	Adult Guardianship

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-AG 11: Personnel

Guardianship personnel are qualified by professional training and experience to make informed personal and/or financial decisions on behalf of the individual.

PA-AG 11.01

Guardianship workers are qualified by:

an advanced degree in a relevant field; or
a bachelor’s degree with two years' relevant experience.

Interpretation: Relevant degrees or experience include law, social work, accounting, nursing, business, geriatrics, developmental disability, psychology, occupational therapy, and public administration.

PA-AG 11.02

Guardianship workers receive specialized training on topics related to guardianship including, but not limited to:

methods of engaging individuals;
recognizing and responding to symptoms of mental health conditions;
de-escalation techniques;
knowledge of community programs and how to access services;
financial management;
ethics issues unique to adult guardianship including bioethics and healthcare decision-making;
reporting requirements;
substituted judgment and best-interest standards of decision-making; and
local guardianship law including interstate jurisdiction and processes for terminating a guardianship.

Update: Revised Standard, Added Research Note - 06/01/10

PA-AG 11.02 Original Standard:

Guardianship workers receive specialized training on topics related to guardianship including, but not limited to:

methods of engaging individuals;
recognizing and responding to symptoms of mental health conditions;
de-escalation techniques;
knowledge of community programs and how to access services;
financial management;
bioethics and healthcare decision-making;
reporting requirements;
substituted judgment and best-interest standards of decision-making; and
local guardianship law including interstate jurisdiction and processes for terminating a guardianship.

Research Note: Agencies may choose to refer to the National Guardianship Association’s publication entitled A Model Code of Ethics for Guardians for training content on ethical issues particular to adult guardianship. For more information about accessing this resource, please see the PA-AG Reference List.

PA-AG 11.03

Supervisors are qualified by an advanced degree in a relevant field and a minimum of two years' related experience.

PA-AG 11.04

To promote informed and appropriate decision making:

guardianship workers and supervisors are certified or licensed as required by state law; and
guardianship supervisors maintain certification from a national certifying body.

Update: Revised Standard - 06/01/10

PA-AG 11.04 Original Standard:

Supervisors obtain guardianship-specific training, licensure, or certification when available or as required by state law.

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	PURPOSE: Individuals who receive guardianship services maintain a level of independence and self-determination appropriate to their functional capacity, and are at minimized risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	SOCIAL WORK Professionally responsible interventions carried out by persons with formal, professional education at the BSW or MSW level from an accredited school of social work and appropriate licensing, certification, and registration credentials. Interventions are directed toward improving the transactions between people and environments to enhance the adaptive capacities of the participants and improve environments for all that function within them. Social work is a professional practice with a consumer group consisting of individuals, families, small groups, organizations, neighborhoods, and communities and involving the disciplined application of knowledge and skill.


	DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY A severe, chronic impairment, attributable to a mental and/or physical impairment that manifests before adulthood and is likely to indefinitely continue, and that creates substantial functional limitations in the areas of major life activity: self care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, potential for independent living, and potential for economic self-sufficiency as an adult. A developmental disability reflects a person's need for special, interdisciplinary or generic care, treatment, or other services on a life-long or extended basis.


	ADMINISTRATION The personnel responsible for management functions of the organization, including fiscal management, human resources, and service delivery. Such personnel determine organizational goals, acquire and allocate resources to carry out a program, coordinate activities toward goal achievement, and monitor, evaluate, and make needed changes in processes and procedures to improve the likelihood of goal achievement. The term is synonymously used with MANAGEMENT.