Self-Directed Support (SDS) means organising help and assistance so that people who need help are able to live with freedom and are included as full and valued citizens within the community. There has been significant global progress towards SDS since 1965.
However progress is still slow, patchy and there are still many negative forces that undermine human rights. We established the SDS Network in order to:
The idea for the SDS Network began at the Claiming Full Citizenship Conference in Vancouver in 2015. The first step was to establish Citizen Network which was launched in New Zealand at the Manawanui International Conference in 2016.
Citizen Network then worked with Tukena to establish the SKILLS Project in order to explore the possibility of self-directed support in Europe. This work led into the pan-European UNIC project which has set out detailed guidance on the development of systems for self-direction, which was hosted by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD). The Self-Directed Support network was launched at the final stage of that work in Brussels in 2023.
At the same time leaders from within the Global Leadership Exchange (GLE) were developing the Self Directed Support Standards and in 2024 the SDS Network published these standards in 2024 at the GLE global match, also in Brussels. In 2025, building on the model developed by SDS Network England, a series of national hubs have been launched and this work is ongoing. Network members will be meeting again at the next GLE match in Ottawa in 2026 to take stock of global progress.