Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 30 - DEPARTMENT FOR AGING AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES › Chapter 70 - THE VIRGINIA PUBLIC GUARDIAN AND CONSERVATOR PROGRAM › Section 22VAC30-70-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this regulation
				  shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Advisory board" means the Virginia Public Guardian and
				  Conservator Advisory Board as authorized by §§
									51.5-149.1
				  and
				  51.5-149.2
				  of the Code of Virginia.
"Client" means a person who has been adjudicated
				  incapacitated and who is receiving public guardian or conservator services from
				  a public guardian program.
"Conservator" means a person appointed by a court who is
				  responsible for managing the estate and financial affairs of an incapacitated
				  person and, where the context plainly indicates, includes a "limited
				  conservator" or a "temporary conservator." The term includes (i) a local or
				  regional program designated by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative
				  Services as a public conservator pursuant to Article 6 (§
									51.5-149
				  et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 51.5 of the Code of Virginia or (ii) any local
				  or regional tax-exempt charitable organization established pursuant to §
				  501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to provide conservatorial services to
				  incapacitated persons. Such tax-exempt charitable organization shall not be a
				  provider of direct services to the incapacitated person. If a tax-exempt
				  charitable organization has been designated by the Virginia Department for
				  Aging and Rehabilitative Services as a public conservator, it may also serve as
				  a conservator for other individuals.
"Department" means the Department for Aging and
				  Rehabilitative Services.
"Face-to-face" means an in-person meeting with the
				  client.
"Guardian" means a person appointed by a court who is
				  responsible for the personal affairs of an incapacitated person, including
				  responsibility for making decisions regarding the person's support, care,
				  health, safety, habilitation, education, therapeutic treatment, and, if not
				  inconsistent with an order of involuntary admission, residence. Where the
				  context plainly indicates, the term includes a "limited guardian" or a
				  "temporary guardian." The term includes (i) a local or regional program
				  designated by the department as a public guardian pursuant to Article 6 (§
									51.5-149
				  et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 51.5 of the Code of Virginia or (ii) any local
				  or regional tax-exempt charitable organization established pursuant to §
				  501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to provide guardian services to
				  incapacitated persons. Such tax-exempt charitable organization shall not be a
				  provider of direct services to the incapacitated person. If a tax-exempt
				  charitable organization has been designated by the department as a public
				  guardian, it may also serve as a guardian for other individuals.
"Incapacitated person" means an adult who has been found by a
				  court to be incapable of receiving and evaluating information effectively or
				  responding to people, events, or environments to such an extent that the
				  individual lacks the capacity to (i) meet the essential requirements for his
				  health, care, safety, or therapeutic needs without the assistance or protection
				  of a guardian or (ii) manage property or financial affairs or provide for his
				  support or for the support of his legal dependents without the assistance or
				  protection of a conservator. A finding that the individual displays poor
				  judgment alone shall not be considered sufficient evidence that the individual
				  is an incapacitated person within the meaning of this definition. A finding
				  that a person is incapacitated shall be construed as a finding that the person
				  is "mentally incompetent" as that term is used in Article II, Section 1 of the
				  Constitution of Virginia and Title 24.2 of the Code of Virginia unless the
				  court order entered pursuant to Chapter 20 (§
									64.2-2000 et seq.) of
				  Title 64.2 of the Code of Virginia specifically provides otherwise.
"Indigent" means a person who (i) is eligible for or
				  receiving state-funded or federally-funded public assistance benefits whose
				  eligibility for such benefits is based in whole or part upon an evaluation of
				  their income against federal poverty guidelines, (ii) as otherwise defined in
				  §
									19.2-159
				  of the Code of Virginia, or (iii) whose resources have been determined by a
				  Virginia circuit court to be so limited as to satisfy the criteria for
				  appointment of a public guardian, public conservator, or both set forth in
				  §
									64.2-2010
				  of the Code of Virginia.
"Least restrictive alternatives" means, but is not limited to
				  money management services including bill payer and representative payee
				  services, care management, and services provided pursuant to a financial or
				  health care power of attorney.
"Minimal fee" means allowable fees collected or payable from
				  government sources and shall not include any funds from an incapacitated
				  person's estate.
"Public guardian program" means the program operated by the
				  public guardian program contractor pursuant to a contract with the department
				  to provide public guardianship services, public conservatorship services, or
				  both pursuant to Article 6 (§
									51.5-149
				  et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 51.5 of the Code of Virginia. For the purposes
				  of this chapter, a regional public guardian program shall be equivalent to a
				  local public guardian program.
"Public guardian program contractor" means a legal entity
				  with whom the department has entered into a contract to operate a public
				  guardian program.
"Virginia Public Guardian and Conservator Program" means the
				  statewide program administered by the department pursuant to Article 6 (§
									51.5-149
				  et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 51.5 of the Code of Virginia and
				  operationalized through a network of public guardian program contractors under
				  contract with the department.
"Volunteer" means a person, including an unpaid intern, who
				  works with the public guardian program and:
1. Is not paid for services provided to the public guardian
				  program; and
2. Is not counted in the client-to-staff
				  ratio.
Statutory Authority: §
											51.5-131
					 of the Code of Virginia.