Four annual Professional Enrichment Webinars are included with membership in NGA. These webinars, eligible for continuing education credits, are offered to the first 75 members who register for the live webinar format. Any member who does not attend live can view the recorded webinar throughout the remainder of the calendar year.
Recorded webinars are accepted by the CGC. Those who are looking for state-specific or other accreditation must check with their state or accrediting body to see if code-verified recordings are acceptable prior to purchasing.
At the conclusion of each calendar year, the four Professional Enrichment Webinars will be removed from this page and will be available for a fee with NGA’s other recorded webinars.
2022
(Recording) Working with Challenging Families
NOTE: Due to technical issues, the first 10 minutes of this webinar were not captured in the recording. The recorded webinar is not eligible for continuing education credit and is being offered to members free of charge. Please disregard the Codes as certificates will not be issued for this recording.
Client families can be challenging – dealing with members who interfere with care, challenge decisions, and manipulate the client adds a complex level to a case. Setting boundaries, communicating information, and working with other professionals can be disrupted by challenging families. This program will present two cases, guide you through communication and boundary setting, and include discussion and case questions.
Participants will learn strategies to effectively communicate verbally and in writing with family members at the beginning of a case, and how to organize a constructive family meeting. They will also learn how to recognize, and diffuse common patterns of family behavior drawn from case studies.
Intended Audience: Guardians, Family Guardians, Care Managers, Conservators, Attorneys
About the Presenter: Joyce McHugh
Joyce McHugh is a Social Worker, Legal Guardian and Certified Care Manager working in the Boulder Colorado area. She started with Advocate Care Services eleven years ago and is now a co-owner of the agency. She is passionate about advocating for and working with protected populations. Joyce is currently working to improve the awareness of the role of guardian with the State of Colorado, local facilities, hospitals, and medical providers. In addition to working full-time she is currently a Master’s Candidate and is working on a book about Legal Guardianships.
2023
(Recording) Guardianship Monitoring Protocols
The court’s duty to protect the well-being of an individual does not end when it appoints a guardian (or conservator). After appointment, the court has an ongoing duty to monitor the guardianship or conservatorship. With a monitoring protocol, the court can identify guardians who are struggling, guide a guardian who needs assistance in fulfilling their duties, and the court can stop a guardian from using their court appointed authority to abuse, neglect, or exploit an individual.
Participants will learn to describe an effective monitoring process, describe how to use the new monitoring protocols for the well-being reports and accountings, and name “red flags” for possible problems in a guardianship.
Intended Audience: Individuals who have responsibility for monitoring guardianships and conservatorships.
The webinar is eligible for one hour of continuing education credit from the Center for Guardianship Certification.
About the Presenter: Diane Robinson
Diane Robinson, Ph.D, is a Principal Court Research Associate with the National Center for State Courts. Since joining the NCSC in 2019, her project work has focused on guardianships and conservatorships, with projects including the Conservatorship Accountability Project, the Guardianship Judicial Response Protocol, Rapid Response Financial Monitoring, and Elder Justice Innovation Grants. She also works in data governance, including data collection, data quality, use of data, and data sharing.
(Recording) Mental Health Involuntary Commitments
This presentation will cover the process of when an individual is being involuntarily committed at a state mental facility. It will breakdown probable cause, judicial commitments, and limited medical conservatorship hearings. The presentation will also focus on the civil side of commitments and not the criminal side of commitments.
Participants will learn.
- the 4 criteria needed for commitment in the State of TN.
- the statutes used for commitments; and,
- how a person can be committed to and discharged from a state facility.
Intended Audience: Anyone interested in mental health.
The webinar is eligible for one hour of continuing education credit from the Center for Guardianship Certification.
About the Presenter: Kezia Mills
Attorney Mills was a Lead Litigation Attorney for the Division of TennCare from 2014-2018, working in the Appeals Operation Group. Attorney Mills has been working in the mental health sector for over 5 years, where she has conducted hundreds of involuntary commitments, judicial commitments, and limited medical conservatorships. Attorney Mills is a native Memphian (#GTG!) and mother of 2, with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Memphis, a Master of Business Administration from Webster University, and Juris Doctorate from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
(Recording) NGA Standards of Practice and Bill of Rights
What’s new in the Standards of Practice? What rights do my clients have that I need to be respecting? Hurme, who had a leadership role in revising both the Standards and the Bill of Rights, will explain why the changes were made, what is new, and how guardians can incorporate them while making decisions.
In 2022 the NGA membership adopted updated Standards of Practice and the NGA board revised its 2000 Statement of Rights to incorporate the language of the model Bill of Rights for Adults with a Guardian. All guardians should stay abreast of the current standards so they can continue to provide excellence in guardianship practices. An important component of excellence is understanding and protecting the rights of the persons they serve.
In this session, individuals will learn the changes that have been made to the Standards of Practice and the importance of advocating for the rights of adults with a guardian.
Intended Audience: All guardians, family, public, and private. Any professional interested in learning about guardianship excellence.
The Standards of Practice and the NGA Bill of Rights may be downloaded from www.guardianship.org.
The webinar is eligible for one hour of continuing education credit from the Center for Guardianship Certification.
About the Presenter: Sally Hurme
Elder law attorney Sally Hurme has spent decades advocating for enhanced guardianship practices. Most recently she was the co-lead of the national task force that developed a model bill of rights for adults with a guardian and the chair of the NGA team that updated the NGA Standards of Practice.
(Recording) Supported Decision-Making: From Legislative Proposal to Public Policy Reform
This presentation will describe the legislative journey taken by a state governmental body to develop, pursue and implement a supported decision-making statute in Illinois. The presentation will examine the legislative background, the steps taken, and resources used to develop a legislative proposal, the components of the legislative proposal, the stakeholders engaged throughout the legislative process, the obstacles encountered along the way and implementation efforts taken to date.
Participants will learn about:
- The legislation’s background that prompted the supported decision-making proposal, the resources used to develop the proposal and the key components of the final legislative proposal.
- The engagement and mobilization of stakeholders to facilitate the proposal’s movement through the legislative process, including barriers encountered and how those barriers were addressed.
- The implementation steps taken to date, including resource development and a public education campaign.
Intended Audience: Any professional interested in learning about supported decision-making.
The webinar is eligible for one hour of continuing education credit from the Center for Guardianship Certification.
About the Presenter: Teresa Parks
Teresa Parks is Deputy Director and Human Rights Authority Director for the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. The Commission supports programs for persons with disabilities including a state guardianship program, a disability rights investigative program, a legal advocacy service and a special education advocacy division. The Commission also pursues public policy reform often arising from encountered gaps through its programmatic work. Parks enlisted the help of several stakeholders to develop and pursue a Supported Decision-Making legislative proposal for Illinois Citizens with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Illinois’ Supported Decision-Making Act was passed in 2021 with an effective date of February 2022. Parks also serves on the Illinois Guardianship Association, the Center for Guardianship Certification and the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities.