Floridians with disabilities applaud new law protecting their rights

by Sabrina Maggiore,Charles Frazier

Millions of Floridians with disabilities are celebrating a new law that protects their rights.

Those new protections are listed under a Florida law that took effect this week.

Under the law, courts are now required to consider what’s known as “supportive decision-making agreements” before they place someone in legal guardianship, allowing people with disabilities to appoint helpers for certain jobs.

Michael Lincoln-McCreight became the first person in Florida to end a guardianship in favor of a supported decision-making agreement. He spent four years lobbying for a change to the law after his rights were stripped from him.

Born with fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, and ADHD, Lincoln-McCreight today is living his dream life.

He’s accomplished a life-long goal of working for Universal Orlando and supports himself in his Orange County home. He says he does not take it for granted.

“I feel like I went from being a prisoner to being a free human being,” Lincoln-McCreight said.

Lincoln-McCreight says he remembers the moments he aged out of foster care, was declared incapacitated, and was placed under guardianship.

“They take all your rights away,” Lincoln-McCreight recalled. “The right to vote. The right to get married. The right to choose who your relationships are...everything is literally stripped for you.”

Lincoln-McCreight spent years in court fighting to restore those freedoms. In 2016, a doctor and judge found he could make his own decisions, and his guardianship ended in favor of supported decision-making.

“You get help with the support of family and friends that you trust,” Lincoln-McCreight said.

For the last four years, he lobbied for the new state law requiring judges to consider alternatives to guardianship, like a notirzed, supported decision-making agreement.

Matt Dietz of Nova Southeastern Law School says the informal agreements grant supporters privileges to help those with special needs.

“Think of it as a continuum between the most restrictive and the least restrictive,” Dietz explained. “Courts now have to say, ‘Okay, you’ve come here for a guardianship, what types of decisions can this person make by themselves,’ before they say ‘the person loses all of their rights.’”

For Lincoln-McCreight, the law was worth the fight.

“This is going to make not only a difference for one person but millions of Floridians with disabilities,” Lincoln McCreight said.

The law also requires third parties to recognize supported decision-making agreements.

For example, schools and hospitals must allow appointed supporters to access confidential records if the agreements are in place.

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Floridians with disabilities applaud new law protecting their rights

What happened to Britney Spears also happened to me — in Florida | Opinion

by Viviana Bonilla Lopez and Michael Lincoln

Since Britney Spears testified recently about the harm she experienced in her conservatorship, many people have expressed shock and horror. But we were not surprised. It happened to one of the authors of this piece, too.

Before my (Michael Lincoln-McCreight's) guardianship here in Florida, I was active in the community. I worked with the Guardian Angels program, went to the movies, volunteered at the hospital and attended church. After my guardianship, I was placed in a group home I could not leave. I could not go to church or participate in activities. I could not get rides from friends. I felt like a hostage. I had no rights. 

These stories are not unique. In Florida, we have seen multiple news reports exposing guardians abusing, neglecting and exploiting the people under their care by selling their belongings, misspending their money and making medical decisions that harm rather than help them.

As the #FreeBritney movement sheds light on guardianship (known as conservatorship in some states, including California), we must take this moment to address Florida’s own crisis. Supported Decision-Making is a big part of the solution.

Supported Decision-Making is an alternative to guardianship that allows people with disabilities to make their own decisions with the support of people they trust. Instead of losing all their rights and having someone decide for them — as would happen under a guardianship — a person with a disability can use SDM to lean on loved ones for assistance with exercising their rights.

Guardianship is a severe tool that should only be used when there are no alternatives, but many judges and parents do not know about SDM. 

While guardianship gives all the control to one person, SDM allows people with disabilities to create a team of supporters and develop stronger ties to the community. This makes it harder for one person to abuse them. Studies also show that people who have greater self-determination are more likely to identify abusive situations and less likely to experience abuse.

For these reasons, there is wide support for SDM in Florida. The SDM4FL coalition we co-chair includes 12 disability advocacy organizations, individuals with disabilities and their family members. The Florida Public Guardian Coalition and the Public Interest Law Section of the Florida Bar support SDM. Nationwide, SDM has support from the Social Security Administration, the American Bar Association, the National Guardianship Association, the U.S. Department of Education and the Administration for Community Living.

Last session, Sen. Joe Gruters and Rep. Allison Tant introduced SB 1010 and HB 681, which aimed to create a Supported Decision-Making Law. The law would detail who can use SDM and how, provide a sample SDM agreement, and require judges to consider SDM before appointing a guardian. It would also require schools to provide caregivers with information on SDM.

Building on the conversation we started last session, we are once again asking the Florida Legislature to pass a Supported Decision-Making Law. SDM saved Michael’s life. In 2016, he became the first person in Florida to terminate his guardianship in favor of an SDM agreement. Now he works as a security guard, lives alone, drives his own van, goes to church and hangs out with friends. He has also become a leader in the disability rights community.

We invite all Floridians to visit idecideflorida.org to learn more about SDM and how you can support our efforts. We do not want anyone to have to go through what Michael and Britney Spears have. When Supported Decision becomes law, we hope no one will. 

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What happened to Britney Spears also happened to me — in Florida | Opinion