Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act

To provide for the inclusion of court-appointed guardianship improvement and oversight activities under the Elder Justice Act of 2009. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act 2. Court-appointed guardianship oversight activities under the Elder Justice Act of 2009 Section 2042(c) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1397m–1(c) (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting (and, in the case of demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), to the highest courts of States) States (2) in paragraph (2)— (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting (and the highest courts of States, in the case of demonstration programs described in subparagraph (E)) local units of government (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking or (C) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F); and (D) by inserting after subparagraph (E), the following new subparagraph: (E) subject to paragraph (3), programs to assess the fairness, effectiveness, timeliness, safety, integrity, and accessibility of adult guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, including the appointment and the monitoring of the performance of court-appointed guardians and conservators, and to implement changes deemed necessary as a result of the assessments such as mandating background checks for all potential guardians and conservators, and implementing systems to enable the annual accountings and other required conservatorship and guardianship filings to be completed, filed, and reviewed electronically in order to simplify the filing process for conservators and guardians and better enable courts to identify discrepancies and detect fraud and the exploitation of protected persons; or ; (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; (4) by inserting after paragraph (2), the following new paragraph: (3) Requirements for court-appointed guardianship oversight demonstration programs (A) Award of grants Any grants the Secretary awards to the highest courts of States for demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E) shall be based on the recommendations of the Attorney General and the State Justice Institute , 42 U.S.C. 10702 (B) Collaboration The highest court of a State awarded a grant to conduct a demonstration program described in paragraph (2)(E) shall collaborate with the State Unit on Aging for the State and the Adult Protective Services agency for the State in conducting the demonstration program. ; (5) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) of this section), by inserting (and, in the case of demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), the highest court of a State) a State (6) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), by inserting (or, in the case of demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), the highest court of a State) State

Summary: Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services and Elder Justice) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to the highest courts of states to conduct demonstration programs that: (1) assess adult guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, including the appointment and the monitoring of the performance of court-appointed guardians and conservators; and (2) implement changes deemed necessary as a result of the assessments, such as requiring background checks for all potential guardians and conservators, and establishing systems that enable electronic filing and review of the annual accountings and other required conservatorship and guardianship filings. Requires any grants the Secretary awards to the highest state courts for such programs to be based on recommendations of the Attorney General and the State Justice Institute. Requires the highest court of a state awarded such a grant to collaborate with the state's own Unit on Aging and its Adult Protective Services agency in conducting the demonstration program.