ACL Awards Over $1.8M in Grants To Improve Protection for Rights of People Under or at Risk Of Guardianship or Conservatorship

September 13, 2024

ACL has awarded Elder Justice Innovation Grants (EJIGs) to the highest courts in five states and territories to enhance protections for the rights of older adults and adults with disabilities who are under, or at risk of, guardianship or conservatorship. The grants, which total over $1.8 million for the first of three project years, seek to address the fairness, effectiveness, timeliness, safety, and integrity of adult guardianship proceedings and improve the experiences of individuals at risk of guardianship or conservatorship.

Projects being funded:

• The Administrative Office of the Arizona Supreme Court seeks to create a cloud-based, web-facing probate case management system, which would create an efficient and accurate tool for management and oversight of guardianship cases for use by guardians, conservators, and courts.
• The Judiciary of Guam seeks to improve the experiences of individuals at risk of guardianship in Guam by emphasizing alternatives to guardianship, improving the performance of court-appointed public and private guardians, and limiting or revoking unnecessary guardianships.
• Kansas' Office of Judicial Administration seeks to understand the guardianship pipeline through an assessment of current practices, improve data collection and conduct analyses to evaluate the system's fairness and integrity, and develop a portal as a method to monitor and measure guardianship cases.
• The Massachusetts Administrative Office of the Trial Court will develop a guardianship diversion program with the goal of assisting older adults and adults with disabilities who may be the subject of a guardianship petition explore less restrictive alternatives, such as decision-making tools, services, and/or alternative court processes that are limited in scope and time.
• The Minnesota Judicial Branch seeks to enhance and expand the Complaint Examiner Department and program, enhance judicial officer education and tools for guardianship/conservatorship and supported decision-making, improve accessibility of information for those involved in guardianship/conservatorship cases, enhance electronic record systems to improve the internal and external user experience and increased needs of court staff, and standardize data collecting and reporting for guardianship/conservatorship case data.

ACL funded similar projects in 10 states and territories in 2021 and 2022.

The EJIG program supports the continued development of evidence-based practices on elder abuse intervention and response. Earlier this week, ACL announced a grant award for RISE Collaborative Inc. for a model incorporating restorative justice, motivational interviewing, teaming, and supported decision-making approaches in APS, and we will be announcing additional awards in the coming weeks.

See Notice of Funding Opportunity: HHS-2024-ACL-AOA-EJIG-0038, "FY2024 Elder Justice Innovation Grants - Option 2", posted June 18, 2024.