II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2881 

To assist States in improving guardianship oversight and data collection. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To assist States in improving guardianship oversight and 

data collection. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guardianship Account5 ability Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) An estimated 1,300,000 adults and approxi9 mately $50,000,000,000 in assets are under the care 

10 of guardians in the United States. 


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1 (2) Most guardians are selfless, dedicated indi2 viduals who play an important role in safeguarding 

3 individuals in need of support. However, unscrupu4 lous guardians acting with little oversight have used 

5 guardianship proceedings to obtain control of indi6 viduals in need of support. 

7 (3) Once a guardianship is imposed, there are 

8 often few safeguards in place to protect against indi9 viduals who choose to abuse the system and few 

10 States are able to report accurate or detailed guard11 ianship data. 

12 (4) A full guardianship order may remove more 

13 rights than necessary and thus may not be the best 

14 means of providing support and protection to an in15 dividual. If individuals subject to guardianship re16 gain capacity, all or some rights should be quickly 

17 and efficiently restored. 

18 (5) States should encourage courts to use alter19 natives to guardianship through State statutes, in20 cluding the adoption of the Uniform Guardianship, 

21 Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrange22 ments Act, to ensure better protections and control 

23 for individuals being considered for guardianship 

24 and those pursuing a restoration of their rights. 


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1 (6) A national resource center on guardianship 

2 is needed to collect and publish information for the 

3 benefit of courts, policy makers, individuals subject 

4 to guardianship, guardians, community organiza5 tions, and other stakeholders. 

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to help 

7 States improve guardianship oversight and data collection 

8 by— 

9 (1) designating a National Resource Center on 

10 Guardianship; 

11 (2) authorizing grants for the purpose of devel12 oping State Guardianship Databases; and 

13 (3) establishing procedures for sharing back14 ground check information related to appointed 

15 guardians with other jurisdictions. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) GUARDIANSHIP.—The term ‘‘guardianship’’ 

19 means a legal relationship established by a court 

20 when a person is determined to lack the ability to 

21 meet essential requirements for physical health, safe22 ty, or self-care because the person is unable to re23 ceive and evaluate information or make or commu24 nicate decisions about their person or property, even 

25 with appropriate supportive services, technological 


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1 assistance, supported decision making, or other less 

2 restrictive alternatives. 

3 (2) INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO GUARDIAN4 SHIP.—The term ‘‘individuals subject to guardian5 ship’’ means any individual 18 years or older placed 

6 under a guardianship. 

7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

9 SEC. 4. NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER ON GUARDIANSHIP. 

10 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of Health and 

11 Human Services shall establish a National Resource Cen12 ter on Guardianship (referred to in this section as the 

13 ‘‘Center’’). 

14 (b) THE NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER ON GUARD15 IANSHIP.—The National Resource Center shall— 

16 (1) collect and publish information for use by 

17 individuals subject to guardianship, guardians, 

18 courts, State and local governments, and community 

19 organizations; 

20 (2) post model standards, best practices, and 

21 guidelines for the appointment and regulation of 

22 guardianship cases developed under section 505 of 

23 the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (34 

24 U.S.C. 21752); 


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1 (3) promote the use of less restrictive alter2 natives to guardianship, including supported decision 

3 making and the restoration of rights of individuals 

4 subject to guardianship; 

5 (4) annually compile and publish a summary of 

6 recently conducted research on guardianship systems 

7 and efforts to expand less restrictive alternatives, in8 cluding information from agencies across the govern9 ment; 

10 (5) collect data from States regarding— 

11 (A) the number of individuals subject to 

12 guardianship; 

13 (B) the duration of guardianships; 

14 (C) whether the authority granted to 

15 guardians is classified as— 

16 (i) full guardianship; 

17 (ii) limited guardianship; 

18 (iii) emergency or temporary guard19 ianship; or 

20 (iv) a less restrictive alternative to 

21 guardianship; 

22 (D) the amount of financial assets under 

23 guardianship; and 

24 (E) whether an appointed guardian is clas25 sified as a— 


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1 (i) family or other nonprofessional 

2 guardian; 

3 (ii) private or professional guardian or 

4 guardianship agencies; or 

5 (iii) public guardian; 

6 (6) maintain a public, national database on 

7 State laws regarding guardianship and less restric8 tive alternatives to guardianship, including require9 ments for the— 

10 (A) use of least restrictive alternative; 

11 (B) regular filing and documentation by 

12 appointed guardians; 

13 (C) oversight of appointed guardians; 

14 (D) restoration of rights of individuals 

15 subject to guardianship; and 

16 (E) oversight of potential conflicts of inter17 est among individuals and organizations in18 volved in guardianship applications, appoint19 ments, and oversight; 

20 (7) identify issues relating to guardianship and 

21 provide and publish annual recommendations to 

22 States and Congress to address identified problems; 

23 (8) collect and analyze best practices relating to 

24 guardianship, and publish a report of such best 


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1 practices, including model guidelines and standards 

2 for— 

3 (A) ensuring appropriate representation 

4 and protection of legal rights for individuals 

5 subject to guardianship and guardianship pro6 ceedings; 

7 (B) conducting background check inves8 tigations on prospective and appointed guard9 ians; 

10 (C) promoting the use of less restrictive al11 ternatives to guardianship, including supported 

12 decision making; 

13 (D) obtaining restoration of all or some 

14 rights; 

15 (E) implementing oversight programs; and 

16 (F) responding to abuse, neglect, and ex17 ploitation; 

18 (9) compile and publish training materials for 

19 court appointed guardians related to duties and obli20 gations, as well as ways in which to effectively sup21 port individuals subject to guardianship and to use 

22 less restrictive alternatives to guardianships; 

23 (10) facilitate State collection of guardianship 

24 information and the sharing of such information 

25 among States and Federal agencies; and 


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1 (11) carry out other activities, as determined by 

2 the Secretary. 

3 (c) CONSIDERATION.—In developing the Center, the 

4 Secretary shall take into account diverse stakeholder 

5 views, including people with disabilities, older adults, self6 advocacy organizations, and organizations representing 

7 people with disabilities, older adults, family members, 

8 court-stakeholder partnerships and others, as well as 

9 available literature developed through academic or other 

10 research institutions. 

11 SEC. 5. STATE GUARDIANSHIP DATABASES. 

12 Section 2042(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 1397m–1(c)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

15 (2)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (E), (F), (G), 

16 and (H) of paragraph (2)’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

19 (A)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘Funds’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘Subject to paragraph (7), funds’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (E)’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (E), (F), 

24 (G), and (H)’’; 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

2 at the end; 

3 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

4 subparagraph (I); and 

5 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

6 the following new paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(F) methods to assess State guardianship 

8 statistics such as the creation of State data9 bases to collect information about the number 

10 and characteristics of guardianship arrange11 ments, guardians, individuals subject to guard12 ianship, and individuals receiving supported de13 cision-making services or other alternatives to 

14 guardianship; 

15 ‘‘(G) the use of trained court visitors to 

16 improve court administration of guardianship 

17 arrangements, including the appointment and 

18 oversight of guardians and adoption of less re19 strictive alternatives to guardianship, and to en20 compass a broad range of entities that could 

21 provide oversight and support to adults subject 

22 to guardianship; 

23 ‘‘(H) methods for collecting, storing, and 

24 making available to the appropriate individuals, 

25 organizations, and entities information on proVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2881.IS S2881

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1 spective, current, and previously appointed 

2 guardians, which may include— 

3 ‘‘(i) information relating to back4 ground check investigations; 

5 ‘‘(ii) court decisions regarding peti6 tions for appointment as a guardian, in7 cluding the rationale for such decisions; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii) information relating to the cause 

10 for removal of the guardian or termination 

11 of the guardianship arrangement; or’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

13 (2)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (E), (F), (G), 

14 and (H) of paragraph (2)’’; 

15 (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

16 (2)(E)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sub17 paragraphs (E), (F), (G), and (H) of paragraph 

18 (2)’’; and 

19 (5) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(7) ENSURING DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

22 FUNDING FOR THE HIGHEST COURTS OF STATES.— 

23 The Secretary shall ensure that at least 5 percent of 

24 the total of any funds made available to carry out 

25 this subsection in a fiscal year (beginning with fiscal 


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1 year 2020) is awarded under grants to the highest 

2 courts of States for purposes of conducting dem3 onstration programs described in subparagraphs 

4 (E), (F), (G), and (H) of paragraph (2).’’. 

Æ 


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