Older Adults and People with Disabilities
Center for Excellence in Supported Decision Making
Navigating less-restrictive alternatives to guardianship in Minnesota
About
The Center for Excellence in Supported Decision Making (CESDM) supports individuals who are at risk of guardianship and/or conservatorship across Minnesota and their caregivers through consultation, referrals, and information. Professionals or informal caregivers are eligible for assistance navigating guardianship, conservatorship, and less restrictive alternatives so long as the person whose capacity is in question is a Minnesota resident. Individuals who are at risk of or the subject of guardianship or conservatorship may be experiencing issues such as abuse or exploitation, dementia or impaired cognitive functioning, difficulty managing finances, and lack of cooperation with family, friends, or care providers.
Eligibility
Ages served
18+
Genders served
All genders
Payments accepted
Fee; Some clients are eligible for grants to cover the cost of care
Referral needed?
No
Avoiding Unnecessary Guardianship
Planning for the Future
Preserving the rights of individuals and supporting families and professionals
A diagnosis does not define a person. Yet, a diagnosis may prompt caregivers to question the capacity of an individual and pursue guardianship or conservatorship. The Center for Excellence in Supported Decision Making (CESDM) recognizes that older adults and people with disabilities are often able to get their needs met, despite challenges that may arise from a diagnosis, and can help them and those who support them to build a path forward through less restrictive alternatives.
Through in-depth assessments, the CESDM social workers and specialists can help families and professionals determine if guardianship or conservatorship is the right decision and offer less restrictive alternatives when appropriate. Our experienced, compassionate team works in collaboration with each individual and their care network to address the unique needs of each person while balancing the person’s rights, values, and lifestyle.
The team provides coaching to help the person and their caregivers identify and establish support networks and tools to ensure basic needs are met, risks are addressed, and quality of life is enhanced.
The CESDM team can provide expert testimony, including objective assessments related to a person’s decisional capacity, and help families navigate challenging dynamics.
Need help determining the best path forward? Call the Guardianship Information Line for a free telephone consultation. Our team can spend as much time as needed assisting callers to understand:
- Supported Decision Making
- The guardianship and conservatorship system
- Needs of the adult experiencing difficulties
- Practical intervention tips to assist the caregiver to be more effective in working with the individual
- Approaches to help address the concern, which may avoid the need for guardianship/conservatorship, including facilitating less restrictive alternatives
The CESDM Team
Our Services
The CESDM offers in-depth, objective phone consultations and in-person assessments to help determine the appropriate level of care needed. Assessments seek extensive input from the person’s formal and informal support system. Our team can develop recommendations to best meet the individual’s needs, focusing on avoiding the courts and identifying less restrictive alternatives.
An assessment by the CESDM team can also assist in contested guardianship or conservatorship court cases to enable parties to come to terms of settlement or provide strength to a position (either in favor or against the appointment of a guardian or conservator).
Hourly fees may apply or may be waived at the discretion of the CESDM, depending on funding available.
When a telephone consultation is insufficient, our team engages with family members and involved professionals to determine and implement workable alternatives to court intervention or provide supportive non-legal coaching through the often stressful and confusing petitioning process. The team’s experience and expertise can reassure family members that they have chosen the best path forward to meet the needs of the person.
When an assessment rules out less restrictive alternatives and there is no one in the person’s life to do so, the CESDM team can work with an attorney to file a petition with the court seeking the appointment of a guardian and/or conservator or to request the court modify or terminate an existing guardianship.
Training for Independent/Professional Guardians and Conservators
An in-depth training course is held one afternoon per week over six consecutive weeks each Spring for people seeking to become independent/professional guardians and conservators. The training is offered on an application basis to individuals who would best be able to fulfill the needs of the county contracts and may be held virtually or in the Minneapolis area. To be added to the mailing list, please email cesdm@voamn.org and provide your name and mailing address to receive an application packet.
Educational Presentations
The CESDM team can tailor a presentation to your time and content needs, including professional education credits and community/family groups. Presentations can be as short as one hour or can be as comprehensive as a 16-hour training. The honorarium may be adjusted or waived at the discretion of the CESDM.
Funders
Contracts
“VOA brings a voice to those who are often unheard and creatively approaches evaluation of the person’s goals and values rather than presuming the guardian has all the authority.”
– Social Worker
Commonly Asked Questions
Guardianship and conservatorship refer to the court appointment of an individual or organization to act as the legal authority for an incapacitated person in personal (guardian) or financial (conservator) decisions. A person who is the subject of guardianship or conservatorship is considered by the court to be wholly unable to provide for their own basic needs or financial management.
Family members or others known to the person may be appointed or an independent guardian/conservator may be appointed. Independent guardian/conservators charge fees for their service, may be an individual or an organization, and may also be known as a “professional” guardian/conservator.
Due to the severity and costs of this intervention, it should only be used where there is no other way to meet a person’s needs.
By Minnesota law, less restrictive alternatives to guardianship/conservatorship must be considered and ultimately ruled out prior to pursuing guardianship/conservatorship to ensure there is no other way to meet the needs of the person. Many of the alternatives require the person’s cooperation and some cognitive capacity. Less restrictive alternatives to guardianship and conservatorship include:
- Banking tools, such as automatic payment of regular bills, direct deposit of income checks, and joint accounts enable a trusted person to pay bills
- Having family or close friends increase their involvement to meet the person’s needs
- Powers of Attorney
- Representative payee to manage governmental income benefits
- Supported Decision Making: the person makes decisions with the support of trusted others, follows the recommendations of others, or suggests their own ideas to provide for their needs and safety
- Trusts
- Trustworthy family or close friends help ensure bills are paid, checks are deposited, etc.
- Use of a Health Care Directive and/or Supported Decision Making agreement to identify people who can help the person with decision making
- Working with a county case manager or private care manager to recommend, arrange, and monitor services
These alternatives require caution due to the potential for financial exploitation and should be carefully considered.
Supported Decision Making (SDM) is an approach to care that recognizes that all people need at least occasional help to make decisions, and that even though someone may not be able to make all decisions independently, they may still be able to participate in the decision-making process and with some support from others, is fully capable of making their own decisions. SDM is an intervention that keeps the voice of older adults and people with disabilities at the center of decisions made about them, empowering them to make decisions with the support of trusted family/friends/professionals, rather than others making decisions for the person.
Minnesota law states that a guardian cannot be appointed if a person’s needs can be met with Supported Decision Making assistance.
Guardianship and/or conservatorship may be the best option to assist and protect someone who is wholly unable to participate in personal or care decisions or who is unable to manage their finances even with extensive help from others. However, guardianship and conservatorship are the most intrusive, complicated, and expensive ways to help the person meet their needs and involve removing many of the person’s legal rights. Guardianship and conservatorship are controlled by state statute and require the person’s incapacity be proven in court with clear and convincing evidence. This process can be both financially and emotionally costly, often creating an adversarial legal relationship between the person who may be subjected to the guardianship/conservatorship and the petitioner.
An attorney is often needed throughout the duration of the guardianship and conservatorship. Retaining an attorney with experience in guardianship and less restrictive alternatives is highly recommended.
Please contact our experienced team to discuss a specific person’s situation and how best to ensure the person’s needs are met in the most effective, least-restrictive way. All consultations are free and confidential through the Guardianship Information Line: 1-844-333-1748. You may also reach the team at cesdm@voamn.org.
Decisions about the need for guardianship or conservatorship are complex and should never be based purely on a single diagnosis. Guardianship or conservatorship is rarely needed and usually too restrictive. Fortunately, there are many less restrictive alternatives that can fully support the needs of the person.
Please contact our team to discuss a specific person’s situation and how best to ensure the person’s needs are met in the most effective, least-restrictive way. All consultations are free and confidential through the Guardianship Information Line: 1-844-333-1748. You may also reach the team at cesdm@voamn.org.
Decisions about the need for guardianship or conservatorship are complex and should never be based purely on a single diagnosis. Guardianship or conservatorship is rarely needed. Fortunately, there are many less restrictive alternatives that can fully support the needs of the person.
Please contact our team to discuss a specific person’s situation and how best to ensure the person’s needs are met in the most effective, least-restrictive way. All consultations are free and confidential through the Guardianship Information Line: 1-844-333-1748. You may also reach the team at cesdm@voamn.org.
A professional guardian/conservator is a person who is not related to the subject of the guardianship/conservatorship by either blood or marriage and who receives financial compensation to carry out the statutory responsibilities determined by the court. Professional guardians and conservators may also be corporations and institutions, such as banks.
Professional guardians and conservators may be appointed by the court as a neutral decision maker in situations where there are no family or friends to serve, there is severe and irresolvable conflict within the family, or when family members have personal reasons for deciding not to serve as the legal decision-maker for a loved one.
Professional guardians and conservators are held to high standards by the court and the public. Their backgrounds, qualities, experience, and areas of expertise vary.
Most guardians and conservators are not professionals, but rather family members or friends. With approval by the court, non-professional guardians and conservators may also be entitled to payment for activities related to their statutory responsibilities.
There are many issues to consider when deciding to serve as the guardian or conservator or determining whether it would be in your loved one’s best interest to have a professional guardian/conservator. Please contact our team to discuss a specific person’s situation and how best to ensure the person’s needs are met in the most effective way. All consultations are free and confidential through the Guardianship Information Line: 1-844-333-1748. You may also reach the team at cesdm@voamn.org.
The court appointment of a guardian or conservator may or may not be the best remedy for protection against or response to abuse or financial exploitation. There are many interventions to consider depending on the circumstances. In all cases, it is important to report any abuse or neglect to the MN Adult Abuse Reporting Center at 1-844-880-1574 for possible investigation and to mobilize the unique resources of the county for the protection of the victim.
Please contact our team to discuss a specific person’s situation and how best to ensure the person’s needs are met in the most effective way. All consultations are free and confidential through the Guardianship Information Line: 1-844-333-1748. You may also reach the team at cesdm@voamn.org.
Suspected neglect by the caregiver or physical, emotional, or financial abuse of a vulnerable adult should be reported to the MN Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC) at 1-844-880-1574 for investigation and the development of a protection plan under the Minnesota Vulnerable Adult Act.
Any concerns about a vulnerable adult’s neglect of their own needs for food, medical care, shelter, and financial management should also be reported to MAARC.
When in doubt, call our free, confidential Guardianship Information Line at 1-844-333-1748 to discuss the concerns you have, help you develop an appropriate action plan, and refer you to MAARC when appropriate.
They stand up for the rights of those who can’t
The Center for Excellence in Supported Decision Making helps older adults, people with disabilities, and their support networks explore ALL their options when they are at risk of losing their freedom under guardianship.
Recently the team counseled family members of a person with a developmental disability. They had been advised to apply for a comprehensive court-appointed guardianship—with the logic that they “might need it someday.”
We advised that this choice could spell the end of their loved one’s legal ability to make fundamental decisions about his life, such as where he would live or what job he would pursue. Instead, we laid out a supportive process enabling him to make these everyday decisions.
He is now working with his team of supporters and maintaining his independence.
Resources
Fact Sheets
Helpful Links
