Resources
Here you can learn all about the tools and resources available on the site.
A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) of the U.S. Department of Education is pleased to publish A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities. OSERS’ mission is to improve early childhood, educational, and employment outcomes and raise expectations for all individuals with disabilities, their families, their communities, and the nation.
Supported Decision-Making: A User's Guide for People with Disabilities and Their Supporters
This Guide was created by Disability Rights Maine to provide information about Supported Decision-Making to individuals with disabilities and their families and supporters. The goal of this Guide is to illustrate how Supported Decision-Making can be used to help people with disabilities in making their own decisions, and in reducing more restrictive means of support such as guardianship. Supported Decision-Making can help preserve a person’s autonomy and independence, while still providing the person with support from family, friends, and community.
"The Right to Make Choices" The National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making
ACLU: How to Make a Supported Decision Making Agreement
Guide to creating Supported Decision Making Agreements published by the ACLU.
This guide was created by Zoe Brennan-Krohn, while on a Ford Foundation Fellowship
with the Disability Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
American Bar Association Resolution 113
In 2017, the American Bar Association’s (ABA) House of Delegates adopted Resolution 113, urging state, territorial, and tribal legislatures to (1) amend their guardianship statutes to require that supported decision-making be identified and fully considered as a less restrictive alternative, before guardianship is imposed, and (2) require that decision-making supports that would meet the individual’s needs be identified and fully considered in proceedings for termination of guardianship and restoration of rights.
Beyond Guardianship: Toward Alternatives That Promote Greater Self-Determination for People with Disabilities
The National Council on Disability (NCD) undertook this report to foster a greater understanding of guardianship within the context of disability law and policy; to examine the treatment of people with disabilities within the legal system that establishes guardianship; to examine the use of alternatives to guardianship such as supported decision-making; and to make recommendations that will help align the use of guardianship and decision-making alternatives with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with particular focus on the integration mandate. The report's findings and recommendations are the product of qualitative research on the experiences with guardianship and decision making alternatives of people with disabilities, their families, and professionals within the guardianship system gleaned through interviews; in addition to an extensive review of relevant scholarship and recent studies.
Ensuring Trust: Strengthening State Efforts to Overhaul the Guardianship Process and Protect Older Americans
The Senate Aging's Committee Annual Report for 2018 details specific reforms and recommendations for the guardianship process, including the creation of a national resource center, the promotion of less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, the facilitation of background checks of guardians, and the sharing of information among local, state, and federal organizations.
Guardianship Reform: Supported Decision-Making and Maine's New Probate Code by Staci Converse, Esq.
Published in the Fall/Winter Edition of the Maine Bar Journal, managing attorney Staci Converse discusses Maine's new Probate Code and the ability for Supported Decision-Making to empower and support people with disabilities to make their own decisions.
High School and Beyond: A Guide to Transition Services in Maine
An easily digestible Guide to all things Transition with contributions from: Maine Department of Education, Muskie School of Public Service, Maine Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, Maine Office of Child and Family Services, Center for Community Inclusion, Disability Rights Maine, Composition 1206 LLC, Community Housing of Maine, Portland Public Schools, Maine Department of Labor, Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Maine Office of Aging and Disability, Maine Parent Federation, and Students.
Visit the link to download or download directly from our page below.
International Timeline of Supported Decision-Making Policy and Practices
An international timeline of Supported Decision-Making policy and practices. The idea developed from discussion between Drs Morgan Whitlatch (Quality Trust), Jonathan Martinis (Burton Blatt Institute), and Hatice Uyanik (Department of Special Education University of Kansas).
Maine's New Probate Code (Effective date: September 2019)
During the 127th Legislature, LD 123 An Act to Recodify and Revise the Maine Probate Code, was signed into law. LD 123, also known as Public Law 402, includes "a finding that clear and convincing evidence has established that the identified needs of the respondent cannot be met by a protective arrangement instead of guardianship or other less restrictive alternatives, including use of appropriate supportive services, technological assistance or supported decision making."
Piloting Personhood: Reflections from the First Year of A Supported Decision Making Project by Judge Kristin Booth Glen
Personhood depends on the ability to make choices or decisions and to have those choices or decisions recognized by others. That ability to make decisions and be recognized before the law is the human right of legal capacity.
Press Release: Guardianship Terminated in Favor of Supported Decision-Making for the First Time in Maine
Disability Rights Maine (DRM) announces that for the first time in Maine, a guardianship has been terminated in favor of Supported Decision-Making (SDM).
DRM Managing Attorney Nell Brimmer, who represented Mr. Strong in these proceedings, states “Josh’s order marks the beginning of Supported Decision-Making as a legally recognized alternative to guardianship in Maine.”
SDM Info Card
Download the SDM Info Card below! It is a quick explanation of SDM and easy to share.
Setting the Wheels in Motion
by Suzanne M. Francisco, Special Education and Disability Rights Advocate & Jonathan G. Martinis, Esquire
Supported Decision-Making & the IDEA
Supported Decision-Making and Self-Determination as Part of the IDEA Transition Planning Process
A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities (US Department of Education, May 2017)
Supported Decision-Making and the Human Right of Legal Capacity
The Right to Make Choices: A Resource on Supported Decision-Making
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) issued a guide to guardianship alternatives and Supported Decision-Making. Click here to download the Plain-Text version. A full introduction and the Easy Read Edition can be found on ASAN's website: http://autisticadvocacy.org/2016/02/the-right-to-m...
United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The Convention follows decades of work by the United Nations to change attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities. It takes to a new height the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society.