The Illinois Supported Decision-Making Agreement Act (SDMA) went into effect on February 27, 2022. The purpose of the SDMA is to provide a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The SDMA allows these adults to make everyday life decisions with support from someone they trust to listen to them and act on their behalf if needed. An adult with disabilities must have the legal and decisional capacity to enter a support decision-making agreement.

Signing a Support Decision-Making Agreement

The person with disabilities is called the “principal” in a supported decision-making agreement. That person chooses a “supporter” or a person to help them with their decision-making, who can be a parent, other relative, or close family friend. However, some people cannot be a supporter, including the following:

• An employer or employee of the principal (unless they are an immediate family member),
• A person being paid to give supportive services to the principal (unless they are an immediate family member),
• A person who works for an agency that is financially responsible for the principal’s care,
• A person listed as ineligible to work on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Health Care Worker Registry;
• A person prohibited from having contact with the principal due to a civil or criminal court order; and
• A person convicted of a sex offense, aggravated assault, fraud, theft, forgery, or extortion.

The agreement contains all the decisions with which the principal needs assistance from the supporter. The principal and supporter then sign and date the agreement before two independent witnesses. Neither the principal nor the supporter can be one of the witnesses. The agreement does not have to be notarized.

Some agencies will still require additional releases of information and/or forms to be signed, even if you have a supported decision-making agreement. Therefore, the principal may still have to sign additional documents for the supporter to access records from certain agencies.

How a Supported Decision-Making Agreement Works

Even if a person with disabilities has a supported decision-making agreement in place, that person can still make decisions and get copies of their records on their own. However, they can also choose to use their supporter to help make decisions or get records for them.

Support decision-making generally covers daily life decisions involving medical care, housing, finances, and daily activities. Some examples of things that a supporter can help with include the following:

• Helping the principal understand information;
• Obtaining records;
• Making and going to appointments with the principal; and
• Keeping track of requirements to receive services.

On the other hand, supporters cannot do certain things, even if they signed a supported decision-making agreement. Unlike a guardian, they cannot make decisions for the principal. While they can discuss different options and the pros and cons of each option with the principal, the principal must make all final decisions. The supporter also must not obtain information without the principal’s agreement, use it for any reason other than helping the principal, or be paid for their services.

Once a person with disabilities turns 18, their parents’ rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) transfer to the student. Therefore, if an adult student wants their parents to continue to help them make decisions about their education, a supported decision-making agreement can also allow their parents to do that.

Ending a Supported Decision-Making Agreement

A principal or a supporter can end a supported decision-making agreement anytime. A principal can end the agreement by taking any of the following actions:

• Destroying the agreement or having someone else destroy the agreement in front of them;
• Writing a statement saying that the agreement is revoked or ended, and signing and dating the statement; or
• Stating in front of two witnesses that the agreement is revoked.

A supporter can end the agreement simply by giving notice to the principal.

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