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ORLANDO, Fla. — WESH 2 News is investigating the state's Guardian Program.
It's designed to care for people, often elderly, who are incapacitated.
WESH 2 News investigative reporter Greg Fox explains why Orange County's mayor and commissioners are not going to follow up on an audit that criticized oversight of the program.
Rebecca Fierle is a
former professional guardian who is charged with aggravated abuse and
neglect of the elderly, related to the death of one of her wards, Steven
Stryker.
Jan Garwood was a former Fierle Ward, whose attorney persuaded a judge last fall to restore her rights.
"And
I said, 'please, if anybody is reading this, please help me. I've been
kidnapped and forced into a locked facility,'" Garwood said.
Fierle
was just one of the professional guardians whose questionable financial
control over their wards was exposed in a March audit by Orange
County's comptroller. It also suggested that the clerk of courts who
oversees the Guardian program was not doing an adequate job.
After
examining 3,300 cases, the audit revealed in just 14 cases,
"unsupported expenses" of $1.25 million, for living facilities, medical
expenses, and for "other" unexplained expenses.
But Clerk Tiffany Moore Russell pushed back, saying comptroller Phil Diamond doesn't understand how the program works.
"That this could still happen? That's really the saddest point," Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe said.
That's why Uribe asked for a commission workshop, to learn more.
But at a recent Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting, Russell rejected the idea.
"This
is not the venue," Tiffany Moore Russell, Orange County Clerk Of
Courts, said, "to address those issues regarding Guardianship."
Instead, she referred WESH 2 News to the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers Association. In an email, a spokesman told WESH 2 News a new task force will "focus on Guardianship in Florida and make recommendations on improvements to the process."
"We will continue to work with our
judiciary as far as our processes in making sure we are doing our best
to protect those most vulnerable," Russell said.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said what the clerk really needs, is more money from the state.
"To look at legislative relief and funding to better fund the guardianship program," Demings said.
But
critics, who believe local clerks and judges can be manipulated by
guardians and their attorneys, want lawmakers to establish a statewide
court and jury.
