In Support of The Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act
Resolution 3 In Support of The Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act
The number of elderly individuals in the United States is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 years, likely leading to a substantial increase in court cases involving the protection of vulnerable seniors, including guardianship, conservatorship, and elder abuse proceedings. State court systems and individual courts have acknowledged the need to improve how petitions for guardianship and conservatorship are considered and how related orders are monitored. Research conducted by the National Center for State Courts has identified both challenges and promising practices in the oversight of guardianship and conservatorship cases.
The Joint Task Force on Elders and the Courts, formed by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), recommended that each state court system (1) collect and report data on guardianship and conservatorship cases annually; (2) implement better monitoring procedures for guardians and conservators, as well as for the well-being of incapacitated individuals; and (3) explore how technology can aid in tracking and oversight. Similarly, the 2010 COSCA White Paper The Demographic Imperative: Guardianships and Conservatorships called for the creation of a Guardianship Court Improvement Program to support state courts in addressing these needs.
Further momentum was gained during the Third National Guardianship Summit, where representatives from ten national organizations adopted comprehensive standards for guardian and conservator performance, along with specific recommendations for court and legislative action. Simultaneously, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging commissioned a series of Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports and held hearings to examine serious gaps in coordination between state courts and federal agencies — particularly the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs — regarding conservatorships and elder abuse.
These GAO reports have underscored the federal government's interest in supporting state efforts to prevent and address guardianship abuse and have emphasized the importance of financial assistance to develop innovative procedures, collect consistent data, and evaluate new models of oversight. Although some executive agencies have acknowledged the need to improve protections for elders, there are still no federal grant programs available to assist state courts in carrying out these duties or testing innovations like mandatory background checks and enhanced technological reporting systems.
The Court Improvement Program, launched in 1993 to enhance child protection case management, has demonstrated success in reducing delays and improving judicial oversight in child welfare matters. A comparable program focused on guardianship and conservatorship is expected to yield similar benefits. To that end, the proposed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act (S. 1744) would establish a Guardianship Court Improvement Program and fund pilot programs to test new methods for screening potential guardians and leveraging technology for better fiduciary oversight.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators urge Congress to enact the Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act and allocate sufficient funds to support full implementation of its provisions.
Adopted as proposed by the CCJ/COSCA Elders and the Courts Committee at the 2012 Midyear Meeting on February 1, 2012.