National Guardianship Association Picks Excellence Award Winner

Clay County Public Administrator Debbie Gwin likes to refer to her office as the best-kept secret in the county. Tucked in the corner on the ground floor of the James S. Rooney Justice Center, Gwin and her team provide financial and personal services for 345 clients in the county’s guardianship and conservatorship programs.

But after the National Guardianship Association’s annual conference this past October, the secret that Gwin has kept since taking office in 2005 may be out. While attending the conference in Tampa, Fla., Gwin was presented with the National Certified Guardian Excellence Award. The award recognizes an individual’s work as a certified guardian, and knowledge of guardianship concepts, ethics and issues.

Full Article and Source:
Debbie Gwin Receives National Guardianship Excellence Award

Former Guardian Brings Unloaded Gun to Court

A 35-year-old former Washoe County legal guardian, under investigation for allegedly defrauding her elderly wards, was arrested for bringing an unloaded gun into a Reno court.

Angela Cheri Dottei, also known as Angela Cheri Sommers, was booked into Washoe County Jail on Tuesday on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon. She is being held there in lieu of $25,000 cash bail.

Authorities said she was going to a hearing in Family Court when the handgun was found in her purse as it went through a screening station. She also had an empty magazine.

Washoe County Deputy Brooke Keast said Dottei was cooperative and said she did not realize the gun was in her purse.

In the last two months, the family court has sanctioned Dottei on allegations she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly wards, whom she was entrusted to make decisions on their estates and finances. Her license to work as a guardian has also been suspended.

Full Article and Source:
Former Guardian Held for Alleged Gun in Court

Note: Despite the suspension of her license, Angela Dottei is currently listed as a national "Master Guardian" with the National Guardianship Association

New Law Requires Some Guardians to be Certified

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that will require certification of some guardians of impaired adults.

House Bill 2539, which was first introduced in February and takes effect Jan. 1, mandates certification of the public guardians appointed by the governor to serve in individual counties.

The News-Democrat reported in May that little accountability in guardianship of adults unable to manage their affairs has caused problems.

Attorney John F. Pawloski, who claimed to be St. Clair County's public guardian and administrator, has refused to account for his use of wards' and deceased people's estate money, though he has agreed to repay more than $70,000 missing from some of the estates.

Pawloski has appealed a judge's demand he provide an accounting, and that appeal is pending in the 5th District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon. No one knows how he was named public guardian. The governor makes the appointment, and a former Gov. Rod Blagojevich spokesman said that office never did appoint Pawloski, but local clerks and judges thought he was the appointee.

Another guardian, Sharon Mehrtens, who runs a private business serving as guardian of those unable to manage their affairs and executor of deceased people's estates, hasn't accounted for her spending in several years in some cases but continues to collect professional fees from the wards and their estates.

Pawloski's lawyers have advised him not to speak with reporters. Mehrtens has said she is often late in her reports because she doesn't always know when they are due. Previous judges had her on three-year filing schedules.

House Bill 2539 requires certification of the public guardians appointed by the governor to serve in individual counties. It doesn't apply to professional guardians, such as Mehrtens, or the Office of the State Guardian, which represents wards who have less than $25,000 to their estates. That agency already requires certification of guardians, and Illinois law doesn't require professional guardians to be certified.

Some guardianship experts say that while the bill is a good step, it won't prevent fraud committed by guardians.

The bill was drafted by the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, a state division that pushes new legislation. Representatives of the Guardianship and Advocacy commission have said the agency won't consider any more legislative reform until the fall.

Full Article and Source:
New Law Requires Some Guardians to be Certified

See also:
Quinn Signs Bill Requiring Guardians to be Certified

For additional information on James Pawloski, see:
Will Justice Be Served?

Attorney Will Repay Estates

Who Watches Guardians?

Lawyer Appeals Judge's Demand

Ten Days to Produce Documents

John Pawloski Case

For additional information on Sharon Mehrtens, see:
Can't Win Independence

Guardian Holds Ward's Fate

Legal Guardian Denies Family Contact

Carol Kinnear, a retired Belleair Elementary teacher in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, signed an update to her trust in June 2008.

Her wish was clear: For the rest of her life, regardless of her health, she wanted to stay home.

The trust provision, her daughters thought, would assure she could do that.

On Monday, Kinnear, 78, was taken from home and moved to an unnamed facility, the act of a court-appointed guardian. She would be treated there for "high anxiety and confusion," the guardian wrote in an e-mail. Her children, blocked from contact, were told it was in their mother's best interest.

Earlier this year, to safeguard their mother's estate after money had come up missing, they had filed for guardianship in a Pinellas court.

Now they find themselves the victims of unintended consequences, guarded against by the person they had sought for help.

Kinnear's first guardian, Sandra Scott, caused her to fall after giving too high a dose of medication, said Kellee Watt, 45, of Indian Rocks Beach.

Teri St. Hilaire, who replaced Scott on July 1, didn't return phone calls and e-mails from the daughters.

Full Article and Source:
Legal guardian denies Alzheimer's patient her home and family contact

Sandra Scott certified with the Center for Guardianship Certification, an allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association (NGA).

Teri St. Hilaire is certified with the Center for Guardianship Certification, an allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association (NGA).

County Cuts Ties With Public Guardian

The board of commissioners is looking to fill the recently-vacated Arenac County Public Guardian position after officially reporting it will not return Sherilyn Jones, the suspended public guardian, to the position.

Jones’ office is under investigation for criminal activity by the Michigan State Police and in the process of being audited by the Michigan Treasury Department. Board Chairman Raymond Daniels says neither the investigation nor audit is complete yet, but that the board felt compelled to act.

Daniels : “We found enough evidence that we feel comfortable saying at this time that she won’t be returning to work. The [Teamsters] union has been notified that we will not be bringing her back. ... We’re at the point of time that we have to move forward.”

Full Article and Source:
County cuts ties with Public Guardian, begins search for new one

More information:
Arenac County leaders replacing public guardian, probe continues

State performing audit on public guardian office

Sherilyn Jones is registered with Center for Guardianship Certification , an allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association (NGA)

Family Guardianship Revoked

Three of Earnestine Starks' children sat down with News 8 after a visit to see their mother at a Fort Worth nursing home ended with three trespassing warnings. The staff ordered them to leave the property.

"You go from just trying to see your mother to you can never see your mother again."

Days later, another daughter, Sharon Richardson, found out she was no longer her mother's guardian.

"I don't know how a court can award guardianship in one week and then revoke it the next week."

Court documents show that a Tarrant County judge revoked Richardson's guardianship on July 8. According to a letter filed in court by the nursing home, Richardson made allegations of abuse against the facility.

She also wanted staff to re-evaluate her mother, who suffers from dementia and delusions, and move her from a secured to an unsecured unit.

Doctors disagreed with Richardson's request.

Richardson: "My mother did not want to go back to the facility; she said she would not go back in there and did not like the facility and did not like how she was being treated."

The courts appointed a new guardian for Earnestine Starks — Guardianship Services Inc., a non-profit agency that helps incapacitated individuals who do not have family members or friends who can serve as guardians.

Guardianship Services is now in charge of making all of Earnestine Starks' decisions — from medical to financial.

Colleen Colton, director of the agency: "We are guardian until somebody else becomes guardian or they die." She could not comment on the Starks case, but said families struggle with court guardianships because the state is always watching.

The courts have the right to step in if there's any sign of a dispute or allegation.

Full Article and Source:
Aging in America: Family struggles with guardianship issues

Colleen Colton/Guardianship Services, Inc. is registered with National Guardianship Association

Former Administrator Rita Hunter

95-Year-Old Fights Back

Attorney Fees Challenged

Class Action Filed

Former Ward Files Suit

Mother and Daughter File Suit

Judge Don Windle

Judge Windle Caught

Denton County Judge and Guardian

The Cash In

Probate Case Continued

A former Jasper County probate case now among those being probed by the state was the subject of a hearing in the Probate Division of Greene County Circuit Court.

While John Hinnah was a ward of former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter, more than $7,000 was sent as refunds from his estate to federal and state agencies, according to records.

That was part of the overview offered by Gretchen Long, attorney for Angie Casavecchia, the new Jasper County public administrator, in a status hearing on the case. Carol Aiken, Greene County probate commissioner, continued the case for 90 days to give attorneys time to sort out financial issues.

Aiken: “It sounds like a mess.”

Full Article and Source:
Former local probate case continued in Greene County

See also:
95-Year-Old Fights Back

Crime Pass

A formal complaint alleging judicial misconduct against Judge Nancy F. Alley of Florida's Eighteenth Circuit Court (407-665-4330) has been filed with Florida's judiciary in an attempt to stop pre-crime immunity before this newest practice of criminal protection becomes commonplace in our federal, state and local judicial systems. Prosecutors acquire crucial testimony in return for granting post-crime immunity. Judges may now acquire undefined consideration in return for granting pre-crime immunity. As judges begin granting such passes to commit crime, our reliance upon laws and prosecutors to protect society and deter illegal activity will vanish.

Excerpt from complaint:
In this order Judge Alley grants; “REBECCA FIERLE, the Plenary Guardian of the Property and Person of the Ward, is hereby absolved of all liability and responsibility for not attempting to preserve the alleged intentions or estate plan of the Ward, except that records of the accounts at liquidation be maintained for potential distribution should any remain at death.” (underlined for emphasis)

An Executive Pardon is the common practice of excusing ones conduct after breaking a law and after court conviction. Judge Alley’s unrecognized and unprecedented Order creates a new road for illegal activity by granting (pre-crime) permission to break a law in the first place, thereby making pre-emptive immunity and pardons unnecessary.

Crime Pass - Florida Judge Grants Permission To Commit Crime

Rebecca Fierle is registered with Center For Guardianship Certification - an allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association

Intense Personal Reactions

The Herald received intensively personal reactions to the story about how the guardian system works. They used the case of William Nagle.

Attorney Bob McKinley represents the corporate guardian for William Nagle, Chippewa Family Services, Inc. of Chippewa Falls. He thought it was unfair mentioning his client in the same story that also mentioned the Minnesota case. "There are abuses in the system. The problem in this case is not the guardian."

A woman who identified herself as Chuck’s sister: "My problem is the way you presented the information about Chuck being barred from any communications with CFS makes it appear as though all of the Nagle family behave childishly. That is soooooooo far from the truth. Chuck is the only one behaving in an irrational and childish manner."

A man identifying himself as Chuck’s brother: "Chuck Nagle’s statement that ‘family members couldn’t agree what should happen next’ could have been better stated that he didn’t agree with other family members’ agreed-upon plan."

But the article was always intended to be more than what he and the Nagle family have encountered dealing with the courts and each other.

Wisconsin’s guardian system is a secret system designed to protect the vulnerable. But it is secrecy that carries a price.

There are good and bad guardians. But families of people being protected by the secret system deserve more than a once-a-year disclosure of how their loved ones’ finances are being spent.

Guardians should be required to provide an accounting to the courts of how the money is being spent at least twice a year, if not quarterly.

A better accounting by guardians of the initial assessment of the vulnerable person’s assets is also necessary, so that potential financial problems would become apparent early on in the process.

Full Article and Source:
Column: Personal reactions follow guardian story

See also:
Pitfalls of The Guardian System

More information:

The court's answer to a family feud is a forced guardianship/conservatorship!
Stop Guardian Abuse - An Open Door

Web of Link$

Here is an astounding list of more than two dozen agencies and individuals involved in the life of Ray Sandford, the Minnesota citizen receiving ongoing forced outpatient electroshock. All are receiving taxpayer funding directly or indirectly. A few are speaking out for Ray, and should be thanked. But most are not helping Ray say "no" to his forced shock. Some directly profit from it.

Allina Hospitals and Clinics - Owns clinic where Ray is given taxpayer-funded forced electroshock.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/allina

George F. Borer - Attorney for taxpayer-funded Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSSMN) who issued letters attempting to stop alerts and videos supporting Ray.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/george-f-borer

Terri Bradley - Ray's taxpayer-funded Guardian ad Litem directly in charge of his forced electroshock.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/terri-bradley

Satveer S. Chaudhary - Ray's elected state senator has been contacted about Ray: No comment.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/satveer-s-chaudhary

Bernard M. Coelho, MD - Ray's electroshock doctor who administers the procedure, paid for by taxpayers.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/bernard-m-coelho

Marybeth Dorn - Judge who continued Ray's forced electroshock
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/marybeth-dorn

Jon Duckstad - Attorney paid with public funds who Ray said did a terrible job representing him.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/jon-duckstad

Keith Ellison - Ray's elected US representative has been contacted about Ray: No comment.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/keith-ellison

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - ELCA's Minnesota Synods own LSSMN, which is taxpayer-funded.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/elca

Bishop Mark Hanson, ELCA - Refuses any "supervision" of taxpayer funds used by LSSMN.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/bishop-mark-hanson

Pamela Hoopes, MDLC - This attorney started an "ECT Work Group" to explore changing laws to help Ray.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/pamela-hoopes

Eric Jonsgaard, Senior Director, LSS Guardianship Options - LSSMN, using taxpayer funds, has put up obstacles to Ray's campaign.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/eric-jonsgaard

Amy Klobuchar - Ray's elected US Senate has been contacted about Ray: No comment.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/amy-klobuchar

Dean K. Knudson, MD, psychiatrist - Oversees Ray's case, including his taxpayer-funded forced electroshock.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/dean-k-knudson-psychiatrist

Carolyn Laine - Ray's elected state representative has been contacted about Ray: No comment.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/carolyn-laine

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSSMN) - General guardians for Ray who have put up obstacles to his campaign using public funds.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/lutheran-social-service-of-minnesota

Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Network of Minnesota - Joined ECT Work Group to change laws in order to help people like Ray.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/mental-health-consumer-survivor-network-of-minnesota

Mercy Hospital - The Coon Rapids, Minnesota clinic where Ray receives his taxpayer-funded forced electroshock.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/mercy-hospital

Metropolitan Center for Independent Living in Minnesota - Has met with Ray and appointed informational liaison.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/metropolitan-center-for-Independent-living/

Minnesota Disability Law Center - MDLC has started an ECT Work Group to explore new laws to help people like Ray.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/minnesota-disability-law-center

Brian Nystrom - Owns Nystrom & Associates which employs Ray's psychiatrist Dean Knudson.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/brian-nystrom

Roberta Opheim, Ombudsman - Joined the ECT Work Group to explore new laws to help people like Ray.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/roberta-opheim

Governor Tim Pawlenty - His public affairs office said the Governor believes Ray's forced electroshock is "safe and legal." Has appointed Brian Nystrom (CEO of agency employing Ray's psychiatrist) to state counseling board.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/governor-tim-pawlenty

Richard R. Pettingill, CEO of Allina, which owns the clinic where Ray is forcibly electroshocked using public funds.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/richard-r-pettingill

Victory House - Ray's group home in Columbia Heights has put up obstacles to Ray's campaign using taxpayer funds.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/victory-house

Teresa R. Warner - Judge who signed Ray's forced electroshock order.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/teresa-r-warner

Tonya Wilhelm of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota - Using public funds, Ms. Wilhelm has put up obstacles to Ray's campaign.
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray-sandford-minnesota/tonya-wilhelm

Source:
Web of Link$ Around Ray Sandford: Survivor of Electroconvulsive Therapy

See also:
Remember Ray

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota and Eric Jonsgaard are registered with National Guardianship Association

Tonya Wilhelm is registered with Center for Guardianship Certification, an allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association

Pitfalls of The Guardian System

Chuck Nagle says his father will want to write a check to donate to his church. But he won’t be allowed to write that check. “He has zero authority now to do anything. He can’t even subscribe to the newspaper.”

That’s because a non-profit corporate guardian has been appointed to represent William Nagle, whom Chuck said has early stages of Alzheimer’s. A guardian was appointed because of his medical condition.

The guardian system in Wisconsin is one where little information reaches the public, and sometimes even family members. "In Wisconsin, guardianship cases are considered to be closed. Even family cannot get information." It’s a system that he contends is broken.

Otis Woods is administrator for the Division of Quality Assurance of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, the agency that oversees the regulation of guardians. The state uses 13 criteria for those guardians, Woods said. If they violate any one of those 13, he said they can be removed as a guardian. But complaints are relatively rare. Woods: “We don’t receive very many. Maybe five a year.”

A second category, of for-profit guardians, are unregulated by the state. Woods said the state is in the early stages of reviewing that and possibly rewriting rules to include regulation.

Chuck Nagle says relatives can be shut out of receiving updated financial information on a regular basis. That decision is up to a corporate guardian and can be upheld by a judge. “The only information the guardians have to report is to the court, once a year.”

Rep. Scott Suder who represents the state’s 69th Assembly District: “Once a year, for any type of reporting, is clearly not enough.” He said perhaps the Legislative Audit Bureau could audit the state’s guardian program to see if changes need to be made.

State Rep. Kirsten Dexter who represents the 68th District where William Nagle lives, is also considering forcing guardians to report financial information more frequently.

About the case:
After William Nagle’s wife died in May 2007, family members couldn’t agree what should happen next. Chuck Nagle asked in June 2008 for a limited, temporary guardian be appointed for his father, which was done in October. The next month a permanent guardian from Chippewa Family Services, Inc. in Chippewa Falls was appointed.

Chuck Nagle now is restricted in his posing of questions of the guardian, according a March 6 letter from Chippewa Falls attorney Robert W. McKinley, who represents Chippewa Family Services and the guardian. "You are not to contact my client again absent a bona fide emergency concerning your father. If my client hears from you for any other reason, all contacts will be terminated,” the letter states.

Nagle said he is appealing decisions in his father’s case to the Wisconsin Third District Court of Appeals in Wausau.

And he’s warning others of the potential pitfalls of Wisconsin’s guardian system.

Full Article and Source:
Guardian system leaves questions

Robert McKinley is a certified guardian with The Center For Guardianship Certification, allied foundation of the National Guardianship Association (NGA)

No Outside Agency to Help Victims

Imagine having your whole life put into the hands of a stranger who can take away your freedom to choose from where you live to how you spend your money, and if you disagree on how they're handling things, you have no outside agency to complain to.

Seven's investigative reporter Carmel Cafiero is on the case.

95-year-old Lucille Gittens was forced to leave the home she had lived in with her son and his family for thirty years.

Sybil Gittens: "I felt helpless, I couldn't help her, I couldn't do anything."

Tecia Gittens: "It was very disturbing. My grandmother was like my best friend."

The court stepped in and appointed a guardian after a family disagreement over the mother's finances.

Keith Gittens: "Ninety percent of families have family squabbles, I'm sure you're aware of that, but that doesn't mean it has to reach this level of making a drastic decision like this for no reason."

He says first the guardian took over his mother's estate and eventually took her out of her home and put her in a group facility.

Keith Gittens: "The legal system is so complex that you can spend all your time and all your money and get nowhere."

Keith says he could find no one to independently to investigate his concerns about what was happening with his mother.

Keith Gittens: "There's too much power given in this guardianship program, there's no checks and balances really."

Avril Schuckman says her mother had a picture-perfect life, but her last hours were a nightmare.

Avril Schuckman: "My mother suffered desperately. I think it was the most heinous crime."

Avril says her mother had a do not resuscitate order which her guardian ignored. In fact, the South Florida guardian did not call Avril in Tampa and tell her her mother was dying until four days after she was put on life support.

Avril Schuckman: "She lasted another twenty hours gasping for air. It was the most awful death I've ever seen, it was just tragic."

Avril thought the guardian should have been investigated, but she could find no independent agency to hear her concerns.

Keith Gittens: "I think that the legislature should look at the entire guardianship program and revamp it."

Avril and Keith are not alone. Nationwide, so many families are upset about the treatment of loved ones they've organized.

Full Article and Source:
Carmel on the Case - Guardian

Watch the video

Reported by:
Carmel Cafiero
Producer:
Cheryl Simmons
Contact
csimmons@wsvn.com

IF YOU HAVE A STORY FOR CARMEL TO INVESTIGATE:
Miami-Dade: 305-627-CLUE
Broward: 954-921-CLUE
E-mail: clue@wsvn.com

Grand Jury Investigation

A state agency denies a license for the former president of the industry group that represents professional guardians and says she made false claims on her application. She denies lying.

One of California's most prominent professional conservators has been denied a license by the state and is the focus of a grand jury investigation.

The decision to deny Melodie Jo Scott a license marks a significant shift in the oversight of professional conservators, who answered only to probate judges until a 2005 Times series highlighted abuse in the field and prompted a licensing requirement that took effect in January.

Until this year, conservators, who control the healthcare and finances of adults deemed in Probate Court to be incapable of looking after themselves, were less regulated than hairdressers and guide-dog trainers. The Times series described how some were able to gain control over the lives and finances of elderly adults without their knowledge or consent, neglect their wards, isolate them from relatives, run up fees and in some cases steal from their clients.

Scott's licensing problems come as the San Bernardino County grand jury is examining many of her cases as well as others handled by a former associate, Lawrence A. Dean II.

Records show that Probate Court officials began delivering case files involving both conservators to the grand jury in October. They provided more files as recently as last month.

Full Article and Source:
Conservator Melodie Jo Scott under investigation

See also:
Conservator Could Be Out of Business

Conservator Could Be Out of Business

Melodie Scott, a prominent Inland conservator, could be going out of business after a state board refused to grant her a license last year.

That means Scott, unless she wins an appeal hearing expected in March, will continue to surrender her clients to other conservators or family members who assume responsibility.

Scott is the owner of Conservatorship & Resources for the Elderly Inc. in downtown Redlands.

She once oversaw the care of nearly 100 people in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties.

On Aug. 7, the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau, a Department of Consumer Affairs panel that licenses professional conservators, denied Scott the license she needs to be a professional financial caretaker.

According to the panel's statement of issues, Scott's application was denied after she knowingly made a false statement on March 31.

The document said Scott falsely stated that "she has never settled or resigned from a case in which she was a fiduciary and a complaint had been filed against her in court."

That case referred to a 2006 lawsuit involving Helen Jones, a Yucaipa woman who sought to remove Scott as her conservator. On March 30, 2006, Superior Court Judge Frank Gafkowski accepted Scott's resignation as Jones' conservator five days before a trial was set to begin.

Full Article and Source:
Prominent Inland conservator to halt work

More information on Scott:

"I could be a shoe salesman at a five-and-dime store yesterday and a professional conservator or guardian today" says Melodie Scott, a Redlands, California, conservator who has been certified by the National Guardianship Foundation, the certification arm of the National Guardianship Association.
Stolen Lives

After a 2-year struggle, a Yucaipa woman is granted removal of a conservator who took control of her finances without her knowledge.
This Widow Wins a Needed Break

Beth claims that conservator Melodie Scott did not properly fulfill her fiduciary duties as her mother’s conservator. She is accusing Scott of nearly dissolving her mother’s savings, worth $239,000, within the first four years of managing Elizabeth Fairbanks’s estate, was faulty in her bookkeeping, and withheld medical care from Elizabeth when she fell out of bed in 2005 and when she died from pneumonia last year.
California Woman Claims Her Late Mother’s Conservator Withheld Medical Care And Kept Faulty Books

The conservator by the name of Melodie Scott is in control of MY grandparents estate currently...people like her need some harsh punishment, I tell you!
Neglect, Isolation and Plundering

Melodie Scott is registered with the National Guardianship Association

Exceeding Authority

Rita Hunter, in the final weeks of her tenure as Jasper County public administrator, wrote checks from her wards’ accounts to send thousands of dollars in voluntary payments to state health-care agencies.

Probate court records show Hunter paid more than $60,000 from the accounts of five wards — with nearly $35,000 sent to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority from the estate of one ward, and more than $26,000 to the Missouri Medicaid program from the accounts of four other wards.

During the same period, nearly $21,000 was spent in pre-need burial plans for the five wards.

At year’s end, three of the five wards were handed over to the new public administrator with no money in their estates; one had $229 and another, $200.

Gretchen Long, attorney for Angie Casavecchia, the new Jasper County public administrator, said she has written to the states and will try to recover that money sent from wards as voluntary payments.

Long: “The money that was spent was not due and the payments are not authorized by statute or the court. She (Hunter) exceeded her authority.”

Full Article and Source:
Wards' estates shrank

See also:
Lawyer Wants Lawsuits Dismissed

Hunter Removed Client Files

Attorney Fees Challenged

Jasper County OPA

Probate Judge Cannot Hear Case

Class Action Filed

Former Ward Files Suit

Undrafted Medical Certificate

France is Released

Mother and Daughter File Suit

An Alleged Kidnapping

Lawyer Wants Lawsuits Dismissed

Attorneys for former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter, John Podleski and Steven Bazzano contended that the court should dismiss damage suits against their clients by a former county ward and her daughter.

Circuit Judge Craig Carter said he will rule as quickly as possible on the motions, and on a conflict concerning the location for pretrial depositions of France and Forste.

Background:

France and her 68-year-old daughter are suing Hunter, the former public administrator, claiming that she and Podleski, attorney for the office, violated the law and France’s rights when she was made a ward of the county in 2007 without notification to members of her family, and based on a medical certificate that Bazzano signed but did not fill out.

France says that after she was made a ward of the county, she was hospitalized against her will. When her daughter came to visit her and then took her to visit relatives, France said she did not want to return to Jasper County, so Forste and her husband took France home with them to California. Kidnapping charges were filed, based on reports from the public administrator’s office, and Forste was arrested and jailed for nearly three weeks.

Last August, Probate Judge David Mouton voided orders making France a county ward, agreeing with Myers that family members are required to be notified, and that France’s request to be at the 2007 hearing should have been honored. Then, kidnapping charges against Forste and her husband, Steve, were deferred, then dismissed.

Matthew Miller, on Hunter’s behalf, argued that the public administrator acted at the request of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services after France had become a victim to some lottery scams. He said the court found that France was unable to care for herself, and he argued that Hunter was acting under that order.

Full Article and Source:
Lawyers for ex-public administrator, others seek dismissal of lawsuits

See also:
Hunter Removed Client Files

Attorney Fees Challenged

Attorney Fees Challenged

Some former wards of Rita Hunter, who until Wednesday was Jasper County’s public administrator, have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of taking money from their estates to pay attorneys for the county office.

A lawsuit filed in Jasper County Circuit Court contends that there was no authority to take the fees because there was no written contract between the attorneys and the county office, a requirement of state law.

The lawsuit names John Podleski, who served as attorney for the administrator’s office until Hunter’s term ended Wednesday, and Gayle Crane, who held the post for the first two years after Hunter took office in 2004. Crane is now a circuit judge.

In the action, Springfield attorney R. Lynn Myers seeks damages for Emma France and other former wards of the county office from the two attorneys and their law firms.

Full Article and Source:
Former wards challenge attorneys’ fees

Copy of Lawsuit

See also:
Jasper County OPA

Probate Judge Cannot Hear Case

Class Action Filed

Former Ward Files Suit

Undrafted Medical Certificate

France is Released

Mother and Daughter File Suit

An Alleged Kidnapping

Rita Hunter is a registered with National Guardianship Association

Registered Guardian Forcing ECT

Say "no" to mental health system censorship!

Human Rights Alert: Involuntary Electroshock
by David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International
http://www.mindfreedom.org/

The past Wednesday morning after the historic USA election what were you doing?

I know what Ray Sandford, 54, was doing.

Each and every Wednesday, early in the morning, staff shows up at Ray's sheltered living home called Victory House in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, adjacent to Minneapolis.

Staff escorts Ray the 15 miles to Mercy Hospital.

There, Ray is given another of his weekly electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments, also known as electroshock. All against his will. On an outpatient basis.

And it's been going on for months.

Ray says the weekly forced electroshock "scary as hell." He absolutely opposes having the procedure. He says it's causing poor memory for names such as of friends and his favorite niece. "What am I supposed to do, run away?" Instead, Ray phoned his local library's reference desk to ask about human rights groups, and the librarian referred him to MindFreedom International.

Ray called me at our office here at MindFreedom International about two weeks ago. At first I wasn't sure I believed him.

Of course, MindFreedom International has documented proven cases of electroshock against the expressed wishes of the subject all over the world, including in the USA. MindFreedom succeeded in having the United Nations World Health Organization call in writing for a global ban on all involuntary electroshock.

But this is the first time I've been on the phone with someone getting court-ordered forced shock while living out in the community, on an outpatient basis.

This is the ultimate double whammy.

I confirmed Ray's story by calling two staff at Victory House as well as his court-appointed conservator, Tonya Wilhelm of Luthern Support Services of Minnesota.

Ms. Wilhelm said, "We are following the letter of the law." She said the State of Minnesota had secured a variety of court orders that require Ray to have forced electroshock against his expressed wishes. Ms. Wilehlm says it's all legal and she can't do anything about it.

Krista Erickson, chair of MindFreedom's Shield Campaign, sees it differently. "This is terrible. This is a serious human rights violation that should stop. I hope MindFreedom members and supporters speak out. Even if Minnesota is following the letter of the current law, the law ought to be changed. And Ray has not had the legal power to appeal to higher courts."

I pointed out to Conservator Wilhelm that the public -- when they find out about forced electroshock -- is passionately opposed to their taxpayer money being used to force such brutality on citizens. Ms. Wilhelm did let slip that what is happening to Ray -- involuntary outpatient electroshock -- is not that uncommon in Minnesota.

But when Ms. Wilhelm found out we at MindFreedom are issuing one of our public human rights alert to you and others at Ray's repeated request, she said something amazing.

Ms. Wilhelm claimed she had a legal right to stop us!

Ms. Wilhelm told me, "Only I can give you permission legally to say anything publicly about this."

I pointed out we are not a medical facility, and that if she falsely claims we're doing anything illegal then this is defamation. Which really is illegal.

Ms. Wilhelm laughed loudly in the phone, said "let our lawyers talk," and hung up on me. I hope she hung up and read the First Amendment.

Let's disobey Ms. Wilhelm!

Spread Ray's alert far and wide!

Speak out against this electrical torture, now!

Because... Remember...

If it's Wednesday morning, then Ray Sandford is being led from his home -- which is supposed to be his castle -- to get another weekly forced procedure that can wipe out memories and cause brain damage.

Mind Your Freedom!

Disobey Ray's conservator now!

Forward this alert to all appropriate places on and off the Internet, IMMEDIATELY!

And take the below actions.

Thank you!
David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International

* * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * *

E-mail your firm but polite message to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
E-mail address:

tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us
Or use this handy web form:

http://www.governor.state.mn.us/contacts/Forms/askthegovernor/index.htm
or this link:

http://tinyurl.com/mn-governor

* * * ADDITIONAL ACTIONS TO SUPPORT RAY! * * *

1) E-mail a complaint to Luthern Social Services of Minnesota (LSSMN) about Ray's conservator
Use LSSMN's web page:

http://www.lssmn.org/contact_lss.htm
Or phone Luthern Social Services at: 218-726-4888

You can copy your message to headquarters of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA):

info@elca.org

2) E-mail a complaint to Allina Hospital and Clinics, owner of Mercy Hospital
Use this web page:
http://www.allina.com/ahs/help.nsf/page/contact
Or phone: (763) 236-6000

3) Ray is open to visitors and supportive postal mail:
Ray Sandford
Victory House
4427 Monroe St.
Columbia Heights, MN 55421-2880 USA

Source: If it's Wednesday, then Ray Sandford is Getting Escorted from His Home for Another Forced Electroshock - Minnesota Resident Gets Involuntary Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) On A Weekly Ongoing *Outpatient* Basis

See also:
Forced ECT is Wrong in Minnesota, World

More on Electroshock: Click Here

Tonya Wilhelm is a registered guardian at Center For Guardianship Certification