Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act

Bill: 115-s-182
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2017-01-20
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Aging

Crime prevention

Crime victims

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Judicial procedure and administration

Law enforcement administration and funding

Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Latest action: action_date: 2017-01-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-01-20
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act </b></p> <p> This bill amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services and Elder Justice) of the Social Security Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services 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.</p> <p> The highest court of a state awarded such a grant shall collaborate with the state's own Unit on Aging and its Adult Protective Services agency in conducting the demonstration program.</p>

tv_txt: II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 182 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 20, 2017 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mr. Cornyn ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL 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) ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting (and, in the case of demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), to the highest courts of States) after 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)) after local units of government ; (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking or after the semicolon; (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 In awarding grants to the highest courts of States for demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), the Secretary shall consider the recommendations of the Attorney General and the State Justice Institute , as established by section 203 of the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 ( 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) after a State ; and (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) after State each place it appears.