When Alice Smith (not her real name, but this is a true story), age 80, first came to the attention of the Lawrence County Guardianship Services Program (LCGSP), she had no money and no place to live. Alice’s daughter and Power of Attorney had cleared out her bank account, sold her house, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada—taking with her more than $200,000 of Alice’s money. Sadly, Alice had also been diagnosed with dementia and was unable to make informed decisions regarding her care or finances.
With no friends or other family members to assist in her care, Judge McCord appointed LCGSP as the guardian of Alice’s person and estate. As Alice’s guardian, LCGSP applied to get Alice on Medicaid and reported her daughter’s financial exploitation to police for further investigation. The program also assigned a volunteer advocate to regularly visit Alice in the nursing home and attend her care plan meetings.
Unfortunately, Alice’s situation is not entirely uncommon. According to a recent report, seniors lose $36.48 billion each year due to financial elder abuse, with more than $6.67 billion lost annually due to caregiver fraud committed by family members, friends, or other trusted individuals.
“There is a gap in the system,” said Lawrence County Circuit Court Judge Andrea McCord. “When you have a diminished ability to function, it is vital to have an advocate that can protect your rights in the least restrictive manner yet ensure that you are getting all the resources available to you.
We used to rely on the availability of the local bar to act in a pro bono capacity, but the need and time restrictions were just too much despite our best efforts.”
Housed at the Southern Indiana Center for Independent Living (SICIL) in Mitchell, Indiana, LCGSP serves incapacitated adults, like Alice, in Lawrence, Orange, and Washington counties who have no one willing, able, or suitable to serve as their guardian. According to the Executive Director of SICIL, Al Tolbert, “We’re advocating for people who can’t advocate for themselves. It’s a crucial role and the basis for our mission.”
LCGSP is also one of eight Volunteer Advocates for Seniors or Incapacitated Adults (VASIA) programs throughout the state. They contract with courts to provide guardianship services in their communities. The Indiana Supreme Court Adult Guardianship Office provides matching grant funds. Similar in structure and design to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) programs for children, VASIA programs recruit and train volunteer advocates to assist in serving the incapacitated person.
“Each volunteer is very aware of his or her duties to the ward,” said Judge McCord. “All of this aids the Court and ensures that the ward’s dignity and rights are being guarded.
The program carefully matches the ward and volunteer to ensure that there are meaningful and rewarding relationships formed.”
Overall, the VASIA programs are very beneficial to the communities they serve. “Our program at SICIL saves the county money and benefits the community by allowing us to have access to people who have been forgotten,” says Tolbert. “In some cases, we’ve reconnected individuals with family members, including people who didn’t even know the person was still alive.”
Judges and court staff have also found the VASIA programs to be an important asset. According to Judge McCord, “LCGSP provides a resource of valuable advocates who look out for the best interest of the wards when no one else is available to be their guardian. Because of these compassionate volunteers, our whole community is better.”
Last year, more than $300,000 in funding was awarded to VASIA programs who currently serve more than 300 vulnerable and incapacitated adults in fourteen counties throughout Indiana. This past year, the Indiana General Assembly significantly increased funding for the Adult Guardianship Office to develop and expand VASIA programs into other courts and counties in the state.
The 2015-2016 grant applications for current VASIA programs ended on June 5, 2015. However, due to the increase in state funding, an additional round of applications for new and developing VASIA programs will begin after July 1, 2015.