Definitions

In this Act: (1) Alternative arrangement The term alternative arrangement means an arrangement with key support personnel who may include family members, friends, and professionals, with an approach to meeting the needs of an individual to make decisions that restricts fewer rights of the individual than would the appointment of a guardian or conservator. (2) Assistive technology device The term assistive technology device has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Assistive Technology Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 3002). (3) Covered individual The term covered individual means— (A) an older adult; and (B) a person with a disability. (4) Developmental disability The term developmental disability has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002). (5) Disability The term disability means a disability as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102). (6) Guardianship The term guardianship means a legal relationship established by a court if an individual is determined to lack the ability to meet essential requirements for physical health, safety, or self-care because the person is unable to receive and evaluate information, or make or communicate decisions, about their person or property, even with appropriate supportive services, assistive technology devices, supported decisionmaking, or other less restrictive alternative arrangements. (7) Indian Tribe The term Indian Tribe means an entity that— (A) is eligible for funding as an Indian tribe under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.); and (B) is— (i) eligible for funding as an Indian tribe under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.); or (ii) eligible for funding through an American Indian consortium under subtitle C of title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.). (8) Limited guardianship The term limited guardianship means a guardianship in which a court-appointed fiduciary has the power to make decisions for an individual, with that power defined by the court and for the duration determined by the court. (9) Local educational agency; State educational agency The terms local educational agency and State educational agency have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). (10) Older adult The term older adult means an individual who is 60 years of age or older. (11) Person with a disability The term person with a disability means any person who has a disability (including a sensory disability). (12) Plenary guardianship The term plenary guardianship means a guardianship in which a court-appointed fiduciary has the power to make all decisions allowed by State law for an individual, often due to a finding that the individual is incapacitated. (13) Protection and advocacy system The term protection and advocacy system means a protection and advocacy system established in accordance with section 143 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15043). (14) Protective arrangement The term protective arrangement means— (A) an arrangement in which a person, acting under a limited court order authorizing support for an individual who the court has determined is in need of decision supports, has the power, for a duration specified in the order, to make such decisions for the individual, without a finding of incapacity or the appointment of a guardian or conservator; or (B) a guardianship or conservatorship. (15) Secretary The term Secretary refers to the Secretary of Health and Human Services or the designee of that Secretary. (16) Standard The term standard means a requirement. (17) State The term State means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and any Indian Tribe. (18) Supported decisionmaking arrangement The term supported decisionmaking arrangement means an agreement or other arrangement, resulting from a series of relationships, practices, and shorter arrangements, of greater or lesser formality and intensity, designed to assist an individual in understanding, making, and communicating the individual’s own decisions in a way that does not impede the individual’s self-determination, including deciding— (A) who provides the individual with supports for the decisions; (B) in which areas of life the individual receives supports, including decisions about health, services received, finances, property, living arrangements, and work; and (C) with whom to associate through the support of people, technology, and other decisionmaking aids.