Preserving Rights While Supporting Health Care Decision Making
For further information, please contact
Ruth Finkelstein
rf1132@hunter.cuny.edu
When individuals are unable to direct their own care, advocates for patients—attorneys, social workers, and court personnel—are often not aware of all the existing legal options to provide needed medical services. It’s important to preserve the rights of vulnerable adults while ensuring their timely access to necessary health treatment.
The Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging has developed a manual and a training video to offer practical guidance for lawyers on applying a little-known provision of New York State guardianship law, MHL 81.16(b), to streamline assistance for individuals who need support while retaining their autonomy and dignity. Our partners in this effort are Judge Kristin Booth Glen, director of Supported Decision-Making New York and dean emerita of the CUNY School of Law, and the New York Legal Assistance Group, a nonprofit provider of legal services and financial counseling. This work is supported by a grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.