Rhode Island Supported Decision-Making Guide

Rhode Island passed the Supported Decision-Making Act in 2019, both establishing Supported Decision Making (“SDM”) and recognizing it as an alternative to guardianship.

By doing so, Rhode Island became part of a nation-wide and planet-wide shift toward supporting the decision making rights of adults with disabilities and away from making decisions for them in an effort to protect them. This shift continues and both led to and was further prompted by the United Nations’ 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which recognized, in Article 12, the legal capacity of persons with disabilities and the duty of states to provide them the support they may require to exercise their legal capacity. SDM is a way to provide persons with disabilities the support they may need with their decision-making.

For more information about Supported Decision Making, click HERE.