For the first time, professional guardians and conservators would have to register with the state courts. Wards and protected people would have a “bill of rights” that defines their liberties while under the authority of a court-appointed professional, and they would have more opportunity to speak out against the actions and decisions of those professionals. Those are some of the main features of a bill overwhelmingly approved by the Minnesota Legislature in its waning days. As an example of how little regulation currently exists, the bill for the first time defines a professional guardian and conservator:

“Professional guardian” or “professional conservator” means a person acting as guardian or conservator for three or more individuals not related by blood, adoption, or marriage.

After lobbying hard for the bill, reform advocates hope the changes will bring more professionalism to a lightly regulated activity and help hold guardians and conservators accountable for abuses of vulnerable people that happen under their watch. Read my previous posts on the subject here and here.

The House approved the conference report 127-7 on Sunday. The Senate approved it 56-4 today. Now it goes to Gov. Tim Pawlenty for his signature.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Civil liberties, Seniors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.