by David Ress
Court-appointed guardians responsible for ensuring that incapacitated adults are treated well should check in at least three times a year, the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed Monday.
House Bill 2028, sponsored by Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, requires guardians visit their charges every 120 days, with at least one face-to-face visit a year. The other visits can be done virtually or by video call.
“This is simply to make sure they are checking in on people they’re responsible for,” Roem said. Courts appoint guardians to look after the affairs of people found to be unable to do so themselves.
She said she has been concerned about lax practices by guardians ever since a constituent told her about a sister’s death while under the oversight of a guardian.
“She died because of inattention and neglect,” Roem said.
Public guardians — individuals financed by a state program to look after indigent, incapacitated adults — are required to check on their charges once a month.
But unlike other states, which typically require guardians make at least four in-person visits a year, Virginia has had some cases in which incapacitated Virginians are not seen even one time in a year, Roem said.
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A 2020 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission study recommended a four-visit-a-year standard, but concerns about a lack of people to fulfill this requirement led Roem to compromise on the lower standard. JLARC found 11 guardians with caseloads of more than 20 people, and one who was responsible for 110 individuals.
Jane Powell, president of Central Virginia Families and Friends, said the once-a-year in-person standard is too onerous for family members, named as guardians, for residents in the state’s sole remaining facilities for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, which are in Chesapeake and at the Hiram Davis center in Petersburg.
Many of those family members are elderly parents or aging siblings of the residents, and live hundreds of miles away, she said.
State Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, said he was concerned the bill gave guardians cover for not doing their jobs.
“I don’t know how you can look out for someone if you only see your charges a few times a year,” he said.
Roem said courts can demand guardians see their charges more frequently and that her bill simply sets a minimum standard.
The committee approved the bill 12-1.
It also approved another Roem guardianship bill that says a guardian shall not restrict an incapacitated person’s ability to communicate with, visit or interact with other people with whom the incapacitated person has an established relationship, unless that visitor is likely to harm or steal from that incapacitated person.
JLARC’s 2020 report found guardians have too much discretion to restrict contact with adults under their guardianship, noting that contact with family, friends and others can help prevent the abuse, neglect and exploitation of incapacitated adults.
A Richmond Times-Dispatch investigation reported in 2019 that VCU Health System and other health care providers had used the guardianship process to remove poor patients from hospital beds, sometimes against the wishes of family members.
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The Senate committee on Monday also approved a measure largely aimed at helping families deal with inherited property. It involves old liens for judgments held by out-of-state buyers of debts who never bothered to file notices of repayment with Virginia courts.
Those liens can be a major headache when heirs want to dispose of property; the result is often that property ends up being lost in a tax sale, said Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield.
The bill passed 13-1, with one abstention.
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Senate panel: Guardians must see incapacitated charges 3 times a year
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