Greg Lee has battled public administrator in Pulaski County to get access to his mom
by Matt Flener
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. — Greg Lee wants to see and free his mom.
Lee believes his mother, Shirley Butler, has remained trapped in Missouri’s public guardianship system for more than six years.
Courts have ruled multiple times against his attempts to end his mother’s guardianship.
But he won’t stop fighting to visit her more often and eventually remove her from the care of a county elected official.
"It's a story that needs to be told," Lee said. "When I hear the word 'guardian,' it makes me cringe."
Public
guardians, meanwhile, at the state level, believe their work is vital
to Missouri and often delve into extremely complex family situations
with very few resources.
Lee’s story about his mother is part of a new KMBC 9 investigation
called “Paper Prisons,” highlighting the difficulties of wards of the
state and their families under Missouri’s system of public guardianship.
KMBC is investigating ways to systemically improve the care of those
under guardianship by highlighting stories of people struggling to
navigate a tangled system of legal paperwork, medical records and court
orders. KMBC is also seeking answers, perspective and context from
those in charge of keeping wards of the state in their care for their
recommendations on how to improve the system. Missouri had more 11,000 wards according to a 2020 report. That same report mentioned several opportunities for improvement, saying a “lack of state funding and coordination leaves Missouri with a fragmented public guardianship system.”
SHIRLEY BUTLER’S GUARDIANSHIPButler, 78, has
been under public guardianship since Lee and his sister signed paperwork
in 2019, asking the Pulaski County public administrator to be a
temporary guardian for their mother after Butler’s boyfriend fell sick
with cancer.
Every Missouri county has a public administrator.
Public
administrators in Missouri are mostly elected, sometimes appointed, to
serve as public guardians when people cannot care for themselves or lack
family support.
Lee was caring for his mother but needed more help, he said.
Lee
and his sister, whom courts have found have a strained relationship,
signed the guardianship agreement together, asking Pulaski County's
public administrator to oversee their mother's estate.
Lee believes asking the public administrator in Pulaski County for help was the biggest mistake of his life.
"I
threw my mom in the fire,” he said. “I thought I was helping her and
all I did was make her life h***, so, I can't stop fighting now."
Under
guardianship, Butler became a ward of the state, with the public
administrator’s office gaining control over her finances, home and life
decisions.
This month, a Missouri appeals court just ruled his
mother’s guardianship is valid after Lee, his sister and the public
administrator have gone back and forth for years over its legality.
KMBC 9 Investigates has not heard back from Lee’s sister after multiple attempts to reach her.
Lee also alleged that a previous public administrator kept him from seeing his mom.
But a judge ruled the public administrator was “working in her best interests.”
A
court also denied Lee his plan to move his mom into his home, issuing
judgments three times since the original guardianship placement finding
that Lee was unable to care for his mother and that the guardianship in
place was needed.
One judgment from 2021 also says his conduct
when he visited his mom was “upsetting to Ms. Butler and disruptive to
other residents and staff members,” saying there were 20-30 disruptions
during visits.
Lee denies that he caused any disruptions during any visits or that his visits were upsetting to his mother.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SHIRLEY BUTLER’S CARE
Lee
has documented his mom’s injuries, including multiple falls and a
fractured pelvis, while she has remained under guardianship.
He
believes Pulaski County's current public administrator, Becky Allen, is
not providing proper care. Lee has also complained about the public
administrator’s handling of his mom’s case to various state and federal
authorities.
KMBC 9 Investigates recently asked Allen for an interview about Butler’s case.
Her
attorney sent a statement asserting that a court had ruled the public
administrator’s office had performed its duties "in an exemplary,
professional and efficient manner."
“There have been accusations
which perpetuated investigations pertaining to Ms. Butler, from the
Department of Health and Senior Services, the Attorney General's Office
of the State of Missouri, the Social Security Administration, and the
Board of Nursing,” said the attorney’s statement. “Further, the annual
settlements are reviewed and approved by the Court. Each entity has
confirmed the performance of duties of the Public Administrator to be
appropriate and pursuant to all laws and regulations.”
But the
attorney’s statement left out any answers as to whether Butler needed to
remain under guardianship and why Lee has such trouble seeing her.
After
multiple written attempts to ask for an interview, KMBC 9 Investigates
recently asked Allen questions outside the Pulaski County Courthouse.
She
remained silent, declining to comment, and walked away. Later, she
turned out the lights and walked out of her office as KMBC 9
Investigates was videotaping the exterior of her office.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS FACE MULTIPLE CHALLENGES ACROSS MISSOURI WHILE CARING FOR PEOPLE IN COMPLEX SITUATIONS
Public
administrators across the state of Missouri are often assigned complex
guardianship situations with broken family dynamics. Judges appoint
them as guardians for people with severe mental and physical health
issues. They can have heavy caseloads and staffing in their offices
remains challenging.
Leaders with the Missouri Association of
Public Administrators, who are not involved in Shirley Butler’s case,
recently spoke to KMBC 9 Investigates to underscore how important their
work is to the public in Missouri. They reiterated that public
administrators do not actively seek out guardianship cases and are
working to help people get restoration into the community, especially
when they are in restrictive environments like nursing homes.
“Public
administrators are some of the most caring people that I know,” said
Cher Caudel, Moniteau County public administrator since 2003 and current
MAPA president. “They truly do want to make a difference for the
people that they are appointed to, and they do the best that they can
with what they have, and a lot of times what we have isn’t much.”
They also believe more funding and support from the state of Missouri would help their increasing caseloads.
A 2020 report
commissioned for the Missouri Association of Public Administrators
highlighted how public administrators often do not have enough
resources, “while navigating complex systems to provide care for their
wards – while also facing increased pressure from the state and
stakeholders to ensure all wards are placed in their least-restrictive
alternatives.”
Former MAPA President and current Webster County
Public Administrator Danielle Boggs said the individuals in her caseload
who are not happy about what's going on in their case are vastly
outweighed by the individuals who are satisfied with service from her
office.
Boggs also said she does not see public guardianship as some sort of power grab from public administrators.
“We're
not prowling the streets for people to serve as their guardian,” she
said. “And I think that's the most common misconception.”
Boggs
and Caudel also said they work with wards of the state and their
families by aiming to help restore people into the community.
“I
can't speak for other counties because I don't operate in their courts,”
Boggs said. “I know restoration, it is not difficult in Webster
County.”
St. Louis County Public Administrator and MAPA Vice
President Tim Weaks echoed that he also works to restore people into the
community or into family situations.
“We've had some successful
restoration, no doubt about that. But not nearly as many as I'd love to
see here,” Weaks said. “Unfortunately, it just, it takes a lot of time
to get somebody to that point.”
Weaks said it is ultimately up to judges and courts on how guardianship cases proceed toward restoration.
All
three also said they have seen cases where people’s rights are
restored, only to return to public guardianship in the future.
They
agree more education is needed about the role of guardians and said
issues within Missouri’s public guardianship system should not be
attributed solely to public administrators.
Private guardians, multiple state agencies and courts all have a role to play, they said.
GREG LEE ARRESTED
Butler’s
guardianship case recently took another turn. Lee was arrested for
trespassing after a nursing home worker in Lowry City, Missouri, at
Truman Lake Manor called a deputy during his visit to see his mom.
Lowry City is more than two hours away from Lee’s home. Lee believes
his mom is kept far away to discourage his visits.
But he wants to see her.
Lee
believes a court order from four years ago gives him the right to see
his mom. He tried to explain to the deputy on his August visit, but he
ended up with a trip to the St. Clair County jail.
Lee is currently facing two misdemeanor trespassing charges in St. Clair County.
Truman
Lake Manor Administrator Tim Corbin declined to comment on Butler’s
care to KMBC 9 Investigates, citing HIPAA medical privacy laws.
"In
them fighting so much to keep me from seeing my mom, they've made it to
where everybody's going to know," Lee told KMBC 9 Investigates.
"I won't quit,” he said. “I'm not going to stop until I can save at least one person. I hope it's my mom."
Throughout
the next year, KMBC will continue to explore the challenges and
opportunities for improvement in Missouri’s public guardianship system.
We need your help.
If
you know of someone going through struggles with Missouri’s public
guardianship system, or if you have a case to highlight that exposes
solutions for Missouri’s public guardianship system that could teach
lessons to others, please email investigates@kmbc.com
Full Article & Source:
Paper Prisons: Missouri man continues fight to free his mother from public guardianship
