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The task force appointed by New York Governor Kathy Hokle recommends that states spend at least $15 million a year and create state-level surveillance to bolster problematic surveillance systems.
If adopted, the plan represents a major change in how state governments care for some of their most vulnerable residents. New York currently budgets just $1 million to fund its guardianship hotline, and legal arrangements have little official surveillance, which holds responsibility for the well-being of people among courts, nonprofits, private lawyers and businesses.
The policy proposals included in the state’s Aging Master Plan come three years after Democrat Hochul issued an executive order that created a panel to map the needs of New York’s aging population and suggest how it can help older people.
The plan offers extraordinary benefits by improving the guardianship system and concludes that it is not too difficult to achieve.
The recommendations show that Hochul’s administration was the first to address the issue of the state guardianship system, as the Hochul administration conducted extensive research in a series of stories last year. These stories revealed how some parents ignored vulnerable clients left to their care. They also highlighted the extent to which the state must serve New Yorkers in need of assistance, and how few guards have little oversight to ensure proper care. This issue is particularly keen for poor people trying to care for their families, and Propublica discovered a population known in industry as “no friends.”
To fill provider voids, New York has long relied on a network of regulated loose nonprofits and private companies. That dynamic that Propublica discovered led to grand abuse and neglect claims, prompting the court to appoint a special advisor to oversee guardianship reform and Attorney General Leticia James, and launched an investigation into several providers.
Advocates and judicial leaders have sought the guardianship system to be overhauled for years, but such efforts remain elusive. It is unclear whether Hochul’s task force will change it, despite the group’s report continuing guardianship in political conversations in Albany.
The legislature has barely funded guardianship services that have been well allocated in the budget for the past two years to maintain a statewide hotline. And even the governor won’t say whether she plans to implement the reforms proposed by her panel.
“The governor looks forward to working with these stakeholders and councils to increase their commitment to creating proposals included in the Master Plan for Aging.
Spokesman Nicolette Simmons did not respond to emails or called for more details, including Hochul’s position on guardianship reform.
But Guardianshipanship Access, a statewide coalition of nonprofit parents and elders and disability justice advocates, said it was encouraged by the governor’s plan since recognising the “long-standing crisis.”
“New York’s guardianship system is past the point of crisis. The governor and legislature must act now before it collapses,” Arthur Diamond, Nassau County guardian’s supervisory judge and member of Gunny, said in a statement. “We must stop ignoring the most vulnerable population and protect them now.”
But precisely, how it happens remains unknown. Gany proposed to the state fund a network of nonprofits with experience in providing government contracts and guardianship services.
Within the court system, the Guardians Advisory Committee recommended that the state create a statewide organization funded by taxpayer earlier this year to take care of the unmarried records obtained by the Propublica Show.
And while some lawmakers have proposed changes, no one is calling for comprehensive reforms.
One bill requires a person to petition for parents to identify all possible people who can manage the problem of, for example, incompetent people, while another makes it difficult for parents to deny the right to visit loved ones through family members.
New York State Attorney General begins investigating guardianship
Assemblyman Charles Lavine, who chairs the Chamber of Commerce’s Judicial Committee, said he supports a series of public roundtables hosted by the court this fall as a way to develop a more comprehensive solution, and advocates for “collecting local input and direct perspectives on the agenda of protection access.”
“These discussions will help inform statewide efforts to expand and improve Guardianship Services, including creating a comprehensive public guardianship system,” he said.
Still, important reform efforts require the support of top parliamentary leaders. Neither Andrea Stewart Kausins, the leader of the Senate majority, nor Congress President Carl Heaty, responded to requests for comment on Hochul’s master plan for aging.
