By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Wood County has seen a drastic increase in the number of guardianship cases in the Probate Court for people who aren’t capable of taking care of themselves and require a court-appointed guardian to help make decisions on the individual’s behalf.
The reasons for the rise in cases are varied, said Wood County Probate Judge David Woessner during the Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board meeting on Monday. An aging population and family members who do not live in the area, make it difficult to provide adequate and timely care for life-or-death decisions, Woessner said.
Sometimes there are no suitable persons to call on, and other times a service provider, such as a hospital or agency, needs a decision right now. “There re more and more challenging cases because there are family conflicts or individuals do not want to have their independence taken away,” Woessner said.
The court has a volunteer guardian program that provides assistance, and there are some attorneys who provide pro bono or reduced-fee services, plus the county commissioners have provided some funds to cover attorney costs for the courts. However, the increased number of guardianship cases have taxed all of the existing options. The volunteers are dedicated but are limited in scope, Woessner said. Additionally, the complexity of many of the cases often makes it difficult to identify attorneys who have time available to add to their caseload.
Three county agencies which are the source for a majority of the guardianship cases —the ADAMHS board, Job and Family Services and the Developmental Disabilities board—are being asked to support a proposal to collaborate with Hancock and Ottawa counties to establish a Guardianship Board to provide full-time staff to handle many of cases.
The current proposal is to create a Guardianship Board, housed in Hancock County, but with a full-time staff person for each of the three counties to help manage the guardianship workload. “Wood County would have one full-time person which would take care of a lot of our need right off the bat,” Woessner said.
At this point, if all three county agencies approve the plan, the cost for each agency is estimated at $31,121.
The Wood County ADAMHS Board gave their support for the concept and approved a resolution; however, the resolution did not include a monetary amount yet. Amanda Kern, WCADAMHS executive director, explained no amount was included in the current resolution in case one of the agencies or other counties decides to opt out of the plan. Fewer partners would increase the buy-in from the agencies involved. A total amount will be determined once all of the partners are finalized, she said.
John Fortner, vice president for residential and supportive housing with Harbor, thanked the board for supporting the resolution. “The volunteers have been very dedicated, but there is a need for more support for that work,” he said.
