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Why Every Court Needs Guardian/Conservator Fee Guidelines

Posted on July 6, 2012 by buekert in Arizona, California, Financial Abuse, Guardianship/Conservatorship, Nebraska, State Efforts | 2 comments

Brenda K. Uekert, PhD Over the last several years, I have watched the media highlight stories of financial exploitation by a guardian or conservator, all occurring under the watch of a probate court. While in some cases, the issue was one of outright theft, the vast majority of complaints appear to be around the issue of excessive fees that quickly diminish the estate of the protected person. Media attention has led to significant conservatorship reforms in several states (see our State Task Force Activities section).

In Nebraska, the Supreme Court launched a review committee to make recommendations on guardianship and conservatorship reform. The committee was created following a 2010 series of articles in the Omaha World Herald documenting multiple cases of theft by a court-appointed guardian-conservator.
In Arizona, the Supreme Court’s Committee on Improving Judicial Oversight and Processing of Probate Matters released a Final Report advocating major reform of their guardianship system. The Committee was...

California Improves Access to Elder Abuse Protective Orders

Posted on July 3, 2012 by ddancy in California, Elder Abuse, Elder Abuse Prosecution, Elder Abuse Protective Orders, Elder Protection Court, Financial Abuse, State Efforts | No comments

By Susan Keilitz, J.D. Principal Court Research Consultant, NCSC
California has been on the forefront of initiatives to address and prevent elder abuse and neglect. For example, the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda introduced the nation’s first elder protection court in 2002 and Contra Costa County’s Elder Court received a Ralph N. KLEPS Award for Improvement in the Administration of the Courts for 2010-2011. Santa Clara County’s Elder Abuse Fatality Review Team brings justice system and community stakeholders together to prevent deaths from elder abuse and neglect, while Ventura County’s Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST) promotes more effective approaches to prevent and prosecute financial exploitation and abuse of elders. In a global overhaul of its protective order statutes, which became effective January 1, 2012, the California legislature has expanded access to Elder or Dependent Adult Abuse Restraining Orders (see the...

Reviewing Minnesota’s Electronic Conservatorship System

Posted on June 25, 2012 by tjones in Guardianship/Conservatorship, Minnesota, State Efforts, Technology | No comments

Brenda K. Uekert, PhD Director, Center for Elders and the Courts
As graduation time is upon us, it’s time to honor those dedicated court professionals who have completed the Institute for Court Management’s Fellows Program. Congratulations! Each graduate must complete a research paper as the final requirement of the program. I am pleased to highlight an exceedingly timely project report on Minnesota’s electronic conservatorship system, written by ICM Fellow Sherilyn Hubert of Minnesota’s Tenth Judicial District, Protecting the Assets of our most Vulnerable in Minnesota, Sherilyn has carried out a very worthwhile research project that will benefit all courts that are considering the automation of the conservatorship reporting process. In 2011, the Minnesota Judicial Branch implemented a statewide web-based program for conservators to enter their account information online to the courts—the Conservator Account Monitoring Preparation and Electronic Reporting (CAMPER) Program. In FY...

Train with our Elder Abuse Curriculum for State Judicial Educators

Posted on June 20, 2012 by ddancy in Center for Elders and the Courts, Elder Abuse, Elder Abuse Curriculum, Judicial Education | No comments

By Theresa Jones, Court Research Analyst Last summer, in partnership with the University of California, Irvine’s Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect, NCSC introduced an elder abuse curriculum for state judicial educators. Interactive exercises, case studies, scenarios, and video clips make the curriculum a truly interactive experience for judicial officers. The curriculum’s three modules are designed to be presented in 3.5 hours, and state judicial educators are welcome to adapt the curriculum for their state training programs. The first module examines the physical, emotional, and cognitive effects of aging and their impact on the vulnerability of older persons. The second module explores how judicial officers can recognize elder abuse and neglect in a variety of court settings. The third module provides suggestions on how judicial officers can craft court responses that effectively address elder abuse, neglect & exploitation in a variety of settings. In the following video presentation, Hon. John E. Conery introduces the curriculum and discusses the...

The Elder Abuse Toolkits have Arrived!

Posted on June 13, 2012 by ddancy in Center for Elders and the Courts, Court Collaboration, Elder Abuse, Elder Abuse Benchcard, Elder Abuse Prosecution, Elder Abuse Toolkits | No comments

By Brenda K. Uekert, PhD Director, Center for Elders and the Courts
In 2008 and 2009, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to develop an elder abuse toolkit for courts and an elder abuse toolkit for prosecutors, respectively. We are excited to announce the publication of the toolkits this week. Both toolkits are making their debut at an event hosted by the The White House Office of Public Engagement on June 14th that focused on elder abuse and financial exploitation. The event is being held in commemoration of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (June 15).

Court Guide to Effective Collaboration on Elder Abuse

The concept for the toolkit dates to our original Elder Abuse and the Courts Working Group, which met in Williamsburg in 2006. We had a dedicated multidisciplinary group of experts at the table, some of...

The History behind the Center for Elders and the Courts

Posted on June 11, 2012 by ddancy in Center for Elders and the Courts, Elder Abuse | No comments

By Brenda K. Uekert, PhD Director, Center for Elders and the Courts It seems like yesterday when my colleague, Denise Dancy, and I sat around the table brainstorming how we could create an agenda that would help courts address elder abuse and neglect issues. The need was there: the “baby boomers” were headed into the traditional retirement years and elder abuse remained a “hidden” crime with limited resources available to the courts. Yet when I look back at our earlier efforts, I’m surprised to see that it’s been almost 9 years since we first featured elder abuse in our former publication, Family Violence Forum (Spring 2003). This newsletter sparked our plans to address elder issues in a more concerted way. In 2005, we set out to create the Elder Abuse and the Courts Working Group (EACWG). We invited leading elder abuse experts from a variety of disciplines to join our efforts. ...

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