A bill creating an Office of the Public Guardian advanced from the first round on a unanimous vote on Feb. 21 as Nebraska edges toward ending its status as the only state without such an office.
Under current law, a county court can appoint a guardian or conservator to someone who is unable to make responsible decisions for themselves, due to reasons such as disability or mental illness. But in some cases there is no one willing or able to serve in this role.
A guardian is appointed to oversee life decisions, including health care and residence, while a conservator deals with money and property.
A bill introduced by Sen. Colby Coash, of Lincoln, would create an office with a director, deputy director and up to 12 associate public guardians. The office would serve in situations of last resort where there is no guardian or conservator.
There are some very vulnerable people who are at risk of being taken advantage of, Coash said, and these vulnerable people need someone to provide oversight.
The need is rising as baby boomers age and get to a point where more need the help of a guardian or conservator, said Sen. Steve Lathrop, of Omaha.
"You have a number of people who don't have the means or the family or anyone interested in them to serve in that capacity," Lathrop said.
Now, without a statewide guardian, county courts ask lawyers to volunteer to serve, Lathrop said.
"The need has exceeded the capacity of lawyers who volunteer," Lathrop said.
Joanne Farrell, a social worker at Aging Partners in Lincoln, which offers information and services to seniors, has seen the ways seniors can be taken advantage of.
Some may get scammed through an online dating website or by thinking they've won something, she said.
There has been a need for this program for a long time, she said.
"The communities like to take care of their own, but at this point we're seeing there is a need everywhere in the state," Farrell said.
An auditor's report last year on Department of Health and Human Services programs that help people who are aged, blind and disabled found that one person, Judith Widener, had served as a guardian, conservator, or both, for more than 600 people in the state.
Widener, of Bayard, has been charged with stealing more than $35,000 intended for court-appointed wards for her personal use. Earlier this month Widener pleaded not guilty to a felony theft charge, and she is currently out on bond.
That case is the biggest example of abuses and problems in the current system, Coash said.
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Lawmakers: Nebraskans who need guardians, conservators could benefit from public program
Hope they stay clean in Nebraska!
ReplyDeleteNot counting on it, Thelma.
ReplyDeleteIn Virginia, our programs started out with high hopes and even higher standards.
As soon as the two largest programs, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater and Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia, hit a bump in funding in 2010, those standards went right out the window.
Now the public officials who are supposed to provide oversight and monitoring of these programs (Janet James, Esquire, Amy Marschean, Esquire, the Virginia Department for the Aging and Rehabilitative Services, headed by James Rothrock, and the Virginia Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board), just cover up for the blatant wrongdoing of these programs, mouth the same hypocritical tripe about accountability, ethics, oversight, etc., and commit wanton character assassination against anyone who dares to point out the awful truth. Oh, and of course ask for more money.
As just one example, last year the VPGCAB had a preposterous conversation about how "it is impossible to operate an assisted living facility without a single violation" in response to the unwelcome news that JFS and CCEVA had dumped clients in the hellholes run by the notorious Scott Schuett.
Then the VPGCAB members were treated to an equally preposterous dissertation by Mrs. James, the attorney directly responsible for overseeing these programs, about how it was impossible to determine how many JFS and CCEVA clients were in Scott Schuett's facilities. (Some oversight! By their own admission, they can't even figure out where these people live!)
Of course, Scott Schuett did not have "a single violation." He had thousands and thousands of violations, the most violations of any ALF in Virginia history. (Please google Scott Schuett for the appalling details too numerous to list here.) And of course it's possible to determine where these victims live, with no more than a single email or phone call to JFS and CCEVA. It took more time and effort for Mrs. James to obfuscate than to demand the truth from these runaway agencies.
The future will come, folks, and it will not be pretty.
Please keep in mind, you had chance after chance to fix these problems, and you refused to do so.
If they keep a close eye on the program, it would be a benefit. But, if they just turn the newly appointed public guardian loose, then it's the same story as in the other states.
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