Florida clerks working to implement guardianship database

Pinellas County Clerk of
Court Ken Burke

The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation is hard at work creating a statewide database of guardian and guardianship case information as prescribed by the Florida Legislature last year.

The database came at the recommendation of the Guardianship Improvement Task Force to create greater transparency in the guardianship process. The legislation, HB 1349, was signed into law by Gov. DeSantis on June 28, 2022.

From its first meeting on July 21, 2021, to its last meeting on November 15, 2021, the task force studied problems in Florida’s guardianship system and made recommendations for improvement.

Pinellas County Clerk Ken Burke, chair of the task force, says media interest in guardianship drove the Legislature to put the database into action.

“There was a constant barrage of news stories about problems in the guardianship arena,” Burke said. “It was evident that there were flaws in the system and we wanted to get everyone who had a stake in the process involved in the task force to find common areas we can all agree on.”

Members of the task force included legislators, court clerks, court system employees who work with guardianships, lawyers from the Elder Law and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law sections, consumer advocates, a former ward, and others. Their goal was to make recommendations for improving the system.

Burke said the high national media interest in guardianship, specifically with the Britney Spears case, led to the Florida Legislature acting quickly on the task force’s recommendations.

“For something this complex, you definitely need a champion, and thankfully Rep. [Linda] Chaney and Sen. [Jennifer] Bradley stepped up very quickly,” Burke said.

Rep. Chaney, R-St. Petersburg, and Sen. Bradley, R-Fleming Island, helped guide the bill through four House and three Senate committees during the final month of the 2022 session.

Burke said the task force used “every tool in our toolbox,” to get this legislation through.

Florida courts define a guardian as a surrogate decisionmaker appointed by the court to make either personal and/or financial decisions for a minor or for an adult with mental or physical disabilities. After adjudication, the subject of the guardianship is a “ward.”

Currently, there is no way to track guardianship cases in the state and no reliable data to show how many guardians there are, how many wards they have, and how much money they control.

“We needed a way to get better data in guardianship,” Burke said. “A judge cannot answer how you can reform the guardianship system without data, and that is what the database intends to do.”

Once completed — the database can only be accessible to judges, magistrates, court clerks, and certain court personnel — the searchable database would include such things as the registration status and “substantiated” disciplinary history of professional guardians.

The bill called for the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation to build the database. The CCOC put out a request for proposals and finally decided to use Cloud Navigator as its vendor in late December.

Burke says the initial meetings with Cloud Navigator have been good and they are currently working to build the stakeholder data dictionary as well as working with the Department of Elder Affairs to get that department’s data fed into the new database.

The legislation passed last year also requires the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, by July 1, to post searchable profiles of registered professional guardians on a website.

The profiles would include such things as whether the professional guardian meets educational and bonding requirements, the number and types of substantiated complaints filed against the guardian, and any disciplinary actions imposed by Elder Affairs.

It also requires the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA), to use the database information to generate annual reports suggesting reforms.

The task force also called for barring hospitals and nursing homes from recommending a specific guardian when they file for a guardianship, including consideration of powers of attorney and advanced directives previously signed by a ward when a guardianship is set up, and improving training and education for everyone involved in the guardianship process.

Burke says while all the task force’s recommendations are important, the database is paramount.

“We provided the Legislature with 10 recommendations, but the database is the most important one,” Burke said. “How can you make a compelling argument for change unless you have real data?”

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Florida clerks working to implement guardianship database

We need better data to improve Florida’s guardianship system | Column

There are glaring problems within the Florida guardianship system, and we must fix them.

 

by Ken Burke

Britney Spears supporters celebrate outside a hearing concerning the pop singer's conservatorship at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles judge ended the conservatorship that has controlled Spears' life and money for nearly 14 years. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) [ CHRIS PIZZELLO | AP ]

Ignited by the movement to free Britney Spears from her conservatorship, the issues and challenges within guardianship systems across the nation became uncharacteristically mainstream this past year. A week seldom passes without a new article highlighting the personal adversity of victims — both individuals under guardianship and their family members — who have suffered or are enduring hardships within the system.

Ken Burke [ Provided ]

As Clerks of Court in Florida, we have a role in processing and auditing guardianships. The courts maintain oversight of guardianship proceedings to ensure the overall health, safety and well-being of individuals under guardianship, and clerks monitor these proceedings on behalf of the courts. As an administrative function, Clerks of Court also audit annual reporting on individuals under guardianship, which include any property submitted to the courts, and advise on the audit findings.

While most guardians work in good faith, there are far too many cases of guardians abusing their power. The most notorious example of abuse is the case of a former guardian in Central Florida named Rebecca Fierle.

Fierle oversaw hundreds of individuals who were entrusted by the court to her care. In 2019, she was arrested and charged with abuse and neglect related to the death of an individual under her guardianship for whom she had signed a Do Not Resuscitate order for without the court’s consent. It was later discovered she had collected $4 million in fees not approved by the court system and is accused of extravagantly overcharged clients for her guardianship services.

Rebecca Fierle 

[ Marion County jail ]

There are glaring problems within the Florida guardianship system that cause this unnecessary pain, and these challenges within the system need to be addressed. Last year, Clerks of Court and various stakeholder agencies and organizations with a direct interest or involvement with Florida’s guardianship system joined together to form the Guardianship Improvement Task Force to put forward recommendations for the Florida Legislature and Florida courts to consider as ways to improve the system. I served as the group’s chairperson.

Members drew upon their professional and personal life experiences to enrich the work of the task force, which facilitated meaningful discussion by membership and inspired passionate contributions from the public at each meeting. With the objective of providing effective feedback for the Legislature’s use prior to the 2022 session, the task force held to a quick timeline for completion. In less than four months, over the course of two in-person meetings and seven virtual meetings, we identified and discussed dozens of topics of concern involving Florida’s guardianship system.

 

Ultimately, the task force voted and agreed upon 10 specific recommendations for consideration by the Florida Legislature and Florida courts, which are elaborated on in the final report available at GuardianshipImprovementTaskForce.com.

Without question, the most significant issue this task force discussed and agreed upon was a means to improve what data is available to document problems within the guardianship system in Florida. Even basic information such as the number of people under guardianship, the number of guardians, how many cases each guardian has, how much money and property are under the control of guardians, and who the individuals are under guardianship, is not readily available.

I personally know of one egregious case where a guardian was removed from their eight guardianships in Pinellas County for misconduct, yet they were appointed to a guardianship examining committee in another circuit in the state. This happened because the judge had no way of knowing they were removed from their former role in Pinellas. Establishing a secure, transparent statewide database will help us uncover the flaws within the system, allow us to make better decisions, provide additional accountability, increase transparency, and lead to better protections for people within the guardianship system.

The recommendation for a statewide data collection system is captured in House Bill 1349 by Rep. Linda Chaney and Senate Bill 1710 by Sen. Jennifer Bradley. While we hope the other recommendations outlined in our report will lead to tangible future changes to the guardianship system, this legislation will have an immediate and substantial positive impact.

While there are many important issues for the Legislature to consider this session, few are more critical than improving protections for our most vulnerable populations. With the introduction of this bill, legislators can take the first steps in fixing Florida’s broken guardianship system. If you care about protecting individuals under guardianship and want to see Florida build a better system, I urge you to call, write or email your state senator and representative.

There’s a famous quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “A society is judged not by how it takes care of its most gifted individuals, but those who are the most vulnerable.” The Guardianship Improvement Task Force has done a tremendous amount of legwork to get us here today, and we’ve provided a worthy roadmap for corrective action to take better care of children, seniors, and individuals with special needs. Please support this legislation because we know it will make a difference.

Ken Burke is the Pinellas County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller. He led Guardianship Improvement Task Force.

Full Article & Source:

We need better data to improve Florida’s guardianship system | Column