SDM, Facilitation, and Its Ethical Requirements

Description: Supported Decision Making (SDM) passed in 2022 in New York, a civil rights victory for those with special needs, especially the large majority for whom a guardianship is too restrictive and not appropriate. The law went into effect in November 2025 with OPWDD proposing their final regulations, and in December 2025 AIM Services Inc. was announced to take over the facilitation process (taking over from SDMNY). What are the requirements and next steps for facilitators? What does facilitation look like for individuals, their families, and their teams? Most importantly, what are the ethical requirements and responses required under SDM and SDMAs (Supported Decision Making Agreements)? What happens when an individual has a SDMA but is still turned down by a provider? Even before a family reaches the step of seeking out a SDMA, what are an attorney's ethical requirements to their client with an intellectual or developmental disability turning 18, for whom a guardianship is not or may not be appropriate? These and other questions will be addressed. 

1.5 MCLE Credits: 1.0 Ethics, 0.5 Areas of Professional Practice

Faculty: 

Hon. Kristin Booth Glen, CUNY School of Law

Chris Lyons, CEO, AIM Services, Inc. 

Haldan Blecher, OPWDD Deputy Counsel 

Alison Morris, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University (Program Chair & Moderator)  

This CLE program is sponsored by the Committee on Disability Rights and co-sponsored by the Trusts and Estates Section and the Committee on Continuing Legal Education of the New York State Bar Association, as well as AIM Services, Inc.