Supported Decision Making New York

LET'S CELEBRATE! 🥳

As of this past Wednesday, Article 82 of the NY Mental Hygiene
Law is now in full force and effect. The law both recognizes the right of everyone to make their own decisions, regardless of disability, and prohibits discrimination by third parties against people with I/DD who have and use SDMAs made through the SDMNY facilitation process.

This is a tremendous victory, and a huge, unprecedented step forward!

The Regs of New York’s ground-breaking SDMA law were published on August 20 and will go into full legal effect on November 18! 🎉

Decision-Makers with SDMNY-facilitated SDMAs will be able to use those SDMAs to require third parties to accept their decisions regardless of their disability, or how the third party may assess that disability.

Read more: https://sdmny.org/two-recent-publications-advance-sdm-and-sdmny/

Don't miss our Project Director Naomi Brickel's presentation on SDM and SDMNY at ELIJA’s Pathway to Adulthood: Transitioning for Independence Conference this Saturday, May 17th!

Registration deadline is May 15th!

For more information and registration, please visit https://www.elija.org/events/view/A-Pathway-To-Adulthood-Using-Self-Direction-Transitioning-For-Independence-2025-2025-05-17/

Last week, SDMNY Director Naomi Brickel attended an invitational international human rights conference hosted by the Support-Girona Foundation in Catalonia, Spain. The conference, titled "Vides Dignes: Una Questió de Drets Humans" ("DignifiedLives: A Human Rights Issue"), was part of the Monastery of Montserrat's Millennium celebration on March 13th and 14th, 2025.

We’re excited to have been invited to this conference, to have had the opportunity to learn from others and to share our successes and challenges!

We recently learned that SDMNY's accomplishment in NY has been noted and applauded by the UN body that oversees the realization of development goals for persons with disabilities, and the CRPD in The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Disability and Development Report 2024 (support for decision-making is discussed at pp. 290- 293) and, more specifically, in a report by the entity charged with overseeing human rights for people with disabilities, Good practices of support systems enabling community inclusion of persons with disabilities: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (SDMNY is singled out at p. 13)!

You can find the links to both reports below:

https://social.desa.un.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/DDR%202024%20Full%20report%20-%20Unedited.pdf

https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g23/264/22/pdf/g2326422.pdf

📢 SDMNY Project Director Naomi Brickel will be presenting at the Skirboll Family Autism Conference 2024 on October 17th.

More info and registration: https://urmc.zoom.us/webinar/register/8217210767594/WN_hzV-2m1ERYCowydOgl2hFA #/registration

First state-wide Supported Decision-Making Forum was held on Tuesday in Saratoga Springs hosted by our friends and partners at AIM Services, Inc. It, of course, was a great success!

Thanks to AIM and all the participants for continuing to advance SDM and everyone's right to make their own decisions!

"This is really about, as Chris mentioned, individual rights. The right to learn and grow and be a person, to make mistakes, to learn from their mistakes." - Naomi Brickel, Project Director, Supported Decision Making New York discussing the process of Supported Decision Making for individuals, their families, and providers, and the steps to get started and become Supported Decision Makers.

We're so happy and proud. What an achievement! Congratulations, Indiria!! 🥳🎉🎊

Last Friday, July 26, marked the 34th year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the second year anniversary of New York's Supported Decision-Making Agreement (SDMA) Law! 🥳 🎉

We're looking back at the exciting SDMA Law signing with the Governor Kathy Hochul...