Planning Ahead - Florida Developmental Disabilities Council

Responsibility – the wise use of public dollars. Dollars are now being used as an investmentin a person’s life and not handled as resources to purchase services or slots. Responsibility includesthe ordinary obligations of American citizens and allows individuals to contribute totheir communities in meaningful ways.It is critical to think of these and many other values when completing the Personal InformationSummary and when addressing decision-making needs. Focus should always be onindividuals’ abilities rather than disabilities and the least restrictive alternatives to guardianship.Guardianship can be a very expensive legal process. In the past it has been viewed as ameans to “protect” the individual, but recent thought and practice focuses on the least restrictivemeans of providing assistance with decision-making. Far too often a full guardianship issought to solve a single issue or problem that could have been addressed in a much simplerand appropriate fashion through alternative decision-making methods. These alternatives arealso typically much less expensive. In the Helpful Attachments section you will find a chartthat provides guidance to individuals and their family members to assist in determining if andwhat areas the individual may need assistance with decision-making. Chapter 8 also providesmore information on decision-making options and guardianship.Currently in Florida the Southern Movement for Independence is leading efforts to build astrong self-determination foundation for self advocates. More information on this movementcan be obtained by contacting the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council or by going totheir website at www.fddc.org. Readers can find links at this site to self-advocacy and othercritical information.Planning Ahead is divided into three sections:1. The Handbook2. The Personal Information Summary for Your Family Member3. Helpful AttachmentsSECTION 1THE HANDBOOKThe Handbook section of this guidebook contains eleven chapters. It is designed to provideyou with information that will help you identify and plan for everything that shouldbe written in the Personal Information Summary section. Work through this summary onearea at a time. If you can’t decide about a certain part, go on to the next part and come backlater to the uncompleted information.The Handbook will:• Guide you through the process of thinking through everything that should beincluded, and how you might go about making these decisions;• Help you understand how the service delivery system works, and how you canmake the system work for you;Chapter 1, Getting Started5