Issues to Consider Regarding Guardianship and Supported Decision Making

By VOR's Issues and Oversight Committee on Guardianship Rights

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their parents, family members and guardians may have heard about Supported Decision-Making (SDM), an initiative that could affect their decision-making rights. Some see SDM as an alternative to guardianship, while others view it as an attempt to remove the legal instrument that provides a safety net for vulnerable individuals.  

VOR is a national organization that advocates for high quality care and human rights for individuals with I/DD. We understand the valuable role that guardians play in the emotional and physical well-being of their wards. As advocates who appreciate the diversity of the I/DD community and the need for a wide array of supports, we want to ensure that guardians and family members are aware of the issues connected to Supported Decision-Making so that they can make informed decisions about the care of their loved one with disabilities.

By Tamie Hopp, VOR Director of Government Relations & Advocacy in Nonprofit Quarterly, July 16, 2014 (and reprinted in the Summer 2014 Nonprofit Quarterly Print edition)

Early reforms were quite properly motivated by the need for a system of care and supports that responded to the very individualized and diverse needs of the entire population of people with I/DD. These reforms, however, also set the stage for decades of ongoing deinstitutionalization, resulting in the elimination of specialized housing, employment and education options for people with I/DD, leaving some to question the price of “progress.”

Policy favoring deinstitutionalization has had a major adverse effect on many individuals, with a shift in funding priorities from Medicaid Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs/IID) and other specialized facilities, to smaller service options, such as Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) settings.

On July 3, 2017, VOR's Issues and Oversight Committee submitted comments to David English, Chair of the Committee on Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act for the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) at the The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. VOR's submission included an introductory letter to the commissioner, comments on the draft of the Uniform Law, and VOR's position paper on guardianship and supported decision making.

Click here for the Letter to David English

Click here for the VOR Comments to the Draft Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act

Click here for VOR's Position Paper on Supported Decision Making

As part of our Fall Membership Drive, we have created a letter that we hope you will send out to the members of your family organization. The purpose of the letter is to show the other families in your group who advocate locally that VOR can help them advocate nationally and unite with families in other states with shared experiences.

Please ask your family group to print copies of this letter and include them in their mailings.   You may include this with your newsletters, advocacy campaigns, or post it to your group's website. You may also consider including this letter with the "Thank You" letters that go out to members to after receiving donations to your group.

Download the Membership Letter here

Thank you for supporting VOR, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your contribution helps advance VOR's advocacy in support of high quality care and human rights for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.