Students will assist participants in Austin Community College’s Skills, Training and Education for Personal Success (STEPS) Program and their families (or other caregivers/supporters) in learning about guardianship and alternatives to guardianship, with an emphasis on Supported Decision-Making (SDM) agreements. Students will provide direct counseling on alternatives to guardianship and will lead SDM role-playing exercises. SDM agreements and other alternatives to guardianship allow individuals with disabilities to maintain maximum control over their lives and avoid unnecessary and costly probate proceedings.
Organization
INCLUDE Project, Mithoff Pro Bono Program
The INCLUDE Project enables students to provide free legal services to persons with disabilities and their families. Through INCLUDE, law students have counseled hundreds of families on guardianship alternatives since the 2015 passage of the Texas Supported Decision Making Act, a law that is the first of its kind nationally and that incorporates certain protections afforded by the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Texas Law. INCLUDE is an internal project of the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program.
Project Details
- Project Date
Friday, October 29
- Project Time
- 10:30am-12:30pm
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 6 hours, including training and self-study
- Training
- Friday, October 22, 10:30am-12:30pm (Zoom link via Canvas)
- Skills used
- Client interviewing/counseling; community education/outreach; mediating between those with divergent interests; cultural competence
- Project location
- Virtual
- Address
- 727 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78705
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 7
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- Strong English skills required; Spanish helpful but not necessary; students with an interest in probate and disability law are strongly encouraged to apply
- To Apply
- Register at https://sdm10-29f21.eventbrite.com