By Susan K. Livio
Employees from the New Jersey
Office of the Public Guardian for the Elderly
are expected to routinely visit people a judge has found to be unable
to make their vital decisions and don’t have family to take on this
responsibility.
But a new state audit
of the Public Guardian’s records found no documented visits for 44% of
these incapacitated people, meaning the employees either skipped the
visits, didn’t bother to record them, or a combination of both,
according to report released Thursday by the Office of the State
Auditor.
The records showed that for 11 of 25 people chosen at random, their care
managers were absent from five months to 2-1/2 years, according to the
audit.
People
60 and older a judge finds legally are assigned supervision by the
public guardian, which oversaw 1,423 active clients in August 2023. Care
managers must visit every three months if people live in a nursing
home, monthly if they are living in an assisted living or another form
of supervised housing or weekly if they live at home.
“A
client should be seen more frequently as issues arise, such as
hospitalizations and increased behavioral issues,” according to the
19-page audit report.
The
audit also found the guardian’s office failed to close the bank
accounts for 2,452 people who had died. Collectively, there is $16.9
million that should have been paid to relatives or reimbursed to
government entities. One account for a person who died in 2014 held $1.1
million.
The
guardian’s office had oversight responsibilities for a couple and their
daughter, who should have received $101,700 when her parents died about
a decade ago. At the time of the audit, the daughter’s account
contained just $143, the audit said.
The audit also found:
- Twenty
care managers are given cars to visit people on their caseload, with
the expectation they will drive a minimum of 1,250 miles a month. But 10
workers logged less, ranging from 435 miles to 1,206 miles a month.
There was no record at all of how much five employees drove or who was
using the vehicles.
“By
not monitoring state vehicle usage, the Office of the Public Guardian
risks being unable to determine if vehicles are needed or whether Care
Managers are visiting clients in accordance with statutory
requirements,” the audit report said.
- Care
managers are permitted to make pre-authorized purchases for clients but
receipts are required. Of the 232 purchases made during a period in
2023, 21% lacked a receipt and 43% lacked documentation showing the
client received the purchased goods.
The
Office of the Public Guardian for the Elderly, overseen by the
Department of Human Services, agreed with many of the auditor’s
findings. Some of the problems during the audited period — from July 1,
2021 to Sept. 4, 2024 — have been corrected, Helen C. Dodick, the Acting
Public Guardian, said in a response to the report.
A
new supervisor was hired to oversee the system documenting visits and
reports are now generated on a monthly basis, Dodick wrote. Care
managers were given laptops and WIFI hotspots so they can enter notes
after visits “in real time,” she added.
“Temporary
care management staff has been added in order to lower caseloads and
increase time for documentation,” Dodick wrote. “Caseloads of senior
care management staff are also being reduced where possible to permit
them to monitor documentation by more junior care managers.”
Items bought with purchasing cards “are now subject to enhanced review,” Dodick’s statement said.
Full Article & Source:
N.J. audit finds no visits for 44% of incapacitated people under state care
