Freddy Jussien, Inclusion Europe advocacy lead, writes about a working group meeting on supported decision-making with Inclusion Finland:
When Anne Saarinen from Inclusion Finland (Tukiliitto) asked me to come and present our report on supported decision-making, my first thought was: “What useful thing can I possibly tell them? Finland already scores ‘green’ on the right to decide and the right to vote in the Inclusion Indicators.”
It took about ten minutes in that meeting to understand how wrong I was.
A green light can hide a difficult reality.
In Finland, supported decision-making is in the law
The law offers supported decision-making… in theory.
In practice, the situation is very different.
Supported decision-making is still being developed.
There are very few applications.
So support services are stepping in and offering decision support in-house. That is not ideal, and everybody in the room knew it. But for many people with intellectual disabilities, this is the only way to get some support in making decisions.
On top of that, there is a shortage of support services. And big cuts are happening. And in the end, it is people with intellectual disabilities and their families who are left alone.
A law is not the finish line
This is the thing I keep running into since I started working at Inclusion Europe.
You can have a good law. If nobody is trained, paid and available to apply it, the law stays on the shelf. And the person still does not decide.
Finland already says this about itself. In our Inclusion Indicators 2025, Inclusion Finland answered:
“We think Finland should do much better. The situation has not improved since 2024. In fact, values have hardened, and cuts and savings have further weakened inclusion.”
In Finland, many people with intellectual disabilities are still waiting for support that does not arrive.
Inspirations from other European countries
Unfortunately, many other countries are struggling too.
But there are also many examples that can help supported decision-making grow in Finland.
I spoke about a few of them:
- In Spain, Som Fundació built a decision support model that starts from the person. Support begins when the person says they need it. It is built around what that person wants, and it keeps being adapted with the family and with everyone in the person’s network. It was a long journey, but they now support 860 people and work with 550 families on planning the future.
- In Hungary, it is not easy either. Guardianship is still the default. So self-advocates took the lead. In October 2025, ÉFOÉSZ took part as trainers in a two-day training for 60 judges, organised by the Hungarian Academy of Justice. Judges heard directly from people who had been under guardianship, about what happens to your life when someone else signs for you.
- In Czechia, Inclusion Czechia works upstream, with families. Their guide for carers helps parents think about the future early, build a support network around their child, and write down who helps with what. It changes the question. Instead of asking for guardianship when their child turns 18, families already have a support plan ready.
Nobody is leaving
Spain has the law and is still working on changing the culture. Hungary has judges to convince. Czechia has families to prepare. Finland has a service to fill with people and with resources.
What I take away from this meeting with Inclusion Finland is that people are the most powerful engine of inclusion.
People who do not accept an “empty” right.
People who listen to others and collaborate for full inclusion.
People like Anne, her colleagues at Inclusion Finland and their partners, who are still on it, still looking for the solution that makes the right to decide real for everybody.