II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1148 

To establish rights for people being considered for and in protective arrangements, including guardianships and conservatorships, or other arrangements, to provide decision supports. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. FETTERMAN, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. SANDERS) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish rights for people being considered for and in 

protective arrangements, including guardianships and 

conservatorships, or other arrangements, to provide decision supports. 

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 Bill of 

5 Rights Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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


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1 (1) At least 1,300,000 people in the United 

2 States are in some type of guardianship or other 

3 protective arrangement. 

4 (2) A majority of guardianships are plenary and 

5 strip almost all rights from individuals, with the res6 toration of rights being very rare. 

7 (3) Guardianship can have grave implications 

8 limiting the liberty of people in such an arrange9 ment. 

10 (4) Overbroad, restrictive, and unnecessary 

11 guardianships, conservatorships, and other protective 

12 arrangements can dramatically curtail the rights of 

13 older adults and persons with disabilities. 

14 (5) A person who is being considered for a pro15 tective arrangement, or is in a protective arrange16 ment, including an individual in a guardianship or 

17 conservatorship, has a set of fundamental rights in18 cluding— 

19 (A) a right, prior to the imposition of a 

20 protective arrangement, to exhaust less restric21 tive alternative arrangements for supports; 

22 (B)(i) a right to an alternative arrange23 ment, for anyone who needs decision supports 

24 but does not need a guardianship or con25 servatorship; and 


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1 (ii) a right to a supported decisionmaking 

2 arrangement for anyone who needs decision 

3 supports, whether being considered for or in a 

4 protective arrangement; 

5 (C) a right to an independent, qualified 

6 lawyer who— 

7 (i) speaks solely for the person who is 

8 being considered for a guardianship or 

9 other protective arrangement, or who is in 

10 a protective arrangement; 

11 (ii) is free of a conflict of interest with 

12 the person’s family members, and the cor13 responding governmental entities, social 

14 service agencies, and courts; 

15 (iii) represents the expressed wishes of 

16 the person who is being considered for or 

17 who is in a protective arrangement; 

18 (iv) is compensated at a reasonable 

19 fee through the use of public funds, if the 

20 person is not able to pay; and 

21 (v) is appointed by the court involved, 

22 if the person does not prefer to have a law23 yer of the person’s own choosing; 

24 (D) the right to significant input and full 

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1 cluding their health, education, finances, em2 ployment, housing, relationships, parenthood, 

3 politics, religious activities, and social activities, 

4 and other basic decisions affecting their life; 

5 (E) if in a protective arrangement, the 

6 right to a reasonable, timely method and infor7 mation for reviewing, modifying, and dis8 continuing the protective arrangement; 

9 (F) if in a protective arrangement, the 

10 right to, at a minimum, an annual meaningful 

11 review of their protective arrangement that in12 cludes representation by a lawyer described in 

13 subparagraph (C); and 

14 (G) a right to the least restrictive arrange15 ment to provide support to a covered individual 

16 needing decision supports. 

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to create 

18 a process to establish a bill of rights for covered individ19 uals who are being considered for or who are in a guard20 ianship, conservatorship, supported decisionmaking ar21 rangement, or other alternative arrangement, regarding 

22 the decisions of the individuals to ensure the civil rights 

23 of each such individual are protected and the individual 

24 has significant input into arrangements of the types de25 scribed in this subsection. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENT.—The term 

4 ‘‘alternative arrangement’’ means an arrangement 

5 with key support personnel who may include family 

6 members, friends, and professionals, with an ap7 proach to meeting the needs of an individual to 

8 make decisions that restricts fewer rights of the in9 dividual than would the appointment of a guardian 

10 or conservator. 

11 (2) ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICE.—The 

12 term ‘‘assistive technology device’’ has the meaning 

13 given the term in section 3 of the Assistive Tech14 nology Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 3002). 

15 (3) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

16 individual’’ means— 

17 (A) an older adult; and 

18 (B) a person with a disability. 

19 (4) DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY.—The term 

20 ‘‘developmental disability’’ has the meaning given 

21 the term in section 102 of the Developmental Dis22 abilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 

23 (42 U.S.C. 15002). 

24 (5) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ means 

25 a disability as defined in section 3 of the Americans 

26 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102). 


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

2 means a legal relationship established by a court if 

3 an individual is determined to lack the ability to 

4 meet essential requirements for physical health, safe5 ty, or self-care because the person is unable to re6 ceive and evaluate information, or make or commu7 nicate decisions, about their person or property, even 

8 with appropriate supportive services, assistive tech9 nology devices, supported decisionmaking, or other 

10 less restrictive alternative arrangements. 

11 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

12 means an entity that— 

13 (A) is eligible for funding as an Indian 

14 tribe under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 

15 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

16 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.); and 

17 (B) is— 

18 (i) eligible for funding as an Indian 

19 tribe under title I of the Rehabilitation Act 

20 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.); or 

21 (ii) eligible for funding through an 

22 American Indian consortium under subtitle 

23 C of title I of the Developmental Disabil24 ities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 

25 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.). 


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1 (8) LIMITED GUARDIANSHIP.—The term ‘‘lim2 ited guardianship’’ means a guardianship in which a 

3 court-appointed fiduciary has the power to make de4 cisions for an individual, with that power defined by 

5 the court and for the duration determined by the 

6 court. 

7 (9) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDU8 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘local educational 

9 agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 

10 meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the Ele11 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 7801). 

13 (10) OLDER ADULT.—The term ‘‘older adult’’ 

14 means an individual who is 60 years of age or older. 

15 (11) PERSON WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

16 ‘‘person with a disability’’ means any person who 

17 has a disability (including a sensory disability). 

18 (12) PLENARY GUARDIANSHIP.—The term ‘‘ple19 nary guardianship’’ means a guardianship in which 

20 a court-appointed fiduciary has the power to make 

21 all decisions allowed by State law for an individual, 

22 often due to a finding that the individual is incapaci23 tated. 

24 (13) PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM.— 

25 The term ‘‘protection and advocacy system’’ means 


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1 a protection and advocacy system established in ac2 cordance with section 143 of the Developmental Dis3 abilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 

4 (42 U.S.C. 15043). 

5 (14) PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENT.—The term 

6 ‘‘protective arrangement’’ means— 

7 (A) an arrangement in which a person, 

8 acting under a limited court order authorizing 

9 support for an individual who the court has de10 termined is in need of decision supports, has 

11 the power, for a duration specified in the order, 

12 to make such decisions for the individual, with13 out a finding of incapacity or the appointment 

14 of a guardian or conservator; or 

15 (B) a guardianship or conservatorship. 

16 (15) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ re17 fers to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

18 or the designee of that Secretary. 

19 (16) STANDARD.—The term ‘‘standard’’ means 

20 a requirement. 

21 (17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

22 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

23 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States 

24 Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 


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1 Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and 

2 any Indian Tribe. 

3 (18) SUPPORTED DECISIONMAKING ARRANGE4 MENT.—The term ‘‘supported decisionmaking ar5 rangement’’ means an agreement or other arrange6 ment, resulting from a series of relationships, prac7 tices, and shorter arrangements, of greater or lesser 

8 formality and intensity, designed to assist an indi9 vidual in understanding, making, and commu10 nicating the individual’s own decisions in a way that 

11 does not impede the individual’s self-determination, 

12 including deciding— 

13 (A) who provides the individual with sup14 ports for the decisions; 

15 (B) in which areas of life the individual re16 ceives supports, including decisions about 

17 health, services received, finances, property, liv18 ing arrangements, and work; and 

19 (C) with whom to associate through the 

20 support of people, technology, and other deci21 sionmaking aids. 


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1 SEC. 4. GUARDIANSHIP AND OTHER PROTECTIVE AR2 RANGEMENTS AND SUPPORTED DECISION3 MAKING COUNCIL. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF A GUARDIANSHIP AND

5 OTHER PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND SUPPORTED

6 DECISIONMAKING COUNCIL.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary shall establish in the Department of Health 

10 and Human Services a Guardianship and Other Pro11 tective Arrangements and Supported Decision12 making Council (referred to in this Act as ‘‘the 

13 Council’’). The Council shall advise the Secretary 

14 and the Attorney General on the development of 

15 standards under sections 5 and 6 related to 

16 guardianships, conservatorships, supported decision17 making arrangements, and other alternative ar18 rangements. 

19 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

20 (A) BACKGROUND.—The Secretary shall 

21 appoint members to the Council. The Council 

22 shall be composed of 30 members that in23 clude— 

24 (i) five covered individuals currently 

25 (as of the date of appointment) using a 

26 supported decisionmaking arrangement; 


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1 (ii) four covered individuals currently 

2 (as of the date of appointment) in a pro3 tective arrangement; 

4 (iii) three family members of covered 

5 individuals who are at risk of being in, or 

6 are in, protective arrangements; 

7 (iv) two lawyers, including at least 1 

8 of whom— 

9 (I) is a lawyer who has served a 

10 protection and advocacy system or 

11 legal services organization; 

12 (II) has experience in representa13 tion of covered individuals in con14 testing or limiting guardianships; and 

15 (III) has experience in supported 

16 decisionmaking arrangements, other 

17 alternative arrangements, and protec18 tive arrangements; 

19 (v) two judges with experience man20 aging contested and uncontested 

21 guardianships; 

22 (vi) two teachers or special education 

23 personnel from an elementary school or 

24 secondary school; 


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1 (vii) two behavioral health care profes2 sionals; 

3 (viii) one independent living specialist; 

4 (ix) two other professionals with ex5 tensive knowledge of supported decision6 making arrangements; 

7 (x) two representatives of disability8 led organizations, meaning organizations 

9 for which at least 50 percent of the staff 

10 have a disability, or 50 percent of the 

11 members of the governing body have a dis12 ability; 

13 (xi) two representatives of organiza14 tions representing older adults; 

15 (xii) one guardian, who shall be a cer16 tified guardian if the State involved pro17 vides for such certifications; 

18 (xiii) one guardianship investigator; 

19 and 

20 (xiv) one representative of a State de21 velopmental disability agency, State agency 

22 on aging, or State adult protective services 

23 agency. 

24 (B) DIVERSITY.—Members of the Council 

25 shall represent diverse racial, ethnic, religious, 


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1 gender, geographic, socioeconomic, religious, 

2 age, and disability categories. 

3 (C) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACAN4 CIES.— 

5 (i) TERM.—Members shall be ap6 pointed for a 3-year term and may be re7 appointed for one additional term. 

8 (ii) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the 

9 Council shall not affect its powers, but 

10 shall be expeditiously filled by the Sec11 retary. 

12 (D) CHAIR; VICE CHAIR.—At the first 

13 meeting of the Council, the Council shall select 

14 a Chair and Vice Chair from among its mem15 bers. The Council shall select a member with 

16 the characteristics described in clause (i) or (ii) 

17 of subparagraph (A) to fill at least one of those 

18 positions. 

19 (3) DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council 

20 shall advise the Secretary and the Attorney General 

21 on the development of standards under sections 5 

22 and 6. 

23 (4) COUNCIL REPORTS.— 

24 (A) INITIAL REPORT.—The Council shall 

25 prepare a report in which it makes its initial 


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1 recommendations on the standards described in 

2 paragraph (3), not later than 2 years after the 

3 date of its establishment. 

4 (B) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—For the 10- 

5 year period beginning on that date of establish6 ment, not later than 4 years after that date and 

7 not later than every 2 years thereafter, the 

8 Council will review the standards described in 

9 paragraph (3) and prepare a report in which it 

10 makes its subsequent recommendations on the 

11 standards. 

12 (C) SUBMISSION.—The Council shall sub13 mit the reports described in this paragraph 

14 to— 

15 (i) the Secretary; 

16 (ii) the Committee on Health, Edu17 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 

18 (iii) the Special Committee on Aging 

19 of the Senate; 

20 (iv) the Committee on Education and 

21 the Workforce of the House of Representa22 tives; and 

23 (v) the Committee on Energy and 

24 Commerce of the House of Representa25 tives. 


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1 (5) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

2 (A) NO ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION.— 

3 Members of the Council who are officers or em4 ployees of the United States shall serve without 

5 compensation in addition to that received for 

6 their services as officers or employees of the 

7 United States. Other members of the Council 

8 shall serve without compensation for the per9 formance of services for the Council. Notwith10 standing section 1342 of title 31, United States 

11 Code, the Secretary may accept the voluntary 

12 and uncompensated services of members of the 

13 Council. 

14 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of 

15 the Council shall be allowed travel expenses, in16 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 

17 authorized for employees of agencies in sub18 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

19 Code, while away from their homes or regular 

20 places of business in the performance of serv21 ices for the Council. 

22 (C) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOY23 EES.—Any Federal Government employee may 

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1 ment, and such detail shall be without interrup2 tion or loss of civil service status or privilege. 

3 (6) TERMINATION.—The Council shall termi4 nate 10 years after the date of the establishment of 

5 the Council. 

6 SEC. 5. ENSURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS IN 

7 GUARDIANSHIPS, CONSERVATORSHIPS, AND 

8 OTHER PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS. 

9 (a) INHERENT CIVIL RIGHTS TO PROTECT DURING

10 THE PROCESSES FOR GUARDIANSHIP, CONSERVATOR11 SHIP, AND OTHER PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS.—The 

12 Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for 

13 Civil Rights of the Department of Justice, with significant 

14 input from the Council and a stakeholder group process, 

15 shall establish standards for the inherent civil rights of 

16 a covered individual in a guardianship, a conservatorship, 

17 or another protective arrangement, including standards 

18 related to— 

19 (1) which inherent civil rights cannot be re20 stricted, which can be restricted but not delegated, 

21 and which can be restricted but only with further 

22 due process protections; 

23 (2) due process protections for the inherent civil 

24 rights; 


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1 (3) the fundamental rights described in section 

2 2(a)(5); 

3 (4) rights related to— 

4 (A) voting access and decisionmaking; 

5 (B) decisionmaking concerning marriage 

6 and other relationships, including romantic, 

7 friendship, and family relationships; 

8 (C) reproductive decisionmaking; 

9 (D) financial decisionmaking on matters 

10 that do not jeopardize long-term security; 

11 (E) educational decisionmaking; 

12 (F) health and medical decisionmaking, in13 cluding the right to private communication be14 tween an individual and the individual’s health 

15 care provider; 

16 (G) decisionmaking for religious observa17 tion and activities; 

18 (H) decisionmaking concerning a place of 

19 residency; 

20 (I) decisionmaking for visitation and asso21 ciation; 

22 (J) decisionmaking for travel; 

23 (K) communication; and 

24 (L) decisionmaking for daily decisions; and 


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1 (5) maintenance of a covered individual’s inher2 ent civil rights in their decisionmaking; and 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY OF STANDARDS.—The Attorney 

4 General shall make the standards described in subsection 

5 (a) available and accessible to covered individuals, family 

6 members and guardians of covered individuals, judges and 

7 court personnel, school personnel, especially special edu8 cation teachers and administrators, minority language 

9 communities, and additional appropriate entities and indi10 viduals. 

11 (c) REDUCTION IN BYRNE GRANTS.— 

12 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

13 (A) the term ‘‘Byrne grant’’ means a grant 

14 under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice As15 sistance Grant Program established under sub16 part 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus 

17 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

18 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.); 

19 (B) the term ‘‘State’’ does not include an 

20 Indian Tribe; 

21 (C) the term ‘‘State or Indian Tribe vio22 lates the standards to protect inherent civil 

23 rights’’ means a State or Indian Tribe failed to 

24 protect the inherent civil rights of 1 or more 

25 covered individuals residing in the State or the 


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1 area under the jurisdiction of the Indian Tribe, 

2 respectively, who is in a guardianship, a con3 servatorship, or another protective arrange4 ment, in accordance with the standards estab5 lished under subsection (a). 

6 (2) ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF REDUCTIONS.— 

7 The Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney 

8 General for Civil Rights, with significant consulta9 tion with the Council, shall establish reductions in 

10 the amount of the Byrne grants that will be made 

11 available to a State or Indian Tribe if the State or 

12 Indian Tribe violates the standards to protect inher13 ent civil rights. 

14 (3) REVIEW AND REDUCTION OF GRANTS.—The 

15 Attorney General— 

16 (A) shall accept allegations that a State or 

17 Indian Tribe violated the standards to protect 

18 inherent civil rights; 

19 (B) may, based on an allegation described 

20 in subparagraph (A), or on the Attorney Gen21 eral’s own initiative, review and determine 

22 whether a State or Indian Tribe violated the 

23 standards to protect inherent civil rights; and 

24 (C) if the Attorney General determines a 

25 State or Indian Tribe violated the standards to 


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1 protect inherent civil rights, may reduce the 

2 amount of Byrne grants to the State or Indian 

3 Tribe, respectively, in accordance with the re4 ductions established under paragraph (2). 

5 (d) RELATION TO OTHER LAW.—A State that seeks 

6 funding under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omni7 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

8 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) shall include, in the application sub9 mitted under section 502 of that Act (34 U.S.C. 10153), 

10 an assurance that the State is implementing and enforcing 

11 the standards issued under this section and section 6(c). 

12 SEC. 6. STANDARDS FOR GUARDIANSHIPS, 

13 CONSERVATORSHIPS, AND ALTERNATIVE AR14 RANGEMENTS. 

15 (a) STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING, REVIEWING, 

16 MODIFYING, AND DISCONTINUING GUARDIANSHIPS, 

17 CONSERVATORSHIPS, OR OTHER PROTECTIVE ARRANGE18 MENTS.—The Secretary, through the Administrator of the 

19 Administration for Community Living, with significant 

20 input from the Council, shall develop standards for estab21 lishing, reviewing, modifying, and discontinuing any pro22 tective arrangement for a covered individual, including 

23 guardianships and conservatorships, including standards 

24 for each of the following: 

25 (1) Establishing protective arrangements. 


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1 (2) Establishing frequencies, of not more than 

2 1 year, for regular review of protective arrangements 

3 by the court of jurisdiction. 

4 (3) Guaranteed procedures for modification or 

5 discontinuation of protective arrangements. 

6 (4) Guaranteed representation by an inde7 pendent, qualified, and compensated lawyer de8 scribed in section 2(a)(5)(C) for the covered indi9 vidual being considered for a protective arrangement 

10 or in a protective arrangement. 

11 (5) Access to due process while the individual 

12 is being considered for a protective arrangement and 

13 while in a protective arrangement. 

14 (6) Options for full restoration of rights for a 

15 covered individual in a protective arrangement. 

16 (7) Ordering limited protective arrangements 

17 when less restrictive arrangements, such as sup18 ported decisionmaking arrangements, are not appro19 priate. 

20 (8)(A) Collecting detailed data at the national 

21 and State levels on the use of guardianships and 

22 other protective arrangements, supported decision23 making arrangements, and other alternative ar24 rangements. 


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1 (B) Reporting that data, taken as a whole and 

2 disaggregated by gender identity, race, ethnicity, 

3 sexual orientation, income level, living situation, age, 

4 disability type, and reason for guardianship or other 

5 protective arrangement. 

6 (b) STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING SUPPORTED DE7 CISIONMAKING AND OTHER ALTERNATIVE ARRANGE8 MENTS.—The Secretary, through the Administrator of the 

9 Administration for Community Living, with significant 

10 input from the Council, shall develop system standards 

11 and other standards for establishing supported decision12 making arrangements and other alternative arrangements 

13 as the default decision support options for covered individ14 uals to avert the use of guardianship or a more restrictive 

15 protective arrangement, including— 

16 (1) system standards that promote supported 

17 decisionmaking arrangements and other alternative 

18 arrangements for decisionmaking arrangements, in19 cluding decisionmaking arrangements within local 

20 educational agencies, health care systems, disability 

21 and aging services systems, financial institutions, 

22 and court systems; 

23 (2) standards for the areas (such as education, 

24 finance, and health) in which a covered individual 

25 requires decisionmaking supports; 


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1 (3) standards for how a covered individual 

2 using a supported decisionmaking arrangement will 

3 select the persons to serve on the supported decision4 making team; 

5 (4) standards for additional supports, such as 

6 assistive technology devices, required to ensure max7 imum participation by covered individuals in their 

8 decisionmaking; and 

9 (5) standards for interrupting the processes 

10 that lead to guardianship or conservatorship through 

11 retraining key decisionmakers, such as court per12 sonnel and administrators, to recognize overbroad 

13 petitions for guardianships or conservatorships. 

14 (c) STANDARDS FOR TRANSITIONING FROM

15 GUARDIANSHIPS TO ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS.— 

16 The Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary, 

17 and with significant input from the Council and a stake18 holder group process, shall— 

19 (1) establish standards, for transitioning cov20 ered individuals from guardianship or conservator21 ship arrangements into supported decisionmaking 

22 arrangements or other alternative arrangements, 

23 that restore the rights of individuals in appropriate 

24 circumstances; and 

25 (2) establish standards that— 


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1 (A) require a periodic review of 

2 guardianships and conservatorships, to transi3 tion covered individuals in either type of ar4 rangement to a supported decisionmaking ar5 rangement or another alternative arrangement; 

6 (B) provide for such a review at least once 

7 a year for such covered individuals; and 

8 (C) require that a review of a guardianship 

9 or conservatorship occurs if such a covered indi10 vidual requests that review. 

11 (d) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHMENT AND

12 REVIEW OF PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS.—The Sec13 retary, with significant input from the Council, shall— 

14 (1) establish standards for establishing 

15 guardianships or other protective arrangements, in16 cluding in the case of a plenary guardianship, stand17 ards for health, medical, and financial well-being re18 views by the corresponding members serving on a 

19 guardianship review panel before the guardianship is 

20 established and during reviews described in para21 graph (4); 

22 (2) create standards for individuals eligible to 

23 serve on such a review panel, which shall include 

24 lawyers, and advocates, with experience protecting 

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1 fessionals with experience in protective arrangements 

2 (such as doctors, psychologists, and certified finan3 cial planners), and covered individuals; 

4 (3) establish standards requiring background 

5 checks of individuals seeking to serve on guardian6 ship review panels; and 

7 (4) establish standards for reviews of protective 

8 arrangements described in section 2(a)(5)(F). 

9 (e) AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY.—The Sec10 retary shall make the standards described in this section, 

11 and information on the standards, available and accessible 

12 to covered individuals, family members and guardians of 

13 covered individuals, judges and court personnel, school 

14 personnel, minority language communities, and additional 

15 appropriate entities and individuals. 

16 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAW.—A State that seeks 

17 funding under— 

18 (1) title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

19 U.S.C. 720 et seq.) shall include, in the State plan 

20 submitted under section 101 of that Act (29 U.S.C. 

21 721) or the application submitted under section 121 

22 of that Act (29 U.S.C. 741), as the case may be, an 

23 assurance that the State is implementing and en24 forcing the standards described in this section and 


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1 issued by the Secretary, other than subsection (c); 

2 and 

3 (2) subtitle B or C of the Developmental Dis4 abilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 

5 (42 U.S.C. 15021 et seq., 15041 et seq.) shall in6 clude, in the State plan submitted under section 124 

7 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 15024) or the materials dem8 onstrating eligibility under section 143 of that Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 15043), as the case may be, the assur10 ance described in paragraph (1). 

11 SEC. 7. PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY PROGRAM FOR OVER12 SIGHT OF PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS. 

13 Title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance 

14 and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15001 et seq.) 

15 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘Subtitle F—Protective 

17 Arrangements Oversight 

18 ‘‘SEC. 171. PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY PROGRAM FOR 

19 OVERSIGHT OF PROTECTIVE ARRANGE20 MENTS. 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) AMERICAN INDIAN CONSORTIUM; STATE.— 

23 The terms ‘American Indian Consortium’ and ‘State’ 

24 have the meanings given the terms in section 102. 


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1 ‘‘(2) GUARDIANSHIP BILL OF RIGHTS DEFINI2 TIONS.—Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and 

3 (3), the terms used in this section have the mean4 ings given the terms in section 3 of the Guardian5 ship Bill of Rights Act. 

6 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM.— 

7 The term ‘protection and advocacy system’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a protection and advocacy system es9 tablished in accordance with section 143; and 

10 ‘‘(B) an American Indian Consortium that 

11 provides protection and advocacy services under 

12 section 142. 

13 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

14 through the Administrator for the Administration for 

15 Community Living, shall establish a Protection and Advo16 cacy Program, for oversight and monitoring of State and 

17 local guardianships, conservatorships, and other protective 

18 arrangements. 

19 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make a grant to 

20 each protection and advocacy system to establish or ex21 pand a Protection and Advocacy Program for Oversight 

22 of Protective Arrangements. 

23 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY.—In order for a protection and ad24 vocacy system for a State or serving an American Indian 

25 tribe to receive a grant under this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the State or tribe shall have in effect a 

2 protective arrangement oversight system to protect 

3 and advocate for the rights of covered individuals 

4 concerning protective arrangements; and 

5 ‘‘(2) the protective arrangement oversight sys6 tem shall have the authority to— 

7 ‘‘(A) pursue legal, administrative, and 

8 other appropriate remedies or approaches to en9 sure the protection of, and advocacy for, the 

10 rights of covered individuals within the State or 

11 American Indian tribe who are being considered 

12 for or in a protective arrangement; 

13 ‘‘(B) provide legal representation to cov14 ered individuals who— 

15 ‘‘(i) are facing a proceeding to estab16 lish a protective arrangement; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) who desire to modify or dis18 continue a protective arrangement; 

19 ‘‘(C) provide information, referrals, train20 ing, and legal representation to enable a cov21 ered individual to establish or defend a sup22 ported decisionmaking arrangement or another 

23 alternative arrangement, including providing 

24 such services in plain language, American Sign 

25 Language, and other minority languages; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) investigate incidents of abuse of 

2 guardianships and other protective arrange3 ments. 

4 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An entity that receives a 

6 grant under this section for a protective arrange7 ment oversight system shall carry out the activities 

8 described in subsection (d) or (f). 

9 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The protective arrangement 

10 oversight system may not use the grant funds to 

11 provide legal representation, or other services, to 

12 persons seeking to establish or maintain (with or 

13 without modification) a guardianship or conservator14 ship. 

15 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.—Each entity that receives a grant 

16 under this section for a protective arrangement oversight 

17 system shall prepare and submit to the Secretary, in ac18 cordance with such requirements as the Secretary may 

19 specify, information on activities carried out through the 

20 corresponding program described in subsection (c). 

21 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fis24 cal year.’’. 

Æ 


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