Projects
Long-Term Goals
- Provide Qualified and Trained Guardians/Conservators for Adults in Need of Protective Services or Decision-Making Support.
- Train Attorneys and Courts on Best Practices in Guardianship and Conservatorship Proceedings.
- Educate Professionals and the Public on Alternatives to Guardianship and Conservatorship.
- Increase Data Collection for Better Monitoring of Guardianships and Conservatorships.
- Identify and Address Abuse and Financial Exploitation by Guardians or Conservators.
What We’ve Achieved So Far
- Completed a needs assessment and statewide survey of judges, attorneys, and other professionals to identify and prioritize issues within the state’s guardianship and conservatorship system.
- Conducted informational and listening sessions with probate judges and elder law attorneys about Alabama WINGS and its vision and mission.
- Held numerous meetings and a day-long planning session with the WINGS Task Force to develop a strategic plan.
- Held Statewide Town Hall and Focus Group meetings with the public to obtain input on the issues and needs of the state’s guardianship and conservatorship system.
- Developed an Alabama-specific guide for persons serving as conservator for an individual in Alabama and distributed copies to probate court judges and others.
- Conducted training for judges and attorneys at the Alabama Bar Association’s 2018 Annual Meeting and a local bar association on “How to Avoid or Limit Guardianships.”
- Distributed survey to all 68 probate court judges primarily asking questions related to the number of guardianship or conservatorship petitions filed in their counties in 2017, if their system captures the number of "limited" guardianship petitions, and if they have an automated system to track the filing of conservatorship inventories and accountings and compiled responses.
- Developed a WINGS Facebook and Twitter site.
- Created four working subcommittees of the WINGS Task Force: Data Collection, Legal Education, Public and Professional Education, and Ad Hoc.
- Educated probate court judges on less restrictive alternatives to guardianships and conservatorships.
- Updated and reprinted the "Managing Someone Else's Money in Alabama: Help for Agents Under a Power of Attorney" guide and distributed to probate court judges and others.
- Presented to senior groups on powers of attorney and less restrictive alternatives to guardianship.
- Educated circuit and district judges on less restrictive alternatives to guardianships and conservatorships including the Elder Abuse Protection Order and Enforcement Act.
- Attended meetings of the Committee considering the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act.
- Submitted a Petition and Proposed Order establishing an Alabama Commission on Adult Guardianships and Conservatorships to the Supreme Court of Alabama. The Supreme Court of Alabama issued an Order dated September 16, 2020, effective October 1, 2020, establishing this Commission.
- Drafted scripts for and had produced a series of ten educational videos for the public dealing with guardianship and conservatorship issues.