The New York State Legislature has introduced a bill that would increase spending for the state’s troubled guardianship system by $15 million a year. This is an unprecedented infusion of funding for a bureaucracy that has long struggled to care for tens of thousands of disabled and elderly New Yorkers who are unable to care for themselves.
By law, judges appoint guardians to manage the health and financial affairs of persons deemed incompetent, and these guardians are paid compensation from the ward’s estate. But there aren’t enough guardians to serve the roughly 30,000 New Yorkers in need. The new bill, called the Good Guardianship Act, aims to help the most vulnerable members of this population: those who are too poor to pay for a private guardian or who do not have family or friends to act as a guardian.
They are known in the industry as “unaffiliated people,” and millions of dollars in new funding will flow to a statewide network of nonprofit guardians who serve them.
The proposal follows a 2024 ProPublica investigation that revealed how the state’s conservatorship system was particularly dysfunctional for this group, with little or no oversight over conservators, some of whom provided substandard care and exploited those entrusted to their care.
The article prompted the state’s attorney general to launch investigations into multiple guardianship providers and prompted the court system to appoint a special prosecutor to implement reforms. But advocates say the Good Guardianship Act, if backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, would be the most promising step yet in improving the system.
The bill reflects the recommendations of a task force appointed by the governor last summer, but Hochul has not said whether he supports the plan, and the recently unveiled $260 billion executive budget did not include funding for conservatorships.
“What will it take for the governor to pay attention to guardianship and recognize that viable solutions are on the table?” said Kimberly George, who runs a nonprofit serving about 160 New York City wards and is also helping lead Guardianship Access New York, a coalition of groups pushing the bill in Albany.
A spokeswoman for Hochul, a Democrat who is seeking re-election, said the governor would review the bill.
In recent years, the city of Albany provided just $1 million to help fund a statewide guardianship hotline that provides advice to people considering guardianship of relatives and friends. However, the Good Guardianship Act would provide significantly more guardians to those in need and would effectively ensure that qualified nonprofit organizations with a track record of providing guardianship services are appointed by judges in cases involving indigent people.
To ensure state funding is provided only to what the law calls “reputable” nonprofit organizations, organizations must be in good standing with state regulators, and guardianship plans and funding requests must be reviewed by a contractor selected by the director of the state Department of Aging.
Long Island Democratic Rep. Charles Lavin, who chairs the Assembly Judiciary Committee and introduced the bill, expressed confidence that the bill will pass this Congress, noting that it has no opposition and addresses easily identified problems.
“It’s time to do something so we can give something to people who actually really need it,” he said in an interview. “I believe we are working in the right direction.”
Lavigne hosted a roundtable last fall focused on confronting what he called the “crisis” in conservatorship, which he described as being “extremely stretched thin.”
The bill also has the support of legislative leaders in the state Senate, including Strong Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, her spokeswoman said.
State Sen. Cordell Creale, a Harlem Democrat who chairs the Committee on Aging, is leading the bill’s deliberations. This is on the agenda of Wednesday’s committee meeting and is expected to be adopted.
