
May 28, 2025
The Boost News
By Naomi Brickel, Project Director, Supported-Decision Making New York
Everyone turns to trusted people when making important decisions, including where to live, how to manage money and what healthcare to choose. But for many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), outdated beliefs and stigma have led to their decision-making rights being limited or removed entirely.
As many caregivers know, in New York this has been done mostly through Article 17-A guardianship, which has long been used for people with developmental disabilities. While often well-meaning, this legal tool can result in a total loss of civil rights, without requiring any notification of the person or proof that they’re unable to manage their own affairs.
At Supported Decision-Making New York (SDMNY), we believe everyone should have the right to make their own decisions and to have those decisions legally recognized. We understand that everyone makes decisions with various kinds of support and that people with developmental disabilities (DD) may simply need more or different kinds of supports. As a powerful alternative to guardianship, Supported Decision-Making (SDM) empowers individuals with I/DD to retain their decision-making rights with help from trusted supporters. Everyone uses support, and needing help doesn’t have to mean giving up autonomy.
In 2022, New York passed Mental Hygiene Law Article 82, legally recognizing SDM Agreements (SDMAs) and requiring third parties like banks, doctors and landlords to acknowledge and accept the decision-making rights of individual who have them. These agreements are created through a structured facilitation process developed by SDMNY. SDMNY’s facilitation process is a unique, three-phase model involving a trained facilitator working with a Decision-Maker (an individual with a developmental disability) and their chosen supporters to develop a formal Supported Decision-Making Agreement, with the goal of empowering the individual and providing a legally recognized alternative to guardianship.
This process helps individuals build decision-making skills, maintain their legal rights, and shape their own lives. Facilitation is key and consists of a three-phase process:
Phase 1: This involves establishing a relationship with the Decision-Maker, exploring how they make decisions, and identifying potential supporters and areas where they want support.
Phase 2: The focus is on educating chosen Supporters about the SDM process and their roles, helping them to understand decision-making steps and concepts like dignity of risk.
Phase 3: This is when the Facilitator, Decision-Maker and Supporters develop and negotiate the terms of the Supported Decision-Making Agreement (SDMA), ensuring everyone understands their roles before signing the document that memorializes how the decision-maker will be supported without surrendering their right to decide.
In great recent news, New York State OPWDD has shown its belief and buy-in of the SDMNY process by issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an organization to take over SDMNY’s work beginning Sept. 1, 2025 for the next five years, The goal is to further develop and maintain the statewide model for providing sustainable, statewide Supported Decision-Making Facilitation services to allow people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to make full use of SDM consistent with New York Mental Hygiene Law Article 82.
Supported Decision-Making is more than a legal tool — it’s part of an international human rights movement promoting dignity, inclusion and self-determination, empowering people with disabilities to lead their own lives one supported decision at a time.
To learn more, visit sdmny.org, email sdmny.info@gmail.com, or call (646) 807-8483.