The Georgia State Team includes:
- Georgia Advocacy Office, the protection and advocacy organization for people with disabilities
- Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities
- Sangha Unity Network, a non-profit organization that currently is working to expand self-advocacy across Georgia and working with providers to better support self-advocates
- Six diverse Youth Ambassadors from every region in Georgia
The Georgia State Team meets monthly to discuss individual and state team project progress. Each Youth Ambassador is creating a Supported Decision-Making (SDM) plan, and the members of the State Team collectively and individually teach others how to create and implement SDM plans. The State Team is working with a videographer to produce short, introductory videos where each Ambassador introduces themselves and explains the importance of the project. It is also designing a website, so others in Georgia can learn more about SDM and hear stories from the Youth Ambassadors. It is planning to offer workshops and presentations and will be doing outreach at schools and transition fairs.
In Georgia, there is a Supported Decision-Making Advisory Council, led by the Georgia Advocacy Office, with grant funding from the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. This Advisory Council recently created a “Big, Bold Plan” with a vision of state agencies, school systems, probate courts, and health systems collaborating to shift from nearly automated practices of guardianship for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to supporting people with decision-making. Georgia’s Youth Ambassadors are involved with the Council and will work together to support other self-advocates throughout the state to better understand and ultimately use SDM as needed.
Resources from the Georgia State Team include:- Infographics on “School-to-Guardianship Pipeline,” “Failings of Guardianship,” “Supported Decision-Making Road Map,” “Benefits of Supported Decision-Making,” and “Supported Decision-Making & Voting” Questions? Contact Dana Lloyd, info@thegao.org, 404-885-1234
- Celia Lozada, Citizens Advocacy Athens-Clark, “Supported Decision-Making or Guardianship?,” Winter 2019 Newsletter (article examining the issue through a Citizen Advocacy lens)
- John McCarty, 2019-2020 Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC) Fellow, “Supported Decision Making and Guardianship Termination” (May 13, 2020) (toolkit on guardianship termination and getting started with supported decision making, developed in partnership with Creative Consulting services, the Georgia Advocacy Office, and SARTAC)
- Jennifer Bosk, “Georgia Advocacy Office Raises Awareness about Supported Decision-Making,” GCDD Impact, Summer 2020 (June 2020)
- Uniting for Change, “Supported Decision-Making & Voting” video (includes SARTAC Fellow John McCarty talking about this topic)
Contact: Kate Brady, Deputy Director, Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, kate.brady@gcdd.ga.gov
