Miami-Dade Mayor wants court to change guardianship system after damning audit

By Joshua Ceballos

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava

After an audit from Miami-Dade County’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found employees of the Guardianship Program of Dade County violated state laws, the county mayor wants new oversight and accountability before the program gets more taxpayer dollars.

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has called on the courts to set new safeguards on a system that is intended to look after some of the most vulnerable members of the community, following the findings that were prompted by a WLRN investigation.

In a recent memo to Chief Judge of the 11th Circuit, Nushin Sayfie, and Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts Juan Fernandez-Barquin, Levine Cava called for a meeting to review key aspects of the county's guardianship system.

“Per state statute, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, Probate Division works with the Clerk of Court and Comptroller to ensure the proper functioning and oversight of guardianship cases,” Levine Cava wrote in the Aug. 2 memo.

“We would like to meet with you to discuss next steps your offices can take, including review of current staffing and leadership as well as the introduction of additional safeguards into any potential future grant agreements.”

The Guardianship Program (GPDC) is a nonprofit entity that receives millions of dollars in annual funding from Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs. They’re the guardians of last resort for people declared “incapacitated” by the courts and who have no family who can take care of them.

The program handles about 20% of the county’s guardianship cases, which are administered through the 11th Circuit’s Probate Division.

A WLRN investigation found the program repeatedly sold the properties of its incapacitated wards to a small group of people who then quickly sold them for a profit. The practice raised questions about whether the program was doing its best to care for the vulnerable people in its charge.

An OIG audit late last month corroborated those findings. It also found Guardianship Program employees engaged in conflicts of interest that violated state law, and that the program had a severe lack of oversight of its property sales that challenged its commitment to doing the most to take care of its wards.

"We are reaching out to meet with your office to discuss how we can support the implementation of additional accountability and oversight measures over the Guardianship Program."

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in a memo to 11th Circuit Court officials.

In some cases, property coordinators helped their friends and families buy homes that belonged to incapacitated people, and a realtor received almost five times much money as an incapacitated ward after selling the ward's home for GDPC.

While Miami-Dade County partially funds the Guardianship Program with a more than $2.5 million annual grant, it has little control over the nonprofit’s operations.

“The County is required to serve as a pass-through for state funding but does not directly oversee the program or provide any management or audit function,” Levine Cava wrote in her recent memo.

Judge 'hopes to see changes'

WLRN reached out to Judge Sayfie following the release of the OIG audit to ask if the court would take any action in response to the findings. Sayfie said in an emailed statement that she hopes to see the Guardianship Program enact changes, but stopped short of saying what shifts the court might make.

“We are looking forward to seeing the changes outlined in the Inspector General’s report for the benefit of strengthening public guardianship and its important role in service to a very vulnerable community,” Sayfie said.

Levine Cava’s memo, however, seems to put the onus on Sayfie and the court to set up their own safeguards on guardianship cases.

"We are reaching out to meet with your office to discuss how we can support the implementation of additional accountability and oversight measures over the Guardianship Program," the mayor wrote.

Emma Louise Ladson, whose mother was an incapacitated ward and who was evicted from her home by the Guardianship Program, said the audit report was a relief after years of calling out abuses in the guardianship system.

“It feels like vindication. It’s just been happening for so long to too many people. I’m happy that Mayor Levine Cava has taken notice and has not let this case go,” Ladson told WLRN.

The Mayor’s office said she has not yet scheduled a meeting with the Chief Judge and the Clerk of Courts at the time of this writing.

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Miami-Dade Mayor wants court to change guardianship system after damning audit