National Conference on Guardianship

• Judges’ Panel
• Judge DaNeeka Varner Cotton | Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, MD
• Judge Milton Mack (ret.) | Michigan State Court Administrative Office
• Judge Brenda Hull Thompson | The Probate Court of Dallas, Texas
• Judge Egan Walker | Second Judicial District Court, State of Nevada
• Moderated by Terry Hammond | Texas Guardianship Association

In this session, a panel of probate judges from Texas, Maryland, Michigan, and Nevada will discuss the challenges facing the probate courts today, the opportunities to improve guardianship practice locally and nationally, and best practices guardians and attorneys can use to support their clients. The discussion will include questions from the audience, and questions from our moderator to extract insight into the workings of a probate court.

• From Protection to Autonomy: Changing the Trajectory of Adult Guardianship
• Teresa Parks, MSW, NCG | Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission
• Dr. Mary L. Milano | Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission

This presentation examines the intentional cultural shift within a governmental agency, leading to a multi-year pathway of change related to recognizing the autonomy of persons for whom the state has historically served in a more paternalistic fashion through guardianship. The presentation examines both internal and external pursuits to recognize and facilitate the autonomy of persons with disabilities, including those under guardianship. Finally, the presentation will share potential pathways toward continued change and development and how the values represented can survive political change.

• Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation: Identification, Prevention, and Getting Help for Your Client
• Joyce McHugh, CM, CCM, BSW, MSW | Advocate Care Services

Abuse, neglect, and exploitation are significant issues for at-risk persons. Identifying the signs can be challenging – are bruises always abuse? If your client gives their caregiver extra money, is that exploitation? What constitutes neglect and what about self-neglect? Are these issues preventable? Do any of them present an ethical dilemma for the social worker or guardian? If a family member is abusing them, does that mean they can never see them again? This session will take an in-depth look at these issues and out-line prevention strategies. Using a case study, interactive discussion, and handouts, we will cover identification of abuse, neglect, and exploitation, how to get help for a client, advocacy through a legal process, and prevention. Expect a lively and comprehensive session!

• Updates to Standards of Practice
• Julia R. Nack, M.Ed., NMG Emeritus | Consultant
• Gregory W. MacKenzie, JD | Hurley Toevs Styles Hamblin & Panter, PA
• Anthony Palmieri | President, National Guardianship Association
• Paul Stengle | The Arc Alliance
• Sally Balch Hurme, JD | Sally Balch Hurme LLC

This is your chance to discuss the proposed changes to the NGA Standards of Practice. In light of the recommendations of the 4th National Guardianship Summit, and the advances in practices reflected in the new Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (UGCOPAA), the NGA board recognized some updating of the Standards was due. A task force has been meeting for the past year to take a thorough look at the Standards of Practice, which were last revised in 2013. Members of the task force will lead a discussion about the board-recommended changes. The membership will vote on whether to accept the new Standards at Monday’s business meeting.

• Innovation Within the VA: A Program Dedicated to Legal Guardianship
• Lara VandenBergh, LCSW | Department of Veteran’s Affairs

Learn about the innovative steps the Eastern Colorado VA has taken to address the aging Veteran population when it comes to decision-making and guardianship acquisition. Hear about the challenges, successes, and future goals of this program. After attending this presentation, participants will be able to bring ideas and creative solutions back to their agencies or communities to implement when faced with similar challenges related to legal guardianship.

• Disarming Anger
• Ronna Caras | Center for Guardianship Excellence

Anger, in all its forms, presents emotional and tactical challenges to guardians. For many, the stakes are high and patience is short. This work-shop teaches professional strategies for engaging with clients, providers, and families before anger explodes. It presents best practices for calming and disarming so that rational solutions can be discussed.

• Ethical Implications of Guardian Self-Dealing
• Judge Egan Walker | Second Judicial District Court, State of Nevada
• Tracey Bowles, M.A., MFT, NCG, CPM | Washoe County Public Guardian

This presentation will explore the ethical pitfalls of guardian self-dealing through case studies and utilization of practical tools for the guardian. The judicial perspective includes how statutes and regulations may help protect the person under guardianship, and suggest ways participants can advocate for court involvement and oversight.

• Elder Justice Innovation Across the Nation
• Elizabeth A. Moran, JD | ABA Commission on Law and Aging
• Lisa Wawrzonek, MS | Alaska Court System
• Nisa C. Subasinghe, Esq. | Maryland Judiciary – Administrative Office of the Courts
• Evelyn J. Patsos, Esq. | Massachusetts Probate & Family Court
• Jamie Majerus, CPA, CIA, CFE | Minnesota Judicial Branch
• Kathleen McCloskey MA, LPM | Nevada Supreme Court
• Steven Helfont, Esq. | NYS Unified Court System – Office for Justice Initiatives
• Jeffrey Petty | Oregon Judicial Department

In late 2021, ACL awarded the highest courts of seven states with two-year Elder Justice Innovation Grants. Grantee panelists will discuss the fairness, effectiveness, timeliness, safety, integrity, and accessibility of adult guardianship/conservatorship proceedings, and development of innovations for improvement.

• Working with High Conflict Families: Multidisciplinary Exploration of Effective Management Techniques
• Judge Egan Walker | Second Judicial District Court, State of Nevada
• Tracey Bowles, M.A., MFT, NCG, CPM | Washoe County Public Guardian

This presentation will explore high-conflict family dynamics and their impact on guardianship. Following a case study, the presenters will explore successful opportunities for intervention at the attorney client level, from the bench, and from the guardian’s perspective.

• A New Mexico Statewide Training Program in Ethics and Skill Development for Guardians: A Multidisciplinary Model
• Susan Bennett | CNM Ethics in Guardianship Program
• Susan Stuart, BUS, CMC, NMG | Decisions in Care, LLC

Seven professionals saw the need for in-depth ethics training and skill development for new and practicing guardians in New Mexico. Their cooperative efforts produced a training program including ethics, law, cultural diversity, intellectual disabilities, medical and behavioral health, advance directives, decisional capacity, biomedical ethics, sexuality and spirituality, fiduciary responsibilities, and tools for challenging situations. The presenters will share the program development and implementation, discuss how it has been received, and suggest ways to adapt this process for your state or local program.

• Establishing a Decision Framework for Making Difficult Decisions
• Daniel Cutter, CRPC® | Merrill – The Special Needs Team
• Dion Hobbs | Merrill – The Special Needs Team
• Douglas Quint, CEPA®, CPFA® | Merrill – The Special Needs Team

Establishing a decision framework will help you choose the best outcome to help your client live his/her best life while protecting your practice in the process. The panelists will illustrate how to use financial planning to make difficult decisions for your clients. In a litigious society, it is imperative to follow a consistent, repeatable process for making decisions for your clients. The presenters will show you how long the money lasts and how following this process protects you from liability.

• Show Me the Money! Creative Opportunities and Strategies for Funding Guardianship Programs and Clients
• Erica C. R. Costello, JD, NCG | ABA Commission on Law and Aging
• Rebecca M. Pryor, MSM, NCG | Creative Approaches, LTD/WINGS In Adult Guardianship State Task Force
• Missy Tackett, NCG | Southern Indiana Adult Guardianship Services/The Solutions Center

This interactive session will provide information and strategies for family, public, and professional guardians about ways to creatively increase their in-kind and cash budgets. Employing NGA Standards, attendees will learn how to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into funding strategies.

• Knowing Your Place: How to Talk About Social Identity
• Joanne Tompkins, PhD | The Center for Guardianship Excellence

Characteristics like gender, race, age, and abilities influence interactions, opportunities, and outcomes for individuals under guardianship. Is someone included or excluded? Advantaged or disadvantaged? This session discusses how intersecting social identities shape perceptions, experiences, and relationships, particularly guardianship relationships, and provides strategies for discussing sensitive topics.

• Blended and Complex Families, Joint and Separate Property, Divorce, and Guardianship
• Bridget L. Mullins, Esq. | Pregenzer Baysinger Wideman & Sale, P.C.
• Laurie Hedrich, Esq. | Hedrich Law, P.A.

The presenters will explore guardianship cases in the context of complex family dynamics including joint and separate property, divorce, blended families, and family conflict. The presenters will use case studies to examine the dos and don’ts of addressing these issues in court.

• Discovering a Person’s Goals, Needs and Preferences: Lessons from Peacemaking
• Harvie Leonard (Lennie) Burke, NMG | Specialty Guardian Services

Guardians are directed to give first priority to a person’s needs, goals and preferences in their decision making. They are directed to gather that information, but not told how to do that. The presenter will review strategies, tactics, and obstacles to communication based on his experience as a professional mediator and peacemaker.

• Case Presentation: When a Client Kills Someone
• Joyce McHugh, CM, CCM, BSW, MSW | Advocate Care Services

This is a case study presentation of a client who shot and killed someone, and the legal process and guardian’s role from incident to resolution. The ethical challenges and considerations presented when protecting the rights of a client who has killed someone will be discussed.

• Business Succession Planning that Meets the Ethical Continuity of Care Standard
• Frank R. Acuña | Acuña ❖ Regli, LLP

Fiduciary ethics require that a fiduciary plan for their own incapacity, death, or retirement to provide for their clients’ “continuity of care.” However, the courts and the legislature have failed legal options or guidance for fiduciaries to create such plans or to use business organizations available to other professions. This course will examine current laws and typical succession plans, evaluating whether they comply with current law and fulfill the duty of continuous care. Several business structures which are available will be explained, as will language that should be considered in every trust, retainer letter, or court appointment of a licensed professional fiduciary. This is one of the most hotly debated topics in fiduciary practice. Be ready for a lively discussion!

• Supported Decision-Making in Guardianship: How Guardians Can Use Supported Decision-Making Principles to Benefit Individuals Under Guardianship
• Kristen Henry | Advocacy & Protective Services, Inc.
• Jill Couch | Advocacy & Protective Services, Inc.
• Josh Young | Ohio Network for Innovation
• Eric Bell | Advocacy & Protective Services, Inc.

Guardianship provides important legal authority but does not solve or prevent every problem. In this session, participants will learn when and how to use supported decision-making (SDM) principles and practices to help protect the person and promote greater independence.

• How to Decide Whether to Invest a Client’s Funds or Leave in Cash
• Darryl J. Lynch, AIF® | The Lynch Group, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
• Peter C. Palumbo, AIF® | Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

This presentation will provide tools that can be used in your everyday practice to make objective decisions and document your process. These tools will allow you to reduce your risk and liability as a fiduciary. By working through concrete examples, you will learn how to measure risk tolerance, decide whether to invest client funds, and determine appropriate asset allocations and investment strategy.

• Why and How of Certification
• Sally Balch Hurme, JD | Sally Balch Hurme LLC
• Julia R. Nack, M.Ed., NMG Emeritus | Consultant

For 25 years the Center for Guardianship Certification has been certifying guardians who have demonstrated that they can apply the NGA Ethical Principals and Standards of Practice. If you are not already a National Certified Guardian, you should be. Find out why you should, what it takes to become an NCG, and how you go about it. If you are already an NCG, it’s time you took the next step to be a National Master Guardian. Find out why you should, what it takes to become an NMG, and how you go about it.

• Guardianship Court Improvement: Effectuating Improved Processes and Outcomes in U.S. Guardianship Systems
• Elizabeth A. Moran, JD | ABA Commission on Law and Aging
• Benjamin Orzeske, JD | Uniform Law Commission
• DeAnza Valencia, MS, JD | AARP

Panelists from AARP, ABA, and ULC will discuss the GCIP, UGCOPPA, and recent guardianship reform efforts. These efforts are effectuating improved data collection, oversight and accountability, avoidance of unnecessary or overbroad guardianship, enhanced collaboration among courts, agencies, and organizations impacting adults subject to guardianship.

• When All You Have Is a Hammer: The Misuse of Adult Guardianship to Fill Gaps in Other Systems
• Jennifer Donovan, JD | Iowa Department on Aging – Office of Public Guardian

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. As the toolbox of available decisionmaking supports expands, it is important to consider which tools are most appropriate for situations that have traditionally been addressed with the “hammer” of guardianship. This presentation will explore the use and misuse of guardianship – especially public guardianship – to address various situations.

• Ethics Jeopardy!
• Frank R. Acuña | Acuña ❖ Regli, LLP

Presenting ethics in a fast moving, informative format. Questions and answers are taken from various state and federal laws, codes of ethics, and reported cases throughout the United States of America. Cues and responses will be given, followed by a short explanation of the ethical issue raised and its resolution. The source of the resolution will be given to allow participants to study in greater detail.

• What Courts Are (or Are Not) Doing to Improve Data Collection
• Sally Balch Hurme, JD | Sally Balch Hurme LLC
• Erica Wood, JD | Elder Law Advocate
• Pamela B. Teaster, PhD, MA, MS | Center for Gerontology, Virginia Tech
• E. Carlisle Shealy, PhD | Center for Gerontology, Virginia Tech
• Diane Robinson, PhD | National Center for State Courts

For too long the lack of good data has hampered our understanding of how the guardianship system actually works. Anecdotal stories of abuse have harmed all those stakeholders–courts, guardians and policy makers–who strive to best serve the most vulnerable of our citizens. Researchers through a contract with the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice have delved into the thicket of discerning current adult guardianship data capabilities and what that data might reveal of any guardian abuses. They report on their findings and the opportunities they identified that will advance our understanding of data collection and guardianship oversight.

• Serious Mental Illness: A Collaborative Approach
• Judge Milton Mack (ret.) | Michigan State Court Administrative Office
• Janet M. Thompson | Boone County Missouri Commission
• Karen Digh Allen, Esq., NCG | Callaway County, Missouri
• Amanda Huffman | Morgan County Public Administrator

This presentation will focus on the use of a collaborative approach to address the lack of adequate resources and funding to meet the needs of persons with a serious mental illness. The panel will present a historical perspective on these issues along with relevant facts of the brokenness of the current system that fails to provide timely and appropriate services and support to persons with a serious mental illness. The panel will present information about the work of the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness and about collaborative efforts nationwide to improve services, early intervention treatment, and available resources for individuals with serious mental illness.