Supported Decision-Making Service

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Supported Decision-Making Service for Persons with Disabilities | Service Model
The Human Rights Center for People with Disabilitis
PART 1
Background for the
model
A. Introduction
The right to receive support in decision-making touches on the most fundamental of human
rights: the rights to liberty, autonomy and dignity. For persons with disabilities and older adults
under guardianship, these rights are palpably and constantly limited. Recognition of the need to
promote supported decision-making by persons with disabilities is on the rise, and in this section,
we provide a brief background for this trend. We note that throughout this document, the term
“persons with disabilities” mainly refers to persons with intellectual disabilities, psychosocial
disabilities, persons on the autism spectrum and persons with complex disabilities.
The disability movement: Over the last 50 years, the approach toward disabilities in Israel
and throughout the world has undergone a revolution. Under the influence of movements such
as the movement for independent living; the People First movement; the deinstitutionalization
movement; the human rights movement; and the development of the critical approach to
disability; the relationship between persons with disabilities and society has been redefined: from
a treatment-focused approach espousing supervision and protection, a new approach has evolved,
emphasizing autonomy, self-determination and equality. The critical approach to disabilities
whose principles were adopted by the Supreme Court (HCJ 6069/10 Machmali v. Israel Prison
Service, May 5, 2014), holds society responsible for proactively removing the barriers which
exclude persons with disabilities, and adapting itself to them through support, accommodations
and accessibility. The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, 5758-1998, reflects this
paradigm shift in Israel.
Guardianship and legal capacity: As the reform in the policy towards persons with disabilities
began to take hold, a fundamental question became more pertinent: How can the guardianship
model be reconciled with the rights of persons with disabilities? More than 60,000 Israeli
adults are under guardianship. Persons with intellectual disabilities are declared "wards" almost
automatically according to recommendations of evaluation committees; service providers
including bankers and physicians often raise doubts as to whether persons with disabilities have
the legal capacity to make decisions regarding their lives; the prevalent opinion is that persons with
moderate disabilities (autism, intellectual disabilities, psychosocial disabilities) should undergo
a functionality test to prove their right to make decisions regarding their lives. Guardianship – a
symbol of the different, inferior status of persons with disabilities – became a real stumbling
block on the road to equality.