Full course description
This presentation on Supported Decision-Making (SDM) will walk you through four topics: Capacity, What is Supported Decision-Making, Let’s Talk About It, and Do I Need it in Writing? You’ll begin by learning the difference between the legal capacity to act on decisions and the mental capacity needed to actually make decisions. You’ll learn about how to look at whether someone has sufficient mental capacity and what it means if someone’s mental capacity is impaired. Next, you will learn more about Supported Decision-Making as it appears in North Dakota law. There are three necessary parts, a decision-maker, a helper or supporter, and an agreement. Then you’ll learn more about how to talk about SDM as an option for supporting youth with disabilities to make their own decisions as legal decision-makers when they turn eighteen. You’ll gain some ideas on how to talk about it as a team, with the young, with the family, or all the above. You’ll also be given some tools to help youth and families work through getting started with SDM and how to practice SDM before their child turns 18 to see if it’s a good fit. Finally, there is information about the protections in the law for the youth with disabilities, for their supporters, and for people who are asked to share information or rely on SDM agreements, as well as how SDM agreements are terminated.