Thursday, May 4, 2023

State of Alaska not accepting new public guardianship cases


By Joey Klecka

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - New public guardian cases are not being accepted for the time being by the state due to a severe staff shortage.

In a letter to Chief Justice Peter Maassen and the Alaska Supreme Court, Office of Public Advocacy Director James Stinson highlighted the severity of the situation caused by a lack of certified public guardians in the state, including an unexpected health issue for one certified guardian that has created an “untenable staffing situation.”

“As we have been alerting the courts for the last several years, the Public Guardian caseloads have become overwhelming,” Stinson wrote.

Stinson said that the usual ward caseload of about 40 has recently been stretched to upwards of 100 wards per public guardian, over twice as many as expected and far beyond the case load limit for other states.

Stinson also noted that the office has tried to stay within guidelines set forth by the National Guardianship Association’s Standards of Practice and Ethics, which lay out the reasonable abilities of taking care of children and other Alaskans that need help, including limiting workloads “that allows the guardian to accurately and adequately support and protect the person.” It requires that guardians visit their ward at least once a month and provides for regular contact with all service providers.

The staffing shortage has created what Stinson has called an “untenable” system.

“We have had grave concerns we are not meeting the NGA standards,” Stinson wrote. “With the caseloads now even higher, we absolutely cannot meet the NGA Standards.”

Stinson went on to explain that one of the chief reasons that led to the current crisis is the amount of resignations and retirements of previous public guardians without a suitable influx of replacements signing on. Stinson said the process to adequately train public guardians can take upwards of two years.

Full Article & Source:
State of Alaska not accepting new public guardianship cases

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