THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 16, 1996 TAG: 9601160259
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 179 lines
In this country, we take certain rights for granted.
The right to vote. To sign contracts. To decide on our own medical care and determine where we live, in what conditions and with whom.
But if we lose the ability to care for ourselves, we could find those rights handed over to someone else through a process called guardianship. When this happens, a court gives one person - the guardian - the duty and power to make decisions for another, the ward.
The guardian may have other responsibilities as well, such as hiring caregivers or, if the money isn't available for that service, providing more hands-on care for their wards, like taking them grocery shopping or getting them to medical appointments.
It's a far-from-perfect system. Oversight of guardians in Virginia is generally weak, say advocates for the elderly and disabled. Guardians are required only to post a surety bond, paid for with their ward's money, and file an annual financial report outlining how they spent their ward's money.
And in Virginia, which relies on sheriffs as ``guardians of last resort,'' some sheriffs refuse to take on the responsibility. This often leaves Social Services departments scrambling to find guardians for their clients, many of whom have been physically or financially abused.
No one knows how many Americans have guardians, but estimates range from 300,000 to 500,000.
For years, the Virginia Guardianship Association, a statewide group that works on behalf of guardians and their wards, has urged the General Assembly to find a way to ensure that eligible guardians are available for the state's growing elderly population. Last year, legislators listened, approving $126,000 to fund two pilot programs - one in Chesapeake to reflect the state's ``rural'' population, and one in urban Northern Virginia.
The two programs differ greatly. But each may provide part of the answer to an increasingly troubling question: Who cares for the elderly and mentally handicapped when their friends and family won't or can't?
Ten days before Christmas, about 20 people gathered in the training room at the Chesapeake Sheriff's Department to learn how to be guardians.
They were the first wave of what Cynthia Dogan-Norris, who was hired last fall with part of a $56,000 state grant to coordinate the program, hopes will be an ever-increasing number of volunteer guardians in the city. Until the program began, Chesapeake had just a few volunteer guardians, said Susan VanHorn, chair of the Chesapeake Guardianship Committee and adult services supervisor in the city's Adult Protective Services division, not nearly enough to meet its need.
Chesapeake applied for the grant after the city's guardianship committee determined that the sheriff's office, which is guardian for 14 people, couldn't take on any more wards.
``We knew the sheriff was overwhelmed, and we thought we could meet and work on ideas and stop putting so much burden on his office,'' VanHorn said.
During the December training, volunteers received a crash course in social services and gerontology. They learned not only how to fill out the annual financial forms required of all guardians, but how to handle the stress of guardianship.
Doris C. Parson understands the stresses. The 68-year-old Chesapeake woman has been a volunteer guardian for a former neighbor for more than three years.
Her neighbor, Margaret Rodwell, has multiple sclerosis. For years, Rodwell's brother looked after her, but Parson used to clean her room and bring her food.
Eventually, Rodwell's brother became abusive, Parson said. Parson called in Adult Protective Services, which determined Rodwell needed to be in a nursing home.
But someone still had to manage Rodwell's finances, visit her, and make medical decisions. APS asked Parson to do it.
As guardian, Parson does more than just cash Rodwell's retirement and Social Security checks. She shops for the woman, buying her the high-quality clothes Rodwell has always preferred. Parson visits her in the nursing home at least every other week to make sure she's well treated. She arranges for haircuts every three months.
``I deal with Margaret firsthand,'' Parson said. ``I could not do it if I didn't take the time with her. But she needs me. She needs to know that someone cares and someone loves her.''
Under Virginia law, Parson is entitled to 5 percent of Rodwell's income each year. She didn't even know that until recently. This year she'll take the 5 percent, she said, ``if it doesn't interfere with taking care of her and what she needs.''
That 5 percent rule is one reason wealthy people usually have no problem finding guardians. Plenty of lawyers will manage their estates for a 5 percent windfall.
But those with little or no money are the ones who often need the most help, say social workers.
``The biggest problem we have is finding a guardian,'' said Mary DeGrouche, social work supervisor in Virginia Beach's APS division. ``By the time we're involved, it's an APS case because the family members either can't or aren't appropriate to be the guardian.''
Virginia Beach has tried a volunteer approach, DeGrouche said, but once people learn how involved and time-consuming it can be, they back out. ``We're watching Chesapeake with great interest.'' she said. ``We certainly hope it will be a good pilot and more money can be put into that program.''
Another person eager to see Chesapeake's pilot program succeed is Joyce Walsh, director of the victim witness assistance program for the Chesapeake sheriff's office. Walsh also oversees the affairs of the 14 people for whom the sheriff has been named guardian.
While many sheriffs throughout the state have refused to act as guardians - even getting the state law changed a few years ago from one that mandates they be appointed to one saying they may be appointed guardian of last resort - Sheriff John Newhart in Chesapeake has always taken the role seriously, Walsh said.
`` `If I don't do it, who in the world will?' '' Walsh said he's told her.
``He's a very sensitive man,'' she said. ``And he realizes that there are folks out there who have absolutely no one in their corner.''
Still, it takes a great deal of Walsh's time to care for these people. Several of her clients are in nursing homes. ``I wish I was able to say that I could visit each one of these people once a month,'' Walsh said. But given her other responsibilities, she can't.
``It would be wonderful for this volunteer program to really take off,'' she said. ``It's needed. The senior population is increasing very quickly, and the need will only become stronger. Right now we're able to handle it, but eventually the need will surpass the resources available to the sheriff.''
In Northern Virginia, those involved with guardianship are pursuing a different approach with the $70,000 they received in state money.
Rhonda Buckner, director of Personal Support Network in Falls Church, hires trained social workers to be guardians. Her company has been providing such services for eight years, charging between $11 and $55 an hour for the services its guardians provide. The grant enables them to act as guardians for those who can't afford to pay Personal Support's fees.
``We're an extended family for people with disabilities,'' Buckner said. ``We help make their decisions, manage their money, get them to the doctor and dentist. That's what guardianship is all about - making decisions for people who can't do it.''
Buckner is skeptical about volunteer programs, particularly in urban areas. Her clients often need guardians so quickly that there isn't time to find and train a volunteer, she said, and their problems are so severe they would overtax a volunteer. ``Their needs are tremendous. They're homeless, they might smell,'' she said. ``They might not have the same manners as people who want to volunteer. They might yell at you on the phone a lot and curse you out. They're not the kind of clients that volunteers would like to work with.''
Even though it would cost the state more to fund a program like Personal Support Network, Buckner said, it could result in long-range savings.
For instance, she said, one client was eligible for Social Security disability benefits, but he was incompetent and there was no one to cash the checks. So instead of receiving his $478 a month, he received $81 a month in general relief from state coffers and was homeless.
Personal Support claimed the money at Social Security and refunded the state's general relief, Buckner said.
``I think this is definitely an effective model,'' Buckner said. ``I would like to see it tried in more places.''
Her wish may come true. Advocates for the aging and disabled in Virginia are optimistic that the General Assembly will renew the grants and possibly allocate money to start other guardian programs.
The Virginia Guardianship Association is also hoping to introduce legislation strengthening the state's guardianship guidelines.
Proposed legislation would require guardians to not only file annual financial reports, but also annual evaluation reports on their wards, describing social, mental and physical conditions as well as living arrangements and other information.
This report would help prevent one serious problem in Virginia, said guardianship expert Noreen Kuroski, who serves on the Virginia Guardianship Association and who is also a consultant for the American Association of Retired Persons' national guardianship monitoring program. Without those reports, she said, no one knows whether the ward's condition is improving, and whether the guardianship could be lifted or made less restrictive.
She coordinates a program that works with local courts throughout the country to monitor guardians. The AARP began the program in the 1980s, after The Associated Press wrote a series of articles detailing guardianship abuses throughout the country.
So far, Richmond is the only Virginia locality participating in the program. MEMO: [For a related story, see page A11 for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Doris C. Parson, left, has been a volunteer guardian for three years
for Margaret Rodwell, right, who has multiple sclerosis.
by CNB