Welcome! We hope this site gives you the information you need about decision-making support for people with disabilities.

This website was created by Justine Ortiz, class of ’22 at the CUNY School of Law, and is part of a project of the Disability and Aging Justice Clinic (DAJC) at CUNY School of Law in collaboration with Supported Decision-Making New York.

This website is named “Decision Alternatives With(out) Guardianship NY” (“DAWGNY”) to reflect the need to reimagine, reform, and ultimately abolish, the systems of adult guardianship in New York State. While we support the expansion of supported decision-making to replace guardianship, we also recognize that the current adult guardianship laws and systems can be improved in ways that prevent unnecessary guardianships, limit the powers of guardians, and restore the civil liberties of individuals who are under a court-appointed guardianship in violation of their human rights.

This website focuses on three fundamental aspects of decision-making for adults with developmental disabilities, age-related dementia, or mental health challenges, primarily based on the laws of New York State:

• Supported decision-making;
• An app that guides users through alternatives to guardianship for healthcare decisions; and
• “A Guide to Becoming a Guardian Without a Lawyer,” which is a resource for people who cannot afford an attorney but need to become a guardian, or have a guardian appointed, under Article 81 of the N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law.

Making Decisions

Making decisions can be hard. We created this site to equip you or the person you support with various options to explore and consider when faced with tough decisions about personal needs (including health care) and property management (for example, finances, public or private benefits, housing).

There are steps that a person can follow to help guide their decision-making:

1. Investigate the situation: Take some time to sit with what is going on and try to think of all the details to consider.
2. Create a constructive environment: Go to a safe space where you can consider all the details that you collected in Step 1.
3. Generate good alternatives: What are some of the good details that can help guide your decision?
4. Explore your options.

While providing information about supported decision-making is a main focus of this website, we also provide information about a broad range of options to help guide decision-making. Our goal is to equip, assist, and inform you or the person you support with various options for the least restrictive alternatives to consider when making tough decisions without the need to appoint a guardian for an adult. We also include information about Article 81 of the N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law for situations where guardianship is the only available option.