June 2023
By Valerie J. Bradley
Self-direction gives people with disabilities and older adults the ability to manage the long-term services and supports that they need to live lives of their choosing. Over the past more than 25 years, the option to self-direct has become an increasing component of human services systems. The virtue of self- direction as a more flexible and agile support option became apparent during the pandemic when many traditional day and other programs were forced to
close. While self-direction is an option in virtually every state, it is still a relatively small component of most public systems. In order to grow the number of people who can take advantage of self-direction, many public managers and advocacy organizations are looking for specific steps they can take to make the option more available and accessible.
This resource offers a road map to strategic targets that are linked to the key drivers of a robust self-direction option within public programs. It lays out a series of decision points beginning with the selection of overarching goal(s) to pursue, aspects of the goal to tackle, and action steps to pursue.
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