Senators Propose Guardianship ‘Bill of Rights’ to Limit Abuse (1)

The US Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing Thursday to explore alternatives to guardianships, which limit the rights of adults to make their own decisions and can lead to fraud and abuse.

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

by Holly Barker

• Proposed legislation unveiled at committee hearing
• Nationwide, system operates under scattershot rules, scant data

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) proposed legislation Thursday he said will help eliminate guardianship abuses by seeking alternatives to the restrictive process now in place, targeting a system marked by scant scrutiny and widespread fraud.

His bill, titled the Guardianship Bill of Rights Act and cosponsored by Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), would create a national council charged with promoting less restrictive arrangements for people living under or being considered for court-ordered guardianships.

“In many cases, a guardianship is a blunt legal tool that transfers all decision making power about the life of a person to someone else,” Casey said at a hearing of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging. They “can also put a person at risk for abuse, neglect and exploitation.”

The council would recommend practices to help people end guardianships, avoid them altogether or modify them. And, it would collect data on guardianships both at the state and national level, aiming to close the giant data gap that now exists.

In the three weeks leading to the hearing, the committee said it received 312 statements from 40 states and territories about oft-troubled guardianships. A Bloomberg Law investigation published this month detailed a national system in peril.

Casey also said he was supporting a bill proposed by Ranking Committee Member Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) called the Guardianship Grant Flexibility Act, which would allow law students to serve as guardians and guardians ad litem in their communities.

Braun cited “harrowing tales” of people’s rights being taken away “in the single stroke of a pen.”

His bill would expand the activities authorized under Adult Protective Services demonstration grants, allowing law students to provide representation under the supervision of licensed attorneys.

Ryan King, who was under guardianship for 13 years before extracting himself from the system,told committee members he learned about supported decision making, where a formal guardianship is not ordered. Instead, a group of supporters provide counsel to the so-called “protected person.”

“I can do many things on my own, but sometimes I need help,” said King.

(Updates with details about one of the proposed bills in the eighth paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the attribution of a quote in the seventh paragraph. )

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Senators Propose Guardianship ‘Bill of Rights’ to Limit Abuse (1)