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Advocates urge lawmakers to adopt supported decision-making law as alternative to guardianship
Summary
Supporters, self-advocates and legal experts told the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities that a statutory framework for supported decision-making (SDM) would preserve autonomy, reduce unnecessary guardianships and improve transitions to adulthood and hospital care.
Supporters of a bill to create a statutory framework for supported decision-making told a legislative committee on Tuesday that the change would give adults with disabilities an option between full guardianship and no formal support. Nora Bent, director of government affairs at The Arc of Massachusetts, said the bill would let individuals “make their own decisions with the guardianship for those who do not need that level of support.” Jonathan Garner, a cancer survivor and co-chair of the Massachusetts Supported Decision Making Coalition, described how SDM allowed…
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