Oregon public guardian, conservator program could be created by lawmakers

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland

Vulnerable, low-income Oregon adults could obtain a public guardian and conservator through a statewide program that lawmakers might create in February.

 

Oregonians who have developmental disabilities, dementia, chronic mental illnesses, or other serious illnesses or injuries would be eligible for the program, said Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, who plans to sponsor a bill to set up the program. The guardian and conservator would make personal and financial decisions on behalf of the at-risk client.

 

A similar bill in the 2013 session passed unanimously out of the House Human Services and Housing Committee but died in a budget committee because of a lack of funding. The program will likely pass in 2014 because of new money expected from changes lawmakers made to the state’s senior medical tax deduction, Dembrow said.

 

“There’s a growing number of vulnerable Oregonians who are at risk of falling through the cracks, of not having the appropriate living conditions or health care, and who really don’t have the means to hire a guardian or don’t have the family to do that,” Dembrow said. The program “is an idea whose time has come and whose need has become obvious.”

 

A state task force that studied the issue last year estimated that 1,575 to 3,175 Oregonians lack the public guardianship services they need. The need will grow as baby boomers age, advocates say.

The proposed program would create a new Office of the Public Guardian and Conservator within the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

 

The public guardian, along with one deputy, would serve as the guardians for some Oregonians and would contract with counties, nonprofits and others to provide services for some clients, such as rural residents who live far from Salem, Dembrow said.

 

Estimates peg program costs to about $1.5 million each biennium, Dembrow said. Enrollment would need to be capped initially to serve the most needy Oregonians.

 

Oregon enacted a guardianship law in 1971 that allows counties to develop and fund public guardianship programs. Multnomah County is the only county in the state that offers a public guardian program. Jackson County started a pilot program but transferred it to a nonprofit.

 

Clackamas, Washington and Lane counties previously attempted to create public guardianship programs but were not successful.

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Oregon public guardian, conservator program could be created by lawmakers