What is Self Direction?

The Definition of self-determination: "the process by which a group of people, usually possessing a certain degree of national consciousness, form their own state and choose their own government"
Encyclopædia Britannica

Self-Direction. Self-Determination. Its about You, your family, and what it is important to you. But as the quote above explains, it is not "all by yourself," rather it is with a group of your trusted family, friends and allies are there to help you plan for your life and implement the plan.

The New Directions Waiver is based on self-direction, which is in many ways the same as the term self-determination. The promise of self-determination is rooted in increased quality, increased power for individuals with disabilities, increased status within the community for these same individuals and, at the policy and organizational level, a fairer, more equitable distribution of public service dollars.

This fundamental shift in power means that the service system has to adopt structural changes that make it possible for individuals and families to self-direct the public dollars for which they are eligible. At its heart the self-determination movement was committed to obtaining better value for the money. Self-Determination then, became organized around a set of principles rather than a set of human service interventions or environments. These principles are not human service categories – they are based on each individual receiving supports, at a very personal and transformational level:

The basic principles of self-direction or self-determination are:

Freedom, the opportunity to choose where and with whom one lives as well as how one organizes all important aspects of one’s life with freely chosen assistance as needed; It means deciding for yourself about:

how and where to work and live

what choices you want to make about your life

how to give to the community

what kind of services and supports to use (if any)

who to spend time with and love

Authority - the ability to control some targeted amount of public dollars; This includes:

having control over how to spend your service money

having the right to vote

being able to sign legal contracts (like one for buying a house, or for getting married)

being able to decide how money available for support services will be spent

Support, the ability to organize that support in ways that are unique to the individual; You may want or need support/assistance to:

care for yourself

be an active part of your community

find a job

buy a car

take care of your home

Responsibility, the obligation to use public dollars wisely and to contribute to one’s community. Along with freedom and choices, you also have the responsibility to follow or honor the ordinary rules and jobs of citizenship like:

voting

obeying laws

making responsible choices

participating in community life

making the effort to have positive relationships with friends, family, neighbors

Confirmation, the recognition that individuals with disabilities themselves must be a major part of the redesign of the human service system of long term care. In other words, you take control.

As the explained on the Individual Budget page- the design of the new system requires three essential elements:

Individual budgets which represent the translation of the person’s hopes and dreams into a budget document controlled by the person/family with assistance when needed.

Independent assistance or brokering which is the provision of unbiased and competent advice and support for the person with a disability in designing and carrying out the life plan and budget provisions.

Fiscal Intermediaries which are organizations or individuals who provide financial assistance with bill paying, accountability for public funds, taxes and benefits as well as other types of financial assistance that may be needed.

These system re-design features make it possible for any person with a disability, no matter how significant, to benefit. There can be no exceptions to the restoration of full citizenship to individuals with disabilities.

Support Services
Once you have an individual Budget,, you will then choose who you want as a service provider. Under the New Directions Waiver your options are:

Hiring and Supervising Your Own Staff

Purchasing services from an existing DD provider

Purchasing services from a community resource

My Life: Going FAR is a project of TASH.
This project is funded by the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council,
in cooperation with the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration.

01/25/05