Back on May 29-30 I participated in the 3rd World Congress on Adult Guardianship in Arlington VA and followed up with blog posts about alternative approaches to guardianship around the world. Supported Decision-Making is a concept that is gaining traction in many places and certainly deserves careful consideration here in New Jersey. It’s more complicated than merely entering an adjudication of incapacity and appointing someone as Guardian over another person. An array of agreements and release authorizations is needed, essentially combining HIPPAA releases (for immediate access to health information), perhaps a conservatorship (voluntary arrangement for management of finances with court oversight), a psychiatric advance directive (if that is an area of concern) and agreements between the young adult and their parent/supportive adult as to how the supportive adult will assist with decision-making and safety.
For parents of young adult children with special needs, pursuing a non-guardianship approach to help their young adult with intellectual disabilities (ID) navigate their way safely in the world can be a huge task. I just came across a comprehensive article on this subject which was exciting to read, in the Penn State Law Review.4-Kohn et al. (final) (rev2) (1) It explores every aspect of this new concept in great detail.