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
Examples from the pilot of the different support areas:
 Choosing living accommodations – a desire to move from a hostel or group home to
independent supported living accommodations in the community.
 Employment – a desire to leave a protected employment factory or workplace.
 Social relations – a desire to expand the social circle.
 Vacation – a desire to take a vacation abroad.
 Intimate relations – a desire to find a partner, or a need to address difficulties around this issue.
 Education – a desire to enroll in professional training or academic programs or to learn to read.
 Exhaustion of personal rights – a desire to access all services offered to persons with
disabilities by the National Insurance Institute, the local authority or various government
ministries, including specific issues people wanted to pursue, such as a driver's license or
name change in the Ministry of the Interior.
 Health issues – navigating the bureaucracy of the health care system, changing to another
health fund, requesting to psychiatric treatment from the health fund as part of the Israeli
mental health reform, dilemmas regarding medical procedures.
 Budget balancing – a desire for more independence with budget management and for a
balance of expenses vs. income.
 Debt management – a desire to settle debts vis-à-vis the execution office or service provider.
 Financial exploitation – expressing concern over financial exploitation by a service provider
or a private individual.
 Wills – a desire to draw-up a will.
 Exhaustion of financial rights – a desire to increase the National insurance Institution benefits
or to arrange eligibility for rental support from the Ministry of Construction and Housing.
Pilot participant:
"I decided to switch health funds
and I made a decision, just like that,
without giving it much thought, that
is, I was on the Internet and switched
funds… without thinking about the
consequences, for example, that it
was inconvenient because there is
no transportation to the new clinic…
I called my supporter and she told
me we should take a look at what’s
good and what’s not so good. So I
explained to her the transportation
issue which I had forgotten to take
into account and I also hadn’t
thought about the issue of having to
start from the beginning again, which
is very hard for me… and all kinds of
things like that, so in the end I thought
it would be better to cancel…”
External guardian of pilot
participant:
“Responsibility was returned to
her and now everything is stuck –
all the medical documents which
were required for her to receive an
additional allowance. Over the past
six months, I spoke to her about
this and told her she was losing
rights because she wasn’t providing
the documents. I can’t submit the
application. It’s stuck with her”.