH Resolution on Alternatives to Guardianship
Elder Justice Initiative (EJI) | Mistreatment and Abuse by Guardians and Other Fiduciaries
Supported Decision Making & the Problems of Guardianship | American Civil Liberties Union
Guardians' Dark Side: Lax Rules Open the Vulnerable to Abuse