DRM Awarded State Grant from the National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making!

Posted on June 25, 2015

Supported Decision-Making (SDM) is a formal method of decision-making in which a person can designate trusted individuals who can help them process information and work through decisions. SDM offers an alternative to guardianship, which would otherwise completely usurp the person’s autonomy and civil rights.

DRM's grant from the National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making is to fund a yearlong outreach project, with the possibility of an extension in year two, to educate individuals and provide resources to the community on Supported Decision-Making as an alternative to guardianship. DRM, alongside 9 other community leaders will be developing materials and providing training to individuals, families, service providers, and court officials on Supported Decision-Making. In the coming months, DRM will launch Maine’s Supported Decision-Making Coalition’s website, which will offer recorded webinars, current laws and policies on alternatives to guardianship, as well as stories from individuals who have experiences with guardianship and 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." For more information, visit http://supporteddecisionmaking.org/.